Down to the wire 

Several capital market participants and economy watchers are on the edge as the plot builds towards a climax. No, this is not about whether the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to turn into a short war, and thereby provide hopes of a market rebound. 

The matter in question is whether SEBI Chairman Ajay Tyagi will get another extension (third time in a row) in his term or not. The 18 months’ extension that he got in August 2020 ends on Monday (February 28). 

Buzz in the corridors of power is that the government may spring a “surprise” as it did in the appointment of the DFS Secretary! According to one camp of market participants, as the government is busy with UP elections and with the mega LIC IPO round the corner, it may not like to disturb SEBI’s functioning and may give Tyagi another extension. 

The other camp is of the view that since SEBI has not proved its mettle in bringing to book the real culprits behind the co-location scam and the NSE governance failure, the government should install a new person in the hot seat. 

No to ‘exploitation’ 

It is heartening to see that government officials are nowadays careful in using words such as ‘exploit or exploitation’ while referring to extraction of natural resources. At a recent seminar, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Director GA Ramadass said that India’s Exclusive Economic Zone is as big as the Indian mainland and contains a lot of resources. 

 “We don’t use the word exploitation. We are very conscious about that word and instead use utilisation or harvesting of ocean resources,” he explained. 

However, this nicety has not reached all arms of the government. InvestIndia, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of the government of India, in a social media promo, said that Andaman & Nicobar Islands’ long coastline of 1,962 km provides huge opportunities for investment in marine-based industries with over two lakh tonnes of annual ‘exploitable’ fish stock. 

Sudden love for Bengaluru 

Though Bengaluru is known as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India and generates more than half of Karnataka’s revenues, the city’s dwellers have always complained of the poor infrastructure and neglect by the government. From traffic jams and potholed roads to poor water supply and sanitation, Bengalurueans have a litany of woes. 

Of late though, the city is getting a lot of attention from the Basavaraj Bommai government with the CM himself launching a slew of infrastructure projects. The ruling BJP recently convened a meeting of all its legislators and MPs from the city to get feedback on the issues facing the city. 

If you are wondering why this sudden focus on Bengaluru, the answer is pretty straightforward — polls to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the biggest and richest city corporation in the State, is scheduled in April-May, after many delays. The BJP is desperate to retain the city. 

Political slugfest 

Politics and films have been Siamese twins in undivided Andhra Pradesh (and now in truncated AP) ever since the late NTR floated a party and trounced Congress in the early 1980s. At the centre-stage of a political slugfest now is Pawan Kalyan’s latest flick. 

While the AP Government says it is firm on the issue of ticket pricing and the number of shows to be screened in a day, Pawan Kalyan, who commands a huge fan base, used the pre-release event held in Hyderabad early this week to make a subtle dig at the AP Government. 

Pawan Kalyan, who is also the Founder-President of Jana Sena, invited Telangana’s IT Minister KT Rama Rao and Cinematography Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav to the event, ignoring their counterparts in AP. 

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