Below The Line

No sooner had the Facebook controversy gone public, than the political parties who use social media to the fullest got busy throwing darts at each other on misuse of data. Even the PM’s mobile App has not been left untainted with allegations that it too sought permission to access the camera, emails and contacts stored in a mobile device.

However, one of the officials said, “The permissions required are all contextual and cause-specific. For example, a selfie campaign requires access to the camera and/or photo gallery. If a person has entered his email address and date of birth, he receives a personalised birthday greeting from the PM.”

“Contact access is required to connect with friends or fellow party workers on the New India connect module. So, each function asks for the specific permission when access is required. The app does not ask for blanket permissions when the app is started,” he added.

The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India are taking a long time to finalise the borrowing calendar for the first half of 2018-19. Initial discussions began on March 24 while a formal announcement is expected on March 26. Ministry officials promptly told journalists not to expect any “bytes” on Saturday. “You enjoy your weekend and let us enjoy ours!” they joked.

The ministry of mines issued guidelines for framing rules to regulate sand mining across the country last week. State governments are expected to keep them in mind while formulating legislation for controlling sand mining. These rules were launched with much fanfare in New Delhi amidst a gathering of industry and government mining sector representatives. But, hardly any of the attendees could lay their hands on the rules. This was because the organisers could not print enough copies and did not have soft copies either. If this does not define bureaucratic mismanagement, then we don’t know what does.

Power and Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh was caught in a tight spot after he called for a press conference without a well-defined agenda.

Journalists were asked to seek clarification on power sector issues. Sensing an opportunity, journalists fired a salvo of questions, forcing the minister into saying they should stop making up questions as they went along. The interaction was intended to be a bi-weekly affair, but after this experience, it has been put off indefinitely.

With debt and bankruptcy being the flavour of the season, the topic has now become an ice-breaker at press conferences and social functions alike. It seems it has also shifted the spotlight from chief executive officers to chief financial officers and financial directors.

At a recent conference organised by a listed consumer durable company to announce a new pact, the CEO chaired the round table, while the CFO sat quietly listening to proceedings — till someone asked about the company’s debt situation.

The CFO broke into a wide smile and said that the company was cash-positive and debt-free, quipping that it was a rare privilege to be the CFO of such a company these days. Some CFOs are indeed having the last laugh.

One thing is for sure. As the financial year comes to an end for public sector banks on March 31 none of them are going to get even a single rupee out of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (IBC) proceedings of the 12 cases referred to the National Company Law Tribunal by the RBI in the first list.

At stake for these lenders is defaults worth a whopping ₹2.54 lakh crore.

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