Innholdsfortegnelse for 5-May-19 i Business Today

The banks have been spared the blushes, at least temporarily, in the case of Jet Airways. After extending the deadline for submission of Expression of Interest (EoI), they have managed to attract several potential suitors. This reportedly includes several private equity firms as well as Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways, which had 24 per cent stake but refused overtures from banks earlier to put in additional money. Naresh Goyal, the founder of the airline, who had been ejected last week by the lenders as a condition for lending emergency funds to the airline, submitted his last minute EoI for the stake on sale. Whether it is with a partner or on his own is not clear. The government, too, must be heaving a big sigh of relief. It did not…

WITH ANNUAL water availability below 1,700 cubic metres per person, India is water-stressed, according cording to the UN, and by 2050, the country could well reach the water scarcity level of 1,000 cubic metres. This is due to over-exploitation of rivers and ground water sources, besides lack of rain water harvesting and other conservation efforts. According to the Niti Aayog, 600 million people face high-to-extreme water stress in the country, while 75 per cent households do not have access to drinking water on premises. With rising temperatures and frequent droughts, it will be difficult for the country to ensure sufficient water for drinking and irrigation. Water being a state subject, governments must focus on right pricing of urban water to encourage efficient use, while ensureing equity through consumption slabs. Alongside,…

A DECADE AGO, Dhanlaxmi Bank was probably the first old private sector bank to see the entry of an outside professional to manage it. But results were not encouraging. Around the same time, RBL Bank (earlier Ratnakar Bank), which had undergone a big turnaround in operations, saw the entry of a professional from Bank of America. More recently, Catholic Syrian Bank saw global investor Prem Watsa making an entry with a war chest of funds. The latest to get hitched is Laxmi Vilas Bank, and housing finance company India Bulls. The merger was announced last week. While the merger has to get RBI’s nod, the message is clear – merge or professionalise management to stay afloat. The entry of a dozen small finance banks is changing the lending landscape with…

900 MILLION Estimated number of voters in the 2019 elections, compared to 834 million in 2014 ₹46.4 The highest ever average expenditure per voter, and this was during the 2014 general elections ₹2.04 The average expenditure per voter was around ₹2 in 1984/85 elections, translating into an equivalent inflation adjusted present value of approximately ₹16 0.76 TIMES Total cost of 2014 elections was higher than the total expenditure incurred on all the previous general elections…

FIRST, IT WAS ENGLISH. Then came regional languages. And now, audio messages may gain traction on social media. Instagram has added a voice messaging feature to its direct messages. Facebook is testing an ‘add voice clip’ feature, which allows users to record short audio clips and post them as status updates, reflecting how they are feeling. Professional networking platform LinkedIn has also launched an option to record and send audio clips along with text messages. P.G. Aditiya, Executive Creative Director of Dentsu Webchutney, says that the voice component will impact developing markets a lot more than the developed world as it solves the problem of ‘written illiteracy’. “Voice is a very pertinent innovation for a country like ours where none of us speaks the same language or type in the…

1992: Jet Airways incorporated; commences operations as air taxi operator in 1993 with a fleet of four Boeing 737 aircraft 1994: Frequent flier programme JetPrivilege introduced 1997: Naresh Goyal acquires 40 per cent equity from initial investors — Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways — to become 100 per cent owner of foreign entity Tail Winds, which owned 99.99 per cent of Jet. Gets delivery of first purchased aircraft 2004: Starts international operations with Chennai to Colombo flight. Becomes first airline to launch e-ticketing on its website 2005: Launches IPO to fund international expansion; IPO is subscribed 16 times. Starts inter-continental flight linking Mumbai with London on a widebody Airbus A340 2007: Acquires loss-making Air Sahara for $340 million; renames it JetLite, a low-cost carrier 2008: Fires 1,900 employees and then…

The Five-Year Story Business sentiment index is lower than it was before the 2014 elections BCI by Sector Services are most upbeat BCI by Size* Big and medium businesses are more positive than others *Big businesses: Turnover > ₹500 crore; Medium businesses: Turnover ₹100-500 crore; Small businesses: Turnover ₹5-100 crore; Micro businesses: Turnover < ₹5 crore If economic growth is a yardstick, the current government is ending its term on a stronger wicket than its predecessor. Estimates released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in January pegged 2018/19 gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.2 per cent, higher than the 6.9 per cent rise in the last year (2013/14) of the previous government. Yet, the micro indicators seem weak. Industrial growth has plunged to low single digits, the unemployment rate…

