View Articles

Flamboyant Vijay Mallya’s now defunct dream airliner Kingfisher Red had an inbuilt recipe for disaster ever since it began operations in early 2005. He confided to many at the time that his main objective of starting this venture was to “finish” Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways. This led to not just a cut throat competition which is acceptable in business, but a new and untested business model which was unsustainable in the long run.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the date for the crucial Kerala Assembly elections having been announced, the process of candidate-selection by various parties has gathered speed. The State Assembly elections will be held on May 16.

The second Gyan Sangam that wound up its two-day brainstorming deliberations on March 5 under the initiative of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who launched in Pune in January 2015 the maiden one, has come out with an endorsement for bank consolidation so that the behemoth structure of public sector banks can be pared down to render them effective and efficient results on the ground.

Making of a Railway budget is always a difficult exercise in India as this is one area where every member of Parliament wants something to be done in his constituency irrespective of whether the project is technically feasible or economically viable. So it is a tight-rope walk for any Railway minister in blending populism with requirement. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has done well in this balancing act this year, his second Railway Budget. Given the resource constraints, he has done well to present a growth-oriented and pragmatic Rail Budget that strives to bring smile on everybody's face while trying to consolidate and fix the creaking rail infrastructure.

With assembly elections knocking at the door, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has become conscious of the menace and rule of terror of the crime syndicates and their bosses. The syndicates have been active in West Bengal for years, but the Mamata government preferred to ignore their presence. The reason was they suited to the needs of the Trinamool Congress and its government.

Why does the government have to routinely make distressed year-end sale of PSU stocks to cover its annual budget deficit at huge cost to ordinary shareholders? For instance, for only Rs. 5,030 crore the government sold some 41.22 crore NTPC shares, representing five per cent of its stake in the country’s largest power company, at a throwaway floor price of Rs.122 apiece. Twenty per cent shares were reserved for retail investors. The sale deal was opened and closed just a few days before the 2016-17 budget was presented in Parliament. Stock traders knew it was coming. NTPC stock prices remained suppressed for quite some time. In fact, few PSU stocks in the market command a fare value vis a vis private sector competition. Before the NTPC sale offer, the scrip was trading in the secondary market at Rs 124.70, down 1.69 per cent over the previous evening close.

It is understandable why the BJP has been unnerved by the ongoing student unrest rather than by the protests of the established parties. When the BJP won in 2014, it saw before it a virtually deserted political field since all its opponents stood discredited in the eyes of the people because of their sleaze and skullduggery.

Few things capture the seat-at-big-table yearnings of something as petty as Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan as the launch of the 12-language 24X7 tourist helpline started on February 8, 2016 by Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture. As some aspirational browns want to look and act like whites while retaining Bollywood inspired Hindi-Hindu characteristics a.k.a. “Indian culture”, it is important to understand the anti-people ideology than lies beneath some apparently people-friendly initiatives, such as the 12 language helpline.

Rahul Gandhi was at his best when he spoke in Lok Sabha in the debate on President’s address. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too in his reply was sharp and focused but skipped responding to direct questions on issues before Parliament like JNU, the Rohith Vemula suicide or his Pakistan policy. Rahul mocked the government for what he called “the fair and lovely scheme” on black money, asked job creation numbers from “Babbarsher” of “Make in India” and taunted ministers for not speaking before PM out of fear.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: These are bad times for the Congress-0led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government. Two legal setbacks followed by a major political jolt. That has been the lot of the UDF, which has sunk deeper into the mire as a result.