Employees of Kingfisher Airlines withdrew their agitation, ending the stand-off with the management. Kingfisher shares jumped as much as 14% after the news.

Do you think Kingfisher will ever see better days?

Business Standard

The government&rsquo;s retrospective amendment of tax laws has not been received well by the business community. The amendment has been brought by a beleaguered government that, having lost its case in the courts, is trying to win by undue means. Any business that invests money does so on the basis of the rules prevalent at the time of investment and abides by them. The government may have won a small battle, but the country&rsquo;s credibility as an investment destination has hit an all-time low. Even as one can understand the government&rsquo;s actions as it seeks to maximise revenue to fight its poor financial position, the absence of any noise from the opposition parties is baffling. Their quite demeanour betrays their political opportunism for they think this matter may not win them votes. They perhaps do not wish to be seen supporting businessmen.

Letters: Where's the opposition?

This refers to the Lunch with BS with Dinesh Mohan (&ldquo;One for the road,&rdquo; April 3). It has been mentioned in the article that the research institute, Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), under the railway ministry employs some 20 people. This statement is so off the mark that one wonders about the veracity of other observations made by the transport expert. RDSO is a 60-year-old organisation that employs about 2,700 people. Last year alone, it completed no less than 45 research and design projects based on extensive background study and trials (see Annual Report Indian Railways 2010-11). Publication record of research work is of lesser relevance compared to actual implementation and execution of research-based findings, as any transport specialist in the country would  insist. Hence comparisons with China and Brazil in this context are meaningless.

Letters: Managing congestion

Dinesh Mohan&rsquo;s views on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor were interesting to read. However, one wonders how commuting within urban spaces may be impacted with the onset of the digital age and revolution in information technology. By the middle of this decade, we may have more people working from home and, thus, may see a reduction in traffic owing to &ldquo;office-goers&rdquo;. Would it be sensible, then, to build rapid transit corridors, flyovers or metro systems? Instead of mindlessly aping the West, we need to have a futuristic outlook to solving transportation and traffic issues, at least in urban areas.

Letters: Look ahead

To get to the logic underlying the new regulatory regime outlined by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) like stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations, it is necessary to understand what kind of animal the regulator considers them to be. They are hybrids &mdash; neither government departments nor private firms, but commercial enterprises discharging important regulatory functions. Hence stock exchanges should be able to attract capital by listing, and pay shareholders something. No cap on payout, that&rsquo;s too statist, suggests Sebi, but please pay 25 per cent of profits to a settlement guarantee fund. Thus, Sebi has deviated from some of the specific recommendations of the committee headed by Bimal Jalan but accepted the spirit behind them &mdash; and Mr Jalan appears quite pleased.

Defining stock exchanges

It has been reported that the central government may consider creating a holding company for its largest public sector enterprises, and that this company will own them on the state&rsquo;s behalf. That the Centre accepts that the public sector continues to suffer from interference is welcome, as are continuing efforts to solve the problem. However, there are reasons why this latest plan should be viewed with some scepticism.

Lose control

I have invested in one of Fidelity Mutual Fund&rsquo;s scheme. Since the company is selling its India business, I can exit the investment.

Taxation: Homi Mistry

&ldquo;The four per cent duty might be perceived as an irritant but arguably it cannot be the cause for smuggling.

Will gold duty hike encourage smuggling?

The smiling face of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on ambulances that provide emergency services has piqued the opposition Congress leaders in the state.

Grin and bear it 

Leaders of the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh said they will never forget the three years of Congress rule, but there was nothing particularly touching about this long memory. During a debate in the Legislative Assembly, BJP legislators compared their party&rsquo;s stint with Congress rule, which started when the state came into being in December 2000. They fumed that the Congress government led by Ajit Jogi ignored opposition legislators and did not ever invite them to any official programme. At this, a Senior Congress legislator, Dharamjit Singh, asked how long the BJP leaders were going to compare themselves with the Congress, which ruled for three years whereas the BJP has ruled the state for the past nine years. &ldquo;How can we forget the Congress&rsquo; three years rule,&rdquo; quipped Panchayat Minister Ramvichar Netam. It is because of those three years, he added, that the BJP has ruled the state for the past nine years.

Three to the power nine 

Editors and reporters are not the only ones who would prefer not to listen to former Chief Justice Markandey Katju&rsquo;s regular homilies in his capacity as chairman of the Press Council of India. His brother judges in the Supreme Court apparently felt the same way, if another former chief justice, J S Verma, is to be believed. At a lecture on the future of the Indian media, the subject of Justice Katju&rsquo;s strong and frequent criticisms of the Indian media inevitably came up. In that context, Justice Verma said senior judges told him they felt considerable relief when Justice Katju retired in late 2011 since they thought they would be spared his pronouncements. That hope seems to have been belied, Justice Verma joked dryly, since he is regularly heard in his new appointment.