As the deep-pocketed private dairy companies struggle to make their presence felt in the Indian dairy industry, a number of regional milk entrepreneurs are quietly charting an impressive growth journey. They are not just going by the dairy rule book of procuring milk from farmers but are also investing in brand building. They are beginning to give stiff competition to local cooperatives as well as the private companies. Milk Mantra, based out of Bhubaneswar, collects 1,20,000 litres of milk daily from a farmer network of 5,500. Despite selling its milk brand, Milky Moo, for ₹1 more than what the local cooperative charges, it has been able to build a consumer base on the back of quality. “There is a clear opportunity for well differentiated products,” says the Milk Mantra Founder,…

YOU recently announced the sale of ABB’s power grid business to Hitachi. What will be the focus of the new ABB entity? A: The new ABB will be a leader in technology, focussed entirely on digital industries. At present, we provide a range of offerings for digital needs of industries. One is our industrial automation solutions for process industries which drive competitiveness of our customers. We also provide technology solutions through our robot and discrete manufacturing business. We also have a big presence in the motion business, focussing on motors, drives, mechanical power transmission, etc. So, the new ABB is poised to be the partner of choice, helping customers in different industrial segments tap the opportunities of industrial digitalisation. So, what has changed in terms of focus? How will the…

Ripudaman Singh, 41, a professional working in the e-commerce industry, plans to retire at the age of 60. Till about four years back, he was relying solely on his employees’ provident fund (EPF) for retirement savings. Singh got a rude shock when his financial planner told him that he won’t be able to afford his current lifestyle during the sunset years with only the EPF money. There are many people like Ripudaman who rely only on their provident fund for retirement expenses. EPF is a tax-efficient, long-term investment product but contributions to it are limited — 12 per cent of the basic salary and matching employer contribution. Part of the employer’s contribution (which is 8.3 per cent, generally subject to a maximum of ₹1,250) goes towards employees’ pension scheme. Frequent…

Banks are quick to raise interest rates whenever the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increases the repurchase (repo) rate. However, they act slowly in passing on the benefit of a rate cut to borrowers. The RBI has taken several measures – linking loans with internal benchmarks such as base rate and marginal-cost-based lending rate (MCLR) – to make the way banks fix interest rates more transparent. But the results have not been encouraging. Banks continue to charge borrowers arbitrarily, using internal benchmarks and spreads. Enter external benchmarking. Under the new mechanism proposed by the RBI, banks will have to price their loans on the basis of external benchmarks such as the repo rate, the 91-day treasury bill yield, the 182-day T-bill yield or any other benchmark market interest rate produced…

TALK OF FLAGSHIP PHONES and many would discard Huawei as a serious contender. But the Chinese manufacturer has come out with stunning technology breakthroughs, the latest being the P30 Pro that can compete with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and Google Pixel 3 XL and beat them on the camera front. This one houses a Leica quad camera set-up at the rear and uses the RYYB sensor for the primary lens (instead of the standard RGB sensor), which captures 40 per cent more light and is extremely convenient for low-light photography. The rear camera module comprises a 20 MP ultrawide angle lens at the top, a 40 MP primary wide angle lens in the middle and an 8 MP ‘SuperZoom’ telephoto lens and a time-of-flight (ToF) camera placed…

DIGITAL DENTISTRY is all about using tech tools for dental procedures. According to Dr Mehta, a digital scan helps a dental surgeon simulate an implant on screen before attempting it in real, thus leading to better outcomes. But computer-guided surgical interventions are expensive and a tooth implant could cost between ₹35,000 and ₹1 lakh. Dr Surendra Kumar thinks there will be a huge demand for implants as part of rehabilitation dentistry, helping people who have lost their teeth due to decay/diseases or trauma. And costs often vary depending on the quality of implant materials (usually imported). Titanium and zirconium implants are generally preferred (the latter is more expensive) as these are biocompatible and do not cause inflammation or other complications.…

