While delivering a vote of thanks at the 11th Nani Palkhivala lecture, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh praised Harish Salve, terming him India Inc’s counsel of choice who handles everything from corporate rivalries, family feuds, international taxation and even a couple of divorce cases. We go to him only if we are in ‘big, big trouble’, said Parekh, and hoped that he would not be in that kind of position ever. Taking a light-hearted dig at the top lawyer, Parekh said although Salve’s reputation was formidable and intimidating, the most intimidating thing about Salve was his fees!

A lesson in history

In the course of his lecture, Harish Salve recalled that Napoleon’s ascent as an Emperor of France was through a referendum! Should the AAP sit up and take note?

Time-tested minister

Nothing tests your patience than being made to wait. At a recent seminar in Chennai, which was running well behind schedule, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma was giving away awards to over 20 seafood exporters and turning impatient with every passing minute. Asit Tripathi, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, quick to detect his mood, began to signal winners to hurry to the dais. The drill: receive the award, smile, and off you go.

Save our ship

During a conference to announce the new land policy for major ports in India, a journalist took it upon herself to find out why port chairmen cannot save INS Vikrant at a time when they are spending so much on upgrading ports. When told that INS Vikrant is a defence asset and the Ministry of Shipping cannot do much, the journalist insisted that the port’s top bosses must use their influence to “intervene”. The conference had to be brought to a close to get the journalist to stop intervening.

Affairs out in the open

The bitter divide between the commerce and external affairs ministries over resuming trade dialogue with Pakistan surfaced openly last Saturday at a joint press conference following talks between Commerce Ministers of both sides.

“I am not concerned with what statements are being made primarily because of partisan political considerations,” Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said when asked about the External Affairs Ministry’s recent statement that talks can’t resume till full liberalisation of trade happens at Wagah.

There has been a hiatus of 16 months (in the talks) and to come out of it and to achieve what we desire to achieve together, it is important to re-engage in a constructive and productive manner, Sharma emphasised. “The nation states, when they engage, demonstrate maturity and understanding,” the Minister added, hinting that the MEA was demonstrating neither.

No U-turns please

The biggest challenge that may come the way of the Indian contingent (both ministers and industrialists) visiting Davos this week will be to convince foreign CEOs that economic reforms already undertaken will not be reversed. With Delhi now backing out on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail, there is concern among foreign investors that policy decisions could get reversed after the general elections. Most of the foreign CEOs visiting Davos are going to labour this point and may seek comfort that there won’t be large-scale policy reversal if a non-Congress-led combine gets to power at the Centre, said a top industry honcho who will be visiting Davos along with 100-odd Indian CEOs.

Related Topics