Hard Talk
Raghuram Rajan's Washington visit for the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, and the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors created quite a stir. In one of his addresses there, while talking about India as the 'bright spot' amid the global economic gloom, he said, "I think we have still to get to a place where we feel satisfied. We have this saying, 'in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king'." Owing to a political backlash, Rajan was compelled to clarify his remark. "I want to apologise to a section of the population, the visually impaired, who might be hurt by my statement. My intent in saying 'one-eyed King in the land of the blind' was to say that our outperformance is in the midst of global weakness," he said.
Caught in a Storm
A group of investors in SoftBank Group Corp. reportedly called on the board to investigate and possibly sack Nikesh Arora, the company's heir apparent to billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, over potential conflicts of interest due to his role as an advisor to a private equity firm. The letter also questions his track record and qualifications. SoftBank refuted the allegations levelled at Arora and stated that it was aware of his advisory role at Silver Lake. In a statement, Son, the CEO of SoftBank, said, "I have complete trust in Nikesh and one thousand per cent confidence in him". Arora's salary made headlines last year with reports that SoftBank had paid him $135 million for his tenure between September 2014 and March 2015.
Change of Roles
In a major bureaucratic rejig by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Ashok Lavasa, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. He replaces Ratan Watal who retired on April 30. Lavasa, a 1980 batch IAS officer from the Haryana cadre, will be replaced by Ajay Narayan Jha, the erstwhile Special Secretary, Department of Expenditure.
Law and Behold!
Liqour baron Vijay Mallya's respite in Britain could soon be over. The Ministry of External Affairs has written to the United Kingdom seeking his deportation. The Indian government has already revoked Mallya's passport for non-cooperation with investigators after he ignored three summons by the Enforcement Directorate. There is also a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Mallya.
A Cry for Justice
At the Annual Chief Ministers and Chief Justices Conference, Tirath Singh Thakur, Chief Justice of India (CJI) broke down while lamenting about the Centre's delay in appointing judges and increasing the number of courts, thus denying the poor man and under-trial prisoners their due justice. "I feel that if nothing else has helped justice, an emotional appeal might," Thakur said to an audience comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his fellow Supreme Court judges, High Court Chief Justices and former CJIs.