MOTOFUMI SHITARA, CHAIRMAN, YAMAHA MOTOR INDIA GROUP OF COMPANIES Under his leadership, focus on premium motorbikes and key launches helped the Japanese giant post growth in a slowing Indian two-wheeler market in FY2018/19. Q. The biggest challenge in your career A. It happened when the Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. At the time, I was associated with Yamaha’s marine business. Sales of large-sized boats were rising in the US and we had to set up a new factory to increase the production of outboard motors. But we suffered a huge loss that year due to the meltdown. I was then asked to shift to business planning and rebuild the marine business. We made it profitable next year by thoroughly reviewing the company’s internal costs and taking some necessary steps. It…

STAY CONNECTED WITH US ON www.facebook.com/BusinessToday@BT_India PERSPECTIVES How Data Science Enables Life-long Learning Just the college degree is not enough. The future of work is about up-skilling every few years businesstoday.in/degreed-datascience Aadhaar Authentication Rate Improves, But Fertiliser DBT Performance Is Poor The authentication process is turning digital, but farmers and retailers still prefer cash transactions businesstoday.in/aadhaar-fertiliser.retailers IBC Delivering Results; A Reform Modi, Jaitley Should Be Proud of Despite its flaws and constraints, the insolvency law looks promising in the long term businesstoday.in/ibc-reform.modi Supreme Court Strikes Down RBI’s Feb 12 Circular; What Should Banks Do? The circular had mandated that banks consider as stressed all companies with loan exposure above ₹2,000 crore even if they default by a day businesstoday.in/sc-rbi.circular PM Modi Biopic: How BJP Exploits Grey Areas in Regulations Can…

A BIOPIC ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a digital series on him on Eros Now to characters of leading television shows talking about the various initiatives taken by the current government, the BJP has used all means to promote their leader. The Election Commission did stop the release of the biopic till the end of the elections. But, is this blatant publicity in accordance with the Election Commission’s moral code of conduct? The BJP would have surely found a grey area. But the bigger question is whether it will help the current government come back to power. One reason why the Vajpayee government’s India Shinning campaign failed was because it was overdone. TV, print and radio platforms were blasted with 52 different ads boasting about the then PM Atal Bihari…

MUKESH AMBANI, who has traditionally been keen on building greenfield assets, is on a takeover spree. He has acquired stakes in about 20 start-ups and half-a-dozen small firms over the past 24 months. According to company insiders, the acquisitions have become a necessity, especially after Reliance Jio was launched. Ambani targets to create a bouquet of digital products of global standard which can counter the likes of Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft. At a time when the digital world is going through disruption, buying assets and technologies to stay ahead of the curve is considered positive. But can Reliance keep alive the urge to innovate in these start-ups? These entities need to be nurtured for sometime before they are pushed for profitability.…

UK GETS BREXIT BREATHER The UK has finally escaped a disastrous no-deal Brexit as EU leaders agreed to an extension on Article 50 until October 31, which Prime Minister Theresa May accepted. According to European Council President Donald Tusk, the country has several options until the deadline. It can ratify the withdrawal agreement and leave. Or it can change strategy or decide to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit. However, the withdrawal agreement cannot be renegotiated. The situation will be reviewed on June 30. The new deadline also means the UK may have to hold European Parliament elections. While Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn termed the latest delay as a diplomatic failure, May promised Parliament an orderly Brexit at the earliest. The original deadline was March 29, but after MPs repeatedly…

ALL ABOUT PANEER & CHEESE The contribution of value-added products (VAP) such as cheese, paneer, curd and milkshakes is set to surpass that of milk by 2021. Health consciousness and changing lifestyles are driving the demand for these products E: estimated P: projected Growth rates are three-year CAGR Source: Crisil Research…

Green is gaining power. Not just in Europe, where the European Commission is planning to put together a war chest of €10 billion to develop and market eco-friendly low-carbon technologies, but also in China, which is determined to deal with serious pollution issues and is working aggressively towards green energy, clean air and electric vehicle expansion. Closer home, our green efforts need to improve drastically. For instance, 14 of the top 15 most polluted cities in the world are in India, according to a recent ranking released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The index measured the presence of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 and also took into account PM10, underlining the dangerously deteriorating air quality and its toll on the economy. Government think-tank NITI (National Institution for Transforming…