Judgment call

This refers to &ldquo;Dismal scientist&rdquo; in the Chinese Whispers column (April 2). M Govinda Rao need not be so pessimistic about the role of economists in policy making.

Letters: Yes, economists can

I have an investible surplus of Rs 80,000. I need advice on choosing tax-saving instruments. I won&rsquo;t be needing these funds for at least three years, as I am taking a break to pursue higher studies abroad. Also, I don&rsquo;t have any immediate requirements.

Financial Planning: Malhar Majumder

The 2012-13 Budget allocates Rs 6,715 crore to&nbsp;the Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, a 36 per cent increase over the allocation in 2011-12. This is a vote of confidence in the beleaguered organisation, and is especially notable given that it is still embroiled in the Devas-Antrix controversy. Breaking up the allocation allows some insight into the areas that are more in focus. The largest allocation, of Rs 2,280 crore, is to launch vehicles to put heavier satellites into geosynchronous orbit. This means developing solid- and liquid-stage boosters and cryogenic engines. A new area of research is indicated by a Rs 150-crore allocation to the development of a kerosene-powered semi-cryogenic engine.&nbsp;Isro has hitherto been unable to develop stable cryogenic technology. Two geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) missions were aborted due to the failure of systems associated with indigenous cryogenic engines.

Still eyeing space

The latest quarterly balance of payments data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) show that the current account deficit, or CAD, rose sharply for the quarter that ended in December 2011. In the three months of October, November and December 2011, CAD was 4.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), a full two percentage points higher than the figure for the corresponding quarter the previous year.

Twin-deficit fears

The US, outsourcing, BPO visa fee increase story that seemingly broke last week was held up as an event that could impact many IT and allied industries including market researchers &mdash; even though the news was old. How did an old story get so much play? The story is that last Wednesday the country&rsquo;s leading news agency put out a story on the US visa fee hike based on a release. Though the news was stale, it was picked up by many online news sites. The public relations agency of a research and consulting firm even called journalists in Bangalore alerting them to the story and informing them that they had researchers ready to discuss the issue and even emailed some comments. Come evening, there was a change. The same PR consultant called to say, &ldquo;Hi, we have sources in many places and we understand it is an old story. So, please don&rsquo;t take the quote. Thank You.

Quote, unquote

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have put up electricity and bus tariffs and milk prices in her state but, strangely, has not raised taxes on cigarettes in the recent Budget, despite a gaping deficit in state finances. Asked why, her answer had everyone stumped. &ldquo;Keno, apnara cigarette khaben na?&rdquo; (Why, don&rsquo;t all of you smoke?), she told assembled journalists with a doting smile. Maybe, her inexplicable opposition to raising train fares have a similar intent. Incidentally, State Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who presented the Budget, was hardly heard during the entire press conference, but was mostly seen enjoying Didi&rsquo;s candid jokes.

Smoke signals

Mamata Banerjee&rsquo;s intense fascination with all things Tagore reached a new height when her men recently held a ceremony commemorating the birth of another famous Bengali poet and dramatist Michael Madhusudan Dutt but festooned the venue with photographs of the Chief Minister&rsquo;s favourite poet. The event was organised by the state information and cultural affairs department and ran for two hours before Tagore&rsquo;s photos were removed after some people objected.

Poetic licence

It will be tragic if the finance minister bows to the pressure tactics of gold traders and does away with the requirement to produce a PAN card for gold purchases over Rs 2 lakh. Considering the volume of gold imports, it seems that gold is increasingly being used to store unaccounted money, maybe even to partly finance illegal trade like the undeclared price in real estate transactions. Even with the current cut-off of Rs 2 lakh, it will be simple to arrange multiple transactions of Rs 1.99 lakh. If those opposing this requirement make the argument that much of the gold ornaments are purchased by the average farmer who is outside the tax net, then they should provide data instead of resorting to strikes.

Letters: Gold rush

Nitin Pai raises valid questions about defence item procurements in his article &ldquo;Buying into superstition instead of military strategy&rdquo; (April 1), but the answers provided by him need more consideration. He is right that our procurement system for defence equipments is complicated, but do we need middlemen to handle it? How will the &ldquo;regulatory framework&rdquo; proposed by him enable to distinguish whether middlemen are specialists or wheeler-dealers? The kickbacks in the Bofors scandal, the most deeply investigated case, were not traced to any professional specialist.

Letters: Procuring policies

T N Ninan hit the nail on the head with his assertion that if the government wants to get rid of the impression that it&rsquo;s caught in a policy paralysis, then it has to deliver solutions that work (&ldquo;Make-believe solutions,&rdquo; March 31). He illustrates this point well with the examples of airlines, coal, manufacturing, IT, railways and so on. The government has now made it a habit to conveniently point at its coalition partners when it finds itself in trouble. It is functioning more or less as a lame-duck government because no one wants an immediate election. It is unfortunate that a country that is aiming at double-digit growth and claims it can overtake China is stuck in the mire of allegations and scams.

Business Standard

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