Economy
Government mulls direct cash transfers by dropping money bags from the sky
Mar. 3 |Government claims that dropping money bags solves the problem of identifying the eligible BPL households for cash transfers, which could otherwise take several months under the AADDHAR program of Unique Identification Authority of India. The step is further claimed as being “self-selecting” as it automatically excluded many “non-deserving” segments of society, such as the salaried classes, which is constrained from going out in search of bags.
Union Budget speech printouts found in Parliament canteen
Mar. 2 |If you order pakora or samosa from Parliament’s canteen, chances are high that you would be handed those out wrapped in a paper, as is the accepted business practice everywhere in the country, but what is making the practice special here is the fact that those papers are actually the printouts of Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee just a couple of days back.
Economist takes 6-yr-old son to court over “microloan” default
Oct. 30 |A 6 year old will go to court today charged with defaulting on a loan from his father. Krishna Venugopal, 38, a professor of economics from Chennai, has asked a local court to send his son, Vijay, to the “naughty corner” for twenty minutes for having failed to pay back the principal as well as interest on the 50 rupees loan he took from his father.
Ahead of “bovine flood”, Spain outsources bullfighting to the Jat community
Sep. 28 |Even as US President Barack Obama is trying to block outsourcing to India, India got a major shot in the arm when the Kingdom of Spain announced its intentions to outsource bullfighting to the Jat community in India. The step has been announced at a time when the community leaders have decided to “flood” Delhi with their cattle on the opening day of the Commonwealth Games.
CWG has created an “unsustainable satire bubble”, experts warn
Sep. 25 |Construction companies, equipment suppliers and corrupt officials have all experienced both the good times and stinging criticism during the run up to the Commonwealth Games. But now Delhi’s satire writers have come under fire for taking part in the “feeding frenzy” surrounding the games. Experts believe that this has created an “unsustainable satire bubble” that was waiting to burst anytime.
Pakistan divided over what symbol to choose for its own rupee
Jun. 24 |With India all set to declare a unique identification symbol for its currency, demands for declaration of a symbol for Pakistani rupee too have started growing in Pakistan, even as opinions in the civil society appear divided over it. While the pro-symbol groups believe that such a step will help their nation catch up with the Indian economy, the anti-symbol groups believe it to be against the basic Islamic principles.
Chai wallah hires McKinsey to find out if he should sell Omelets and Maggi too
Apr. 16 |Rambhai, the famous tea stall owner outside IIM Ahmedabad campus, has decided to hire global management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company to advise him over his plans to sell Omelets and Maggi alongside tea and cigarettes. Rambhai has been mulling over diversifying his portfolio of products and services for quite some time now, and finally decided to take the route usually taken by astute business managers.
“Work from Toilet” scheme mooted for people with stomach problems
Mar. 15 |Are you one of those who are forced to spend hours in bathroom on toilet seats due to some stomach problem or because you just love being there? This hobby or handicap of yours might have proved to be an impediment to a regular employment till now, but things could soon improve. A leading recruitment consultancy company has mooted the idea of Work from Toilet jobs.
IIM student has started believing his salary quoted by media
Mar. 10 |In a serious development raising concerns of his well being, an IIM student has started believing that he would actually be getting the same amount of cash in hand as has been reported by media for being his annual salary. The 24-year-old student from one of the top IIMs (campus withheld to protect identity) bagged a job offer of 1.92 crore rupees as per media reports.
Opposition walks out over one thing they could understand in Union Budget
Feb. 26 |The opposition parties walked out of the parliament as soon as they could make sense of one sentence of the budgetary speech by the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, which hinted at rise in prices of petrol and diesel. But the government is hopeful that the negative impact of this price-rise would be negated by the lower prices of solar rickshaws, which will help deal with the food crisis.
