Publicity war 

As BJP's top brass arrive in Hyderabad for the party's national executive meeting, a full-blown publicity war between the BJP and the ruling TRS party has broken out. The whole city is painted both saffron and pink, with flags, posters, banners and hoardings donning the city roads and street corners.

While the BJP's publicity material focuses on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President JP Nadda, the TRS’ banners and posters welcome the Opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha, who is coming to meet the people’s representatives here seeking their votes.

This is the third time in a span of five months that KCR has avoided meeting Modi. The latter has hinted at pursuing a national leadership role, attempting a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance at the national level.

Washroom blues

Mediapersons who had gathered to cover the BJP’s national executive meeting in the posh Novotel Hotel in Hyderabad were in for a rude shock when they realised they had no access to the washrooms inside the hotel premises.

Mobile toilets had been set up outside for mediapersons to use — which were unhygienic. After a lot of persuasion, the women were allowed to use the hotel washrooms but the men were left to use the stinking mobile toilets with no amenities.

PACS puzzle

Last week, the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved computerisation scheme for PACS; and journalists deciphering the official release were left wondering what PACS stood for.

The official press release, issued after Cabinet approval, had three different versions of what PACS meant. Actually Primary Agriculture Credit Societies, the first paragraph called it Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, while the second said Primary Agricultural Cooperative credit societies.

When the BusinessLine reporter called a newly elected president of one of the PACS, he sent a photo of him standing in front of his office where PACS was written in a regional language. When translated it read -- Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society.

Salary hike? Where? 

Recently, a chief investment officer of a top mutual fund house stumped a hack when the latter met him. The CIO said how the India story was fairly robust over the medium term and the icing on the cake was the 15-20 per cent salary hike now playing out in various sectors.

”For the first time in last 15 years, there is now double digit salary hike in the economy,” the CIO asserted, which he said bode well for the economy’s medium-term prospects! Now the hack’s jaw dropped after hearing the quantum of hike. The hack wondered whether the hike was in the IT sector — to which CIO remarked that sector is seeing 40 per cent jump given the attrition concerns!

The hack cheekily asked the CIO whether a bumper salary hike was coming his way this year? Unfortunately ‘no’ said the CIO, as his CEO thinks that such hikes did not apply to senior management!

RBI’s Shrinkflation worries 

The Reserve Bank of India is quite concerned about the prevailing “Shrinkflation” situation in the economy. So when a journalist recently asked a RBI official whether the central bank had the necessary tools to deal with the “Shrinkflation” situation, “yes of course,” was the reply.

When the hack queried the official about the tools, the RBI official’s smart reply was that “Shrinkflation” situation would resolve itself once the main inflation woes were sorted out! This escape clause surprised even the hack.

IBBI’s fee googly

Insolvency regulator IBBI proposes to raise the annual professional fee it levies on insolvency professionals (IPs) from 0.25 per cent of the professional fee earnings in the previous financial year to 2 per cent.

So when a seasoned journalist broke this news to an IP, pat came a question from the IP — so what will the IBBI provide in return for this eight-fold hike in fee? Our Bureaus

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