SINCE 2014, India has sought to boost manufacturing and increase its contribution to national GDP from 15 to 25 per cent. But in spite of strong government support, the number has barely moved. A recent report by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey suggests why. In Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR): Beacons of Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing, researchers studied over 1,000 manufacturers across the globe and found only 16 ‘lighthouse’ factories which are leading the way in adopting 4IR technologies such as advanced analytics (AA) and cloud computing. Europe boasts nine lighthouse factories; China takes the second spot with five; Saudi Arabia and the US have one each and India has nought. India cannot afford to fall behind in 4IR adoption, says another McKinsey Global Institute study, as…

Economic Survey 2018 predicts that with the implementation of GST, the Indian logistics market is expected grow from $16 billion to $215 billion in 2020, which is 10.5 per cent increase annually Removal of checkpoints has led to an average cost saving of 3-7 per cent, depending on the sector (Knight Frank report) Consumer durables manufacturing companies envisage up to 40 per cent reduction in the overall number of warehouses (Knight Frank report) The need for aggregation and development of large (logistics) hubs rather than distributed facilities across the length and breadth of the country will give a boost to multimodal logistics parks Substantial time is being saved. Earlier, it took 5-6 days to travel between Delhi and Chennai. Post-GST, this is down to 3-4 days…

Japanese air conditioner maker Daikin is Japanese bullish on its India business. Expecting revenue of around 4,200 crore in 2018-19, the company has been strengthening its Indian operations, with expanded manufacturing capacity. The aim is to address the needs of the growing middle class in the country and fuel exports to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and to select countries in Africa. Going strong Riding on the back of residential and commercial infrastructural development across India, Daikin India is in the final stages of opening its third manufacturing facility in the south. With air conditioning penetration inching towards double-digit figures, Daikin India is ready to piggyback on the Make in India wave to augment its production capabilities from its current capacity of 15 lakh room air conditioners, 50,000 VRV units, one…

PPF Anyone can open a PPF acoount with a bank or post office Maximum investment is ₹1.5 lakh a year; minimum is₹500 Invested amounts and returns earned are both tax-free Lock-in of 15 years After 15 years, extensions possible in blocks of five years Partial withdrawal possible from 7th year; conditions apply Current interest rate is 8% Interest rate set quartely based on g-secs yields EPF You can invest only through your employer 12% of basic salary and matching contribution from employer 8.3% of employer’s contribution, maximum ₹1,250, goes to EPS Invested amounts and returns earned are both tax-free Lock-in till retirement; some partial withdrawals possible 75% withdrawal if one remians unemployed for less than a month Interest rate set by Central Board of Trustees, cleared by FinMin Generally, rates…

A ROBOT THAT READS The Bible should not surprise us overmuch. Our smartphones can do the job if you download an app or an e-book. But SanTO is different. It is a little statue-like robot that looks like a figurine of a saint and can recognise the kind of mood you are in and what you need to hear, reports The Wall Street Journal. Equipped with a computer, a microphone, and facial recognition technology, SanTO can listen to people, scan their faces for signs of specific emotions and put that to good use as it rapidly scans through the text and reads out what it thinks fit. Fortunately, the robot does not take it into its head to go around offering interpretations and discourses – it only recites the text.…

STUDENTS OF IIM-AHMEDABAD are spoilt for choice when it comes to celebrity speakers. But very few academicians turn out to be charismatic crowd-pullers like Raghuram Rajan. His earlier books addressed a larger audience, but The Third Pillar strongly underlines his new status as a public intellectual. The ‘third pillar’, as the book lays out, is the community, which the author believes, has been neglected (at least by economists) vis-à-vis the State and the Markets. As Rajni Bakshi and Rohini Nilekani put it: Samaj, sarkar and bazaar need to be in balance. So, this is not an original insight. However, Rajan’s larger concern is that he finds the “establishment discredited”. The fact that it comes from someone who has worked in the innards of both national and international institutions with the…

