He has all the right genes. The second son of former Punjab-based Congress Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Sat Paul Mittal, has been witness to political activity at home right from his school days. Yet, neither Sunil Mittal nor his brothers Rakesh and Rajan have entered politics, yet. Sunil got into business and built India’s largest telecom services company virtually from scratch. Both Rakesh and Rajan have been part of the Bharti Airtel growth story. As polling ended for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the charismatic Sunil Mittal has gone out on a limb and stated that under the circumstances, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did a fine job. He says: “As a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, I have seen him dealing with critical national issues and ensuring that conflicting positions were resolved expeditiously.” This is not the first time that Mittal has endorsed leaders. In January 2009, Sunil Mittal, Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata went all out to endorse Narendra Modi during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit. Mittal had then stated to thunderous applause: "Chief Minister Narendra Modi is known as a CEO, but he is actually not a CEO because he is not running a company or a sector. He is running a state and can also run the nation." With Singh no longer in the political race, there will be many who will analyse his tenure threadbare. So was he an ineffective PM? Mittal does not believe so. He states: “History, I have no doubt, will judge him better than some of the present day commentators, who chose to overlook both the goodness of the man and his extraordinary work.” That remains to be seen. But, the irony is that Singh despite being feted globally as an economist failed to lead the government in his second tenure as Prime Minister starting 2009. Agreed the business environment globally has been tough ever since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. And Singh with a coalition cabinet could not push policy measures while the government faced a series of scams including telecom, coal and the Commonwealth Games. It remains to be seen whether and how quickly the new government can help push up growth rates. But as Mittal sums up, it can be very lonely at the top especially when confronted with politically explosive situations. Singh could now emerge as a great speaker on the global lecture circuit quite like Bill Clinton. And he will no longer need to worry about what others say about him. anup.jayaram@gmail.comanup@businessworld.in
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Chinese investment, retail sales and factory output growth all disappointed in April by hitting multiyear lows, suggesting the world's second-largest economy is still losing steam despite government efforts to shore up activity. Factory output rose 8.7 percent in April from a year earlier, marking the slowest growth in five years, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. The result missed economists' expectations of an 8.9 per cent rise. The lacklustre performance led some analysts to question whether the government may step up efforts to bolster economic growth lest it fall short of the official target of around 7.5 percent. "Whether the government will take enough measures to lessen the downturn, this is the biggest question for now," said Wei Yao, an economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. "The most concerning number is the fixed-asset investment number," she said. "The number basically tells us the housing downturn has more than offset the investment push from the government so far." Fixed-asset investment, a key driver of growth, grew 17.3 per cent in the first four months of the year compared with the same period last year. That was weaker than expected and the worst showing since December 2001. Retail sales also missed forecasts by rising 11.9 per cent in April from a year earlier, the weakest growth in more than five years. To shore up economic growth, Beijing has been loosening policy at the margins by lowering taxes, quickening infrastructure investment, and reducing the amount of cash that the smallest banks have to keep at the central bank to encourage freer lending. But a slowing property market, where revenues for developers are falling even as home prices continue to rise, has heightened the pain of the cooling economy. Data on Tuesday showed revenues from property sales fell 7.8 percent in the first four of months of the year compared with the same period last year. Real estate directly affects about 40 other industries in China and is considered a crucial pillar of the economy. In a sign that China's housing downturn is starting to disconcert authorities, sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the central bank has asked commercial banks to quicken their disbursements of mortgages. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales to rise 12.2 per cent. Fixed-asset investment for the January-April period was seen up 17.7 per cent. (Reuters)
