Demystifying the Budget
Demystifying the Budget
Making sense of the Budget (Welcome to UPA's New Economic Order, March 21) reminds me of the story of the three blind men strugglingto describe the elephant from touching different parts of its anatomy. Your clear-eyed account of the Budget has saved us the troubleof having to hack through economic jargon to get a complete picture of the Budget.
— Neeraj Thakur, Pune
Bold and Forward-looking
Budget 2010 aims to put the country's economic wheels on a train of reform with a clear destination. At a time when many advanced countries of Europe, like Greece, Spain and Italy, are facing an economic crisis due to their fiscal profligacy, the Budget sends out a clear message of its intent to repair public finances and bring fiscal rectitude to economic governance through reduction and reorientation of subsidies and taxes.
— Ashok Jayaram, Bangalore
Heirs Apparent
It's easy to inherit a flourishing family business but a difficult ball game taking it to new heights (Gen Next: The New Inheritors, BT cover, March 7). But I hope the young Turks featured in your story will strive to take their family businesses to greater heights. They already seem to have a head start by beginning young and learning the tricks of the trade from their elders. The older generation, on its part, should lay out a clear succession plan so as to preempt any heartburn among competing siblings and to avoid distractions.
— Bal Govind, Noida
Young Legatees
Gen Next: The New Inheritors is an engaging read about Indian family business and how these are being taken forward by the next generation of scions. Your story shows, in illuminating detail, the new mindset of the progeny and the manner in which they are bringing their own perspective and understanding of business to help catalyse change and infuse fresh ideas and dynamism to traditional family businesses.
— B. Rajasekaran, Bangalore
Chinese Prices
In Dragon Drives into the Indian Auto Components Market (BT, Feb. 21) you mention that the price of Chinese auto components is about 35 per cent lower than components sourced locally. That makes the price of Chinese components absurdly low. Is it possible to identify what hidden or obvious cost advantage(s) they enjoy which we don't?
— A. N. Parakh, Mumbai
Many Called, Few Chosen
In The Best Companies to Work For (BT cover, Feb. 7) you point out that over a million candidates apply for a job in Infosys and only 16,000 or so get selected. In the software company I work for only 8 to 12 applicants out of a total of 800 are selected. The tough selection process is a reflection of the quality of resources available to the software industry as a whole rather than the desirability of a particular company.
— Manish Pathak