DEBT MUTUAL FUNDS have traditionally been a safe haven for risk-averse investors, but that seems to be changing now. In April, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management delayed the redemption of six of its fixed maturity plans (FMPs) while HDFC Mutual Fund also announced rolling over one of its FMPs because of exposure to the highly leveraged Essel group. With this, the financial stress in debt-laden companies seems to be spilling over to debt mutual funds. Just like Essel, which owns Zee, there could be other instances brewing as many promoters, starved of bank credit, have pledged their shareholding with mutual funds to raise money. With corporate profits contracting at an annualised rate of 1.8 per cent between FY14 and FY18, the leverage levels in companies have gone up. In case of…

ON MARCH 29, the government postponed, for the third time, implementation of higher tariffs on goods like automobiles and some agriculture products imported from the United States to May 2. The tariff hike was proposed as a retaliatory measure against the US after it announced protectionist measures to discourage steel and aluminum exports to the US. India’s hesitation to act may be a conciliatory attempt to improve trade relations with the US by negotiating a trade package. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the plan is working, as the US is withdrawing trade concessions granted to India under the Generalised System of Preferences. The just released 2019 National Trade Estimate Report on foreign trade barriers of the US Trade Representative has a long list of demands, making such…

SEVERAL PARTS of India are facing a drought-like situation. Private weather forecaster Skymet says the country is likely to witness a below normal monsoon this year. With over 50 per cent of India’s sown area almost completely dependent on rains for irrigation, any variation in rainfall – timing, quantum, spread – can severely impact the rural economy.. The Modi government recognised the importance of micro-irrigation when it pledged to increase allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) but actual expenditure on irrigation has been lower than budgetary projections. In 2017/18, the Centre budgeted ₹3,400 crore for the PMKSY, revised it to ₹3,000 crore the next year, while actually spending ₹2,819 crore. The main reason for squeeze in public investment in agriculture is huge increase in input subsidies, including…

RIGHTS ISSUES have once again become the flavour of the stockmarket to raise additional funds. Vodafone Idea’s ₹25,000 crore issue that closes on April 24 is among the five rights issues that have hit the Street so far this year. A similar issue by rival Bharti Airtel is expected soon. Experts have advised investors to read into the objective behind raising the funds, discounts available and whether the funds mobilised can improve the companies’ revenues and profits in the long run. The fund-raising will help Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel cut debt and meet short-term capital requirements. Unlike Bharti, whose balance sheet will get deleveraged significantly, Vodafone will see limited deleveraging. Both issues are available at a steep discount but may lead to substantial value dilution for existing investors who…

SALES SAVVY WHAT: Sales Leadership India Summit WHEN: May 14-15, Mumbai WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The two-day conference will bring together senior sales leaders, field sales managers and salespeople on one platform. They will impart modern sales expertise to attendees to accelerate business growth. BRAINSTORM WHAT: Microfinance and NBFCs Exhibition and Conference WHEN: May 15, Chennai WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The MiNE India will host officials from RBI/NABARD/SIDBI along with leaders and influencers from the BFSI industry on a unique platform to reflect and discuss ongoing trends and key measures to shape the future of MFIs and NBFCs. POOL OF DATA WHAT: Data Lake Day WHEN: May 15, Pune WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The event will help IT data architects, business users and IT developers collaborate and build the Logical…

In May 2018, Jet posted quarterly loss after 12 quarters of net profits, and said that it has a negative net worth. In August, it postponed its quarterly results amidst rising fuel oil prices and rupee depreciation affecting its financial performance. Goyal said he felt “guilty and embarrassed” as a lot of shareholders had lost their money Net loss of ₹732 crore in the third quarter of 2018/19. The cost cutting programme outlined savings of ₹2,000 crore in two years The tax department conducted a survey at Jet’s premises in September 2018 SBI asked EY to carry out a forensic audit of Jet’s accounts for 2014-18 period Jet defaulted on debt payments at the beginning of 2019 Tata Group withdrew its interest in acquiring Jet Airways after its board flagged…

