Uttar Pradesh is a serial offender when it comes to providing electricity supply and demand data. The State government routinely furnishes figures that indicate it has zero deficit. Despite this, residents keep suffering from power cuts. With the build-up to next year’s Assembly elections well on the way, Power Minister Piyush Goyal responded to a question on what the people of the State should do to get electricity, by saying: “In such States, people should wait till the next elections and vote in the party which promises 24x7 power for all.”  Got that, voters?

Aggressive Andhra Pradesh

AP’s chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, has earned a reputation for aggressively wooing investments to his State and expediting implementation of projects.

Recently when a company in Tamil Nadu planning a ₹ 200-crore investment in auto components production got a call out of the blue from the AP CM’s office, it was nonplussed. It sent a representative to the industry department there and when the executive was assured the invitation was indeed from the CM’s office, promoters rushed to the meeting. Andhra Pradesh does not just facilitate investments coming to it but active scouts for potential opportunities and goes after investments, say those in the know. 

Club mania

The West Bengal government’s decision to offer donations to clubs triggered an unprecedented rush to register new clubs. The Registrar of Societies received 72,000 applications in the last two or three months as against a previous average of barely 30-60 applications a month! In its first term in office, the Mamata Banerjee government had extended cash assistance of about ₹1-2 lakh a year to some 7,000 registered clubs in the State. This came to a total of about ₹105 crore. If the policy continues this time around as well, the outgo is set to rise dramatically in the years to come.

Political health

Britain’s political health may really come down to its healthcare, according to a senior official from the UK. The ‘Queen’s land’ which is set for a referendum on whether or not it wants to remain in the European Union, depends on expats from all over the world working in various sectors, and this includes its somewhat ailing healthcare system. The debate has several considerations, including economic. However, given the strict visa regulations and salary structures for workers from countries other than the EU which is putting a strain on UK’s healthcare, the large workforce from EU is crucial and may be a big consideration.

Sage advice

At a felicitation ceremony at Delhi international airport recently, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had some advice for the GMR group, which had bagged the Delhi airport contract under PPP model. “Now that you (GMR group) have had good ‘learnings’ over the last decade about the PPP model and the running of Delhi international airport, it’s time you focus on improving your earnings from the same,” he quipped, sending those assembled into peals of laughter. 

Drained by good wishes

When the Indian CEO of one of the big Silicon Valley-based tech company was in the process of moving to a large social networking company, he had to deal with an interesting problem. By the time he got off the flight, news of his imminent move resulted in the CEO’s phone recording more than 200 instant messages from employees, friends, and acquaintances.

The result? The CEO’s mobile phone battery drained out completely by the time he was halfway through responding to all the calls and messages. Guess CEOs nowadays need to manage social media too, apart from company performances!

 

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