-Livemint.com * Privatizing more PSUs is once again the flavour of the season. But data reveals govt is ignoring some hard truths * There are only a handful of sectors where a disproportionate market share and the nature of business gives government firms a case to command a premium About 10 days after the central government iterated on the floor of Parliament its resolve to privatize businesses owned by it on a scale...
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Education Ministry’s notification on virtual seminars unenforceable, say academics -Kallol Bhattacherjee and Priscilla Jebaraj
-The Hindu Permission required from MEA to hold them, and also for issues ‘related to India’s internal matters’ A new notification by the Ministry of Education that requires public funded institutions to seek permission from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before organising virtual academic seminars is “unenforceable”, leading academics have said. An official of the Ministry of Education defended the order as a “simplified permission system” but there is little clarity...
More »Will the government's stand on privatisation of public sector units help the economy? -K Bharat Kumar
-The Hindu * What is the push behind the strategic disinvestment move? What are the gains? The story so far: On November 20, the government announced that it would sell stakes in several public sector undertakings (PSUs) and even give up management control in some. The Central government will cede full management control to buyers in the case of oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)...
More »Private insurers set to make Rs 3000 crore profit from crop cover, PSUs in loss -George Mathew
-The Indian Express According to the annual report of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), as much as Rs 11,905.89 crore was collected by 11 private sector insurers as premium, but they faced insurance claims of only Rs 8,831.78 crore. Mumbai: ELEVEN private insurers are set to register profits of over Rs 3,000 crore cumulatively from crop insurance business for the year-ending March 2018 as against the Rs...
More »What Ails CAG, and What Can Be Done? -BP Mathur
-Centre for Financial Accountability blog The institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in India is patterned on the British model. In Britain, The Exchequer & Audit Department Act of 1866 created the office of CAG with a view to strengthen democracy and exercise parliamentary control over national finances. The office of CAG came into being, thanks to the missionary zeal of William Gladstone who was Finance Minister at the time...
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