BJD, Odisha Every household in the state to have a pucca house BPL will not be the only criteria for food security benefits. Other indicators that reflect economic status will be added to make the scheme inclusive and holistic A “Chief Minister Employment Generation Scheme” under which a minimum of 150 youth from each gram panchayat will be given skill upgradation training, and loan and subsidy linkage TDP, Andhra Pradesh 175 MSME parks to be developed ₹75,000 to be distributed to farmers under the Annadata Sukheebhava programme in the coming five years All vacancies in the government sector to be filled by March 2020. Recruitment calendar to be published every year 2,50,000 jobs to be provided in the IT sector and 3,00,000 in the electronics manufacturing sector TMC (West Bengal)…

While global dairy majors such as Fonterra and Lactalis have entered India, others such as Danone have exited. Private dairy companies have also realised that dairy is a difficult business. There are several reasons for this: While having one’s own milk procurement set-up is a given, the business is commoditised and state-run cooperatives call the shots in milk pricing. Cooperatives increase procurement prices to help farmers but don’t increase prices of end products, which impacts profit margins of private players Procurement and manufacturing close to the market is critical but having nation-wide procurement is economically unviable for most Apart from traditional categories such as ghee, paneer, cheese and curd, the value added story hasn't really taken off. To achieve scale, liquid milk has to be in the portfolio. Companies that…

Mahindra Logistics, after the largest IPO in the logistics sector in India last year, has made strategic investments in 2X2 Logistics, LORDS Freight (India) and ShipX; it is scouting for more acquisitions RIL has bought logistics services technology start-up Grab for ₹106 crore IndoSpace, Ascendas-Singbridge and e-Shang Redwood are acquiring land parcels in Chennai to build large logistics parks Morgan Stanley’s real estate arm has bought a majority stake in Pune’s KSH Infra, which runs two warehousing and industrial logistics parks in Pune, for ₹350 crore IndoSpace has bought a 70-acre logistics park from Orris Infrastructure on outskirts of Gurugram Everstone Group last year closed its third logistics real estate fund of $1.2 billion and is increasing its total commitment in India to over $3.2 billion Allcargo is investing over…

Q. The logistics sector in India has witnessed many policy changes over the last two years. What have been the impactful ones? A. There have been some unprecedented changes from the policy and regulatory perspective. The logistics industry in India, a year back, had no nodal agency it could go to. For anything to do with road transport, we had to go to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; anything to do with air cargo, we had to go to the Ministry of Civil Aviation; anything to do with service tax, we had to go to finance or commerce ministry. The industry wanted to be part of a single ministry. The government created a logistics division under the commerce ministry with a single agenda — lowering logistics costs. A…

Technology adoption in the Indian logistics industry had not been at par with international standards until recently. That has changed dramatically in the last few years. Trends in logistics, coupled with explosion in e-commerce and needs of customers, has forced the industry to adapt. The digital revolution of social, mobile, analytics, cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) has changed the landscape. Leaders in logistics will be those who not only have expertise but are also able to adopt newer technologies. The digital space has multiple components, but mobile is one area that has brought in a quantum change. The apps provide not just dashboards, analytics and customised business information, but also last-mile delivery information, geofence, speed, among others. Technology has further helped create new value-added product lines such as delivering…

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, poor dental health will not only cost you a fortune when you seek emergency dental care but may also lead to serious health problems such as gum inflammation, tooth loss, bone issues, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Failure to maintain oral hygiene is emerging as a new area of concern as people now live longer and gorge more on junk foods. Dr Deepil Mehta, a Navi Mumbai-based dental surgeon who has been practising for nearly a decade, calls it a lifestyle disorder, adding that many people often neglect simple things like brushing their teeth at night (brushing should be done twice a day, every day, along with flossing). Such negligence, coupled with unhealthy food habits over a long period, can have a damaging impact on dental health.…

AN INTIMATE ACCOUNT of the evolving role of an IAS officer, Not Just A Civil Servant by Anil Swarup is a crisp and inspiring narration of the author’s remarkable, nearly four-decade-long career. The book chronicles the journey through his early career in Uttar Pradesh where he faced a myriad of issues at district and state levels, and also at the national level where he worked for the Ministry of Labour, the Cabinet Secretariat and then served as Secretary, Ministry of Coal, and Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Wherever he worked, Swarup gives us a frank account of the back story in his inimitable style. The memoirs, however, start on a humorous note as the author recalls his parent’s aspirations regarding his…