MoS’s ‘transfer’ worries

The Finance Ministry, under NDA 3.0 has just one Minister of State. Given the task on hand one would think his hands will be full. And his hands were full on Day One itself, but not with regular files or official work.

It was related with transfers and postings. Earlier, there used to be two MoS – one for revenue, expenditure etc. and second for financial services, disinvestment etc. Now, all the six departments (Revenue, Expenditure, Economic Affairs, Financial Services, Investment & Public Asset Management and Public Enterprises) will be taken care by one MoS, Pankaj Chaudhary.

Even before taking charge, Chaudhary got number of calls for transfer and posting for bank staff. He later admitted the calls are set to rise. However, he must be relieved that there were not many transfer requests from tax personnel.

Speaker showdown

In the high-stakes arena of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker’s post has become the epicentre of political manoeuvring. With BJP having to rely on allies TDP and JD(U), the Speaker’s role is crucial. TDP, eyeing the post, sees it as a safeguard against potential BJP-engineered defections.

The Speaker’s power to decide on disqualification issues makes this election a battleground. BJP is pushing for its candidate, while TDP demands the role as their price for support. The outcome will shape the balance of power and the future of the coalition.

EVMs at G7

Despite the conclusion of elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi still seems to be on campaign mode. At the G7 outreach summit in Italy, Modi’s surprising plug for India’s electronic voting machines (EVMs) — hailing them for their “impartiality and transparency” — turned heads.

This praise comes amidst ongoing Opposition allegations of election rigging through EVMs. Political observers wonder whether Modi’s victory speech was a celebration of democracy or a rebuttal to his critics?

All in the family?

Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections were much in news for the political shift it saw. Though elections usually have one winner, this time there seems to be two families winning — the NTR family and YS Rajasekhara Reddy family.

These two families have a foot in all parties — TDP, YSRCP, BJP and Congress. So irrespective of who is in power the family ties hopefully will remain strong!

MTNL: Future uncertain

Public sector companies have hogged the limelight after the Modi-led NDA won a third term.

However, the one which is standing out is Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. The once sought-after telco has registered a net loss of ₹3,302 crore on a topline of ₹728 crore in FY23 and its net loss was ₹818 crore on revenue of ₹193 crore in the March quarter.Interestingly, the PSU’s stock is traded at ₹42 a piece. Only investors buying the stock seem to know about the company’s future. Our Bureaus

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