Independent directors

This refers to the article ‘Corporate boards on a slippery slope’ (April 30). An ethical independent director must be very loyal to their indirect bosses (shareholders), rather than (being loyal) to their direct bosses. Independent directors (IDs) are rightly in a position to uphold the principles laid down to manage the business without flaws and act as custodian of shareholders’ interest, especially minority shareholders. Creating a panel of meritorious professionals, from which the appointment of IDs can be made by the listed companies, is a right approach. Moreover, whenever an ID is ejected or resigns from the board of a company, SEBI, after having sought report from the company concerned, should initiate an inquiry on its own to verify the true cause of ouster or resignation.

In the present Indian political milieu where appointments of people to high-profile positions in autonomous entities are reported to being done at the will of the government, it is doubtful if the political inferences in the appointment of IDs to the PSB (public sector bank) boards and in sanctioning of loans can be stopped.

An ID — like a guide — is being paid for preserving good corporate governance and suggesting to the company the right course of action towards achieving its goal. .

Cuddalore district, TN

Despite cries from the Opposition that the government is trying to ‘privatise’ India’s heritage, the move by the state to allow private corporations to ‘adopt’ national monuments is a welcome one. Actually what is being missed here is that this ‘Adopt a Heritage’ programme is just a repackaged and rebranded scheme of the BJP government that was initiated in 1996 under then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Though the programme was started under his government, neither UPA 1 nor UPA 2 had any problems with it. I understand several MoU were signed under the plan when the UPA government was in power. . There is nothing wrong in a private entity using the heritage value of the cultural property to generate money. However, it should be done in a way that suits the spirit of the place and in a manner that doesn’t harm the heritage under question.

Hyderabad

The discernible bonhomie witnessed between the leaders of two Asian giants, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the informal summit at Wuhan is indeed heartening. That the two leaders have expressed the willingness to walk the extra mile to resolve the contentious issues between the two countries through existing mechanisms of dialogue by not allowing bilateral movement to be hit bore a clear testament to their unflinching faith in the process of dialogue and diplomacy to usher in an era of permanent peace. Burying the hatchet by keeping all the bilateral and geo-political differences at bay cannot happen overnight. Wuhan informal summit is a good beginning and would hopefully yield better dividends for both the countries.

Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

Prime Minister’s pakoda politics seems to be surely having a trickle-down effect. Possibly taking a cue from Modi who had suggested in a media interview that even selling pakodas constitutes employment, the Chief Minister of Tripura, Biplab Deb, has advised educated youth in his State to “set up paan shops instead of hankering after political parties for government jobs.” According to him, apart from setting up paan shops, jobless youngsters can consider “milking cows”. He further urged the educated youth to become self-employed by engaging in start-ups in the animal resource sector with bank loans under the Mudra scheme.

With ₹75,000 bank borrowing, they can easily earn at least ₹25,000 a month, opines the BJP chief minister, who seems to have his own vision of ‘New India.’ Also, it looks he is convinced that the unemployment is largely on account of narrow-minded youngsters refusing to take up such jobs as poultry and farming.

Mysuru

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