BJP Minister and party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad’s accusation that the Gandhi family had made a killing on land deals at a press conference last week seems to have had a negative impact.
The video showing the Minister stating that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sold a piece of land she had bought in 2006 at five times the price four years later went viral on social media with the clip attracting around 17,000 views already. Most of those who commented on the tweet wanted to know what was so unusual about it as land prices had appreciated in many parts of the country over the years.
Most of them were curious as to why the NDA government which was in power for nearly five years didn’t act on this information, raising the suspicion whether the BJP was trying to protect its own cadre.
Public or private bank?
The Reserve Bank of India’s recent move this past week to re-categorise IDBI Bank as a private sector bank had created a stir in banking circles for more reasons than one. First, a majority of Indians may be wondering as to how IDBI Bank can be categorised as private sector bank when state-owned LIC has a 51 per cent holding in the bank. This would also mean that the IDBI Bank will not see the Centre’s capital support coming its way whenever future public sector bank recap exercises are undertaken.
If banking industry experts are to be believed, IDBI Bank may have been categorised as private sector bank, but that does end CAG oversight on the bank. How you may wonder?
Well logic goes like this — LIC is state owned and so CAG as the government’s auditor has a say on the functioning of LIC. Now since IDBI Bank is LIC’s subsidiary, CAG will have an oversight on the bank.
So it is only for RBI’s regulatory purposes that IDBI Bank is a private sector bank. Now it will be interesting to see if the Department of Financial Services toes the RBI’s line and considers IDBI Bank as private sector bank and exempt it from the daily video conferencing it does with the top brass of banks, quipped a banking industry insider.
Mind games
For the first time ever, a target company is fighting a potential takeover bid by using buyback of shares. Bengaluru-based Mindtree has convened a board meeting on March 20 to consider buyback.
This exercise is expected to increase the cost of acquisition for L&T Infotech, which is widely seen as buyer interested in picking Mindtree’s strategic investor VG Siddhartha’s (of the Cafe Coffee Day Group) 21 per cent stake in Mindtree and later launch a takeover attempt. So is the market for corporate control is coming of age?
Praise for ‘sober news’
In an era where the media is often accused of ‘sensationalisation’, it was refreshing to hear phrases such as ‘sober news’ and ‘reflective analysis’ coming from none other than former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
On March 15, speaking to a packed house at the BusinessLine Changemakers Awards, Singh said BusinessLine has made a name for itself for “sober news” and “reflective analysis”.
He went on to say that The Hindu Group's decision to start a business daily in 1994 reflected a new national mood of change in the making of economic policy.