below the line . When age becomes a hurdle

Age is not just a number and who better than the bureaucracy to talk about it. Finding themselves being cornered by age limit, the Indian Statistical Service Association has represented to the government against the eligibility criteria fixed for appointment to the post of Chief Statistician of India-cum-Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The government, on July 17, invited applications for the post of CSI-cum-Secretary, MoSPI, wherein the maximum age for eligibility to apply has been fixed at 55 years.

In its representation, the association sought restoring the eligibility criterion for the post to minimum 52 years as opposed to a maximum age of 55 years so that officers from the Service who have the experience and expertise may be considered. Wonder if the government is listening.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has been closely monitoring various claims being made by companies during the pandemic, as social media users have also been quick to tag ASCI to bring such ads to its notice. .

Recently, a social media user shared an image of a bread brand with immunity-boosting claims on its label that stated: “Ayush Ministry recommended immunity ingredients now in bread.”

The Council tweeted on Thursday, “ASCI examined the complaint and we are happy to share that the advertiser has confirmed that the product is withdrawn from the market.” It has also been urging consumers to register complaints against misleading advertisements on Twitter.

All eyes are on Disinvestment Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as he puts together a new policy that will identify strategic and non-strategic sectors. Whether banking will be in the strategic bucket is the big question.

When quizzed on where banking will be placed, the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said “…Whether banks are strategic or non-strategic will be declared by Pandey in a few days. For now he is keeping this info close to his chest, although he has shared it with us. That’s a process that will happen.”

Bottomline — brace up for privatisation.

A bank union leader cheekily said in private, “We all know this (privatisation) is coming. Either way they will call the dog mad and kill it.”

Awfully high power bills during Covid have become the order of the day. But, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd has hit upon an innovative method to solve consumer complaints made through its app. It is using system generated messages not only for acknowledging complaints but also for resolving them. In less than three days, complainants get a reply via SMS saying ‘service request ID xxx is resolved’.

Neither the problem or the date of its resolution is mentioned. ‘Please call MSEDCL customer care 1912 if any issue’, it adds.

Does the ‘powerful’ company really care for its consumers?

When we remember corona warriors, society thinks of only doctors, police, sanitary workers, etc., said Ashish Chauhan, MD and CEO of BSE, last week. We also recognise the contribution of bankers. However, equity brokers, their employees and market infrastructure institutions are seldom mentioned as corona warriors, he rued.

Webinars have become the norm nowadays, but can they match a physical seminar? In a global event recently, there was a tech glitch and participants were frantically discussing in chat boards, their inability to hear one of India's leading CEOs. Unlike in the physical world, organisers were nowhere to be found.

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