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A Supreme Court-appointed high- powered committee has recommended that names and pictures of political parties and their office bearers like presidents be not mentioned in government advertisements.Holding that there had been "misuse and abuse" of public money on such advertisements, the three-member committee headed by eminent academician Professor N R Madhava Menon has framed guidelines to regulate expenditure and contents of such advertisements paid out of tax payers' money.The report, submitted to the apex court, has emphasised that only pictures and names of the President, the Prime Minister, Governor and Chief Ministers be published to "keep politics away from such ads".Sources said the Committee has also endorsed the suggestions of the Election Commission that there must be "severe" restrictions on such advertisements six months prior to elections.It recommended that a deadline should be fixed for prohibiting their publication and the poll panel should be authorised for the purpose.The committee, also comprising T K Viswanathan, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, recommended that there should only be a single advertisement, preferably by Information and Broadcasting Ministry, in respect of commemorative advertisements, which are given on birth and death anniversary of an important personality. The Committee said that an amount or budget for the public advertisements should be declared by each ministry and public sector undertaking and it should be audited by CAG.The Committee, which also suggested that there should be an implementation committee headed by either Ombudsman, or Cabinet Secretary or Secretary I&B Ministry, said government advertisements should not be allowed to the advantage of the ruling party and for assailing the opposition.Further, sources said that the committee in its guidelines suggested that there should be a clear-cut differentiation between legitimate message of government from that of political message which can be done by enacting legislation.The committee prepared its guidelines by consulting provision of various countries and having meeting with all state governments and political parties.The apex court had on April 24 decided to frame guidelines to prevent misuse of public funds by the government and its authorities in giving advertisements in newspapers and television for political mileage and set up the committee.It had said there is a need to distinguish between the advertisements that are part of government messaging and daily business and advertisements that are politically motivated."In these circumstances, conceding that the existing DAVP policy/guidelines do not govern the issues raised in these writ petitions and do not lay down any criteria for the advertisements to qualify for public purpose as opposed to partisan ends and political mileage, there is a need for substantive guidelines to be issued by this court until the legislature enacts a law in this regard," it said.(Agencies)
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When the cat is away, the mice will play... right? Wrong. At least, India’s storied bureaucracy isn’t having a ball while the politicians are busy electioneering. Instead, some critical government departments are hard at work, ticking off items on their to-do list, so the next government can hit the ground running as soon as it is sworn in.In the first week of May, when external affairs minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid was in the midst of a heated election campaign in Varanasi — the high-profile constituency where party nominee Ajay Rai is taking on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi — his ministry forged ahead with its diplomatic business. The public diplomacy division of the ministry worked equally hard on a campaign of sorts — fighting the negative perception of India’s pharmaceutical industry created by its global rivals. The ministry organised a special screening of a documentary, Fire In The Blood, before representatives of foreign embassies and the international media. It was intended to showcase the life-saving role the Indian generic drug industry has played in making anti-AIDS medicines available to millions of poor patients in Africa at a fraction of the cost charged by innovator brands. The film was screened two days after the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in its annual Special 301 Report, put India on the “priority watch list”, indicating the serious concern that the USTR had about India’s “intellectual property rights (IPR)” compliance levels. India’s response to the USTR report was not limited to this act of public diplomacy. The commerce ministry — the administrative ministry for trade and IPR issues — has already conveyed its stand. Rajeev Kher, commerce secretary, has informed USTR that the right forum to discuss the concerns of the US industry will be the bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF) that is already in place. “We have decided to have the next TPF in June. The secretary (commerce) will meet the deputy USTR during this meeting,” a ministry official said. Here again, there’s no dearth of action despite the election campaign priorities of commerce minister Anand Sharma.The handling of the USTR crisis just goes to show that there is no let-up in business at the commerce ministry. Conferences and meetings continue as scheduled. For instance, on 5 May, a ministry arm — the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties — initiated an inquiry into the alleged dumping of the chemical hexamine by Chinese and UAE firms in the domestic market.The commerce ministry is also busy drafting the Foreign Trade Policy for the next five years —2014-19. Outlining the ministry’s agenda, Kher says the new policy will treat foreign trade as a composite economic activity. “Various government departments and the state governments need to work in tandem. The foreign trade policy should have strategic objectives to address, should be contextualised and not just be an amalgamation of a set of instruments towards export promotion,” says Kher. While the final policy will be announced after the new government assumes office, the draft will be ready for the new minister to examine and approve. break-page-breakThe finance ministry’s role is even more crucial as the country will need a full budget as soon as the new government takes over. “The groundwork has to be completed soon as the new budget has to be passed within a month or two of elections getting over. A draft budget is more or less ready,” says a senior finance ministry official. While the technical details (income and expenditure) will be filled in, the bureaucracy will wait for directions from the new government and tweak the draft as required. The ministry remains a hub of activity for other reasons as well. “There are Plan schemes (schemes approved under the 12th Five-Year Plan) of various ministries that need clearance. Statutory commissions and bodies need to function normally. There are commitments (made and approved already) that need to honoured,” says the official. Naved Masood, secretary, corporate affairs ministry, is, perhaps, the busiest bureaucrat right now. Almost 74 per cent of the laws prescribed in the Companies Act, 2013 can only turn operational when the corresponding rules, clarifiying provisions of the law, are notified. So far, the government has barely notified half of them, and the ones that have been notified require further clarification. “The ministry is working on clarifications of the new rules and is on the verge of notifying an FAQ (frequently asked questions) to allay the fears and doubts of hundreds of companies in relation to the corporate social responsibility rule,” says a company law expert. New forms and procedural guidelines that are needed to comply with the new laws are also being issued almost on a daily basis, while the minister of state for corporate affairs, Sachin Pilot, is occupied with his election campaign.Even the agriculture ministry is working round the clock. With the temporary change in weather conditions over the Pacific Ocean (the El Nino phenomenon) threatening the monsoon this year, the ministry is hard at work on measures to mitigate its effect. The common link that keeps all ministries and departments on their toes is their responsibility to set the initial agenda for the next government. Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth has written to all ministries requesting completion of the ground work before the next government is sworn in.A definite case of the lull being apparent, not real! joe@businessworld.in twitter@joecmathew(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-06-2014)
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Gold tumbled to its lowest level in around 15 months on Monday after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data boosted the dollar, dampening safe-haven appetite for bullion and pushing silver and platinum to multi-year lows.Gold, which often influences other precious metals, has also failed to capitalise on geopolitical tensions caused by military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.Cash gold had fallen 0.20 percent to $1,188.37 an ounce by 0325 GMT. It earlier dropped to $1,183.46 an ounce, its weakest since June 2013.Platinum touched its lowest since 2009, silver fell to its weakest since 2010, and palladium hit an 8-month low."A strong dollar is a major problem for gold. Sentiment is very bearish but I think we expect some kind of rebound," said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, who pegged support at $1,180 an ounce."There's a little bit of physical buying, but premiums haven't changed. We have to see what happens later in the day. If demand is coming, of course, it will push up the premiums."Premiums for gold were quoted at $1.20 to $1.60 an ounce to the spot London prices, unchanged from last week, despite a sharp drop in cash gold prices.The absence of main gold consumer China is weighing on the physical market, which usually sees a pick up in demand from jewellers and retail investors when prices fall.Chinese markets have been shut for national holidays and will reopen on Wednesday.U.S. gold was at $1,189.00 an ounce, down 0.33 percent.The dollar started the week on a strong note in early Asian trade on Monday, holding near a more than four-year high touched after an upbeat U.S. nonfarm payrolls report increased speculation that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in mid-2015 or earlier.Data from the Labor Department on Friday showed U.S. non-farm payrolls rose 248,000 last month and the jobless rate fell to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008, underscoring that the U.S. economy continues to improve.In Tokyo, sellers pushed up premiums for gold bars to 25 cents to spot London prices from zero last week to offset the decline in global prices."At this moment, demand is not good. But maybe when the holiday in China is over, the premiums may go up further," said a dealer in Tokyo.Markets in Singapore, a key bullion trading centre in Southeast Asia, were also closed for a public holiday.(Agencies)
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London is the most popular city in the world to work in, an international survey of more than 200,000 people found, with nearly one in six of those questioned wanting to move to the British capital to secure employment.The study by The Boston Consulting Group and totaljobs.com found respondents from 189 countries ranked London above New York and Paris, while Britain was second behind the United States as the most appealing country for international jobseekers.While the survey - described by its compilers as the most expansive study conducted on worker mobility - found that almost two thirds of jobseekers were willing to move abroad to work, within Britain only 44 percent of people want to move overseas for work."This report cements London's reputation as a truly global city," said Mike Booker, of totaljobs.com. "Not only does it offer a wealth of job opportunities in a range of industries, but it boasts some of the world's top cultural attractions, so it's no surprise that people across the globe want to come and work here."The survey of a mixture of the employed, unemployed, self-employed and students included a mix of people actively looking for a job, those not actively looking but open to opportunities and workers not looking for a new job at the moment.(Reuters)
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