The Tata empire turns 150 this year. R Gopalakrishnan, former director, Tata Sons Ltd, imagines a conversation among the group's founder Jamsetji, his son Dorabji, his successor, Nowroji Saklatwala, and his successor, J R D Tata.
'You can't take money from Shaktikanta Das (the RBI governor) and give it to Nirmala Sitharaman (the Union finance minister). She will blow it away on Modi.'
'NiMo having skipped, the next best bet is a high-profile banker.' 'Ms Usha happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.' 'Ms Usha's crime? That's as thin as it gets.'
'Modi's advent has made the mass of Indians realise that there was absolutely nothing wrong or objectionable in proclaiming nationalism as the masthead of the polity and Hinduism as its centerpiece,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
A glance back at some important events that occurred in 2018.
A group of young guns led by Abhijit Jejurikar showed the world what they are capable of.
'It was the Mughals who first established standard units of measurement and maintained offices of meticulous record keepers and auditors, departing from the more haphazard methods of earlier regimes.' 'By the end of the 16th century, their revenue and judicial administrations exhibited an obsessive preoccupation with order, the efficient management of time, and a spirit of rational self-control -- all of them characteristics of early modernity,' point out Sheldon Pollock and Benjamin Ellman.
In an online chat with readers, Prof Ujjwal Chowdhary from Edutainment offered tips on pursuing a career in media, design and communication.
'Indians are great savers, but they are lousy investors.'
Lenders can now review a borrower account within 30 days of default. Earlier, the banks had to start resolution within one day of default.
Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuk speaks to Claude Arpi about his journey, his fights, his hopes and how he became an inspiration for the Bollywood blockbuster.
PE firm True North's investment model is to take 51% stake in mid-sized companies and make them large, says Niraj Bhatt.
Hours to kill and 'nothingness' to contend are driving many urban, affluent women to depression, finds Anjuli Bhargava.
In a nation divided by many things, the 12-digit unique identity number is holding lives to ransom.
'LIC's proposed investment will come out of what is technically called the 'policyholders funds'.' 'As the name implies, these monies belong to policyholders; that is, you, me and 25 crore others who have taken a total of 30 crore policies from LIC.' 'It is not the government's or LIC's money to play poker with,' says S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
Happy with her latest move, Indrani departed from Courtroom 51 with a spring in her step. The woman who hopped up into the jail truck was a cheerful one.
A culture of science and innovation must be embedded in society wherein people not only use new technology but understand it as well. Without this, obscurantism and blind faith can sit side by side with digital technology and, in fact, use the same technology to reinforce their hold on people, says Shram Saran.
'It can't be a coincidence that he and his family, uncles and all, vanished from India only days before the scam was discovered.'
Hein Kiessling has the kind of access in Pakistan that journalists (and spies) would die for, says Kanika Datta.
The OrcaPod is a prototype of what comes after boats, cars, trains and planes. It's India's foray into what Tesla founder Elon Musk calls the 'fifth form of transportation' and India's only entry at the ongoing Hyperloop competition by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
'Do you think Indian voters are so immature that they can be impressed or won over by such freebies before the elections?' Election Commissioner Sunil Arora asks A K Bhattacharya.
'We have promised to ensure reduced tax rates.'
'It is time to allow the rupee to move towards its true value, as it is hurting Indian exports, investment and SMEs associated with export sectors that create jobs,' argues Pravakar Sahoo.
'Embedded with the divisive regime, they administer heavy doses of the opium of religion and nationalism day in and day out,' observes Mohammad Sajjad.
'Will Muhammad Habib Zahir -- who was part of the team that arrested Kulbhushan Jadhav and went missing in Nepal -- figure in a Jadhav-for-Zahir deal?' asks Aditi Phadnis.
'Kids like something when it is interesting, focused, and offers scope for self-exploration.' 'We teach them how to learn, not force them,' Byju Raveendran tells Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.
'My simple instruction to every IBM salesperson is, "When you go to the customer, use less of this (he points to his mouth) and more of this (ear)".' 'Talk less, listen more",' Karan Bajwa tells Raghu Krishnan.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation's decision to make washrooms in hotels and eateries open to the public for a fee highlights India's failure to expand access to toilet facilities.
Many of us commit these generic mistakes which can turn our insurance buying decision futile, says Shikha Verma
How did Mansoor Peerbhoy, an academically bright, suave and soft-spoken young man, who never exhibited any jihadist tendencies, go on to head the Indian Mujahideen's media cell?
'Today, everybody is on the computer, everybody on the mobile.' 'There is very less physical activity.' 'The treatment most effective in reducing heart disease is exercise.' 'It is very, very, important.'
Gavin DSouza who scored 99.49 percentile in CAT 2013 tells us how he cracked the test.
'Tax dodging through tax havens is one of the ways multinational corporations and the super-rich in India are using to evade taxes.'
Scotland will vote on whether it will be an independent country or will remain a part of the United Kingdom on September 18. With the vote coming up next week, a look at ten famous Scots.
Does the Union government or the RBI see itself as Krishna beheading Shishupal and what will constitute the 101st or indeed the past many sins for which a Sudarshan Chakra will have to be used? More importantly, what are those sins?
'Those who were first at the site of Gauri Lankesh's murder scene noticed that the place was still open for people to casually walk in and out.' 'No forensic evidence of value can remain in such places,' points out Aakar Patel.
R Vignesh is a member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of India in Chennai, appeared on Rediff Chat to answer readers' queries on GST.
Resolution to the bad loans problem has to be incremental, and the RBI has to ensure NPAs are not swept under the carpet, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh tells Joydeep Ghosh.
His compensation in FY17 was more than the combined salaries of the entire boards of TCS, Wipro and Infosys. 'I am a self-made man from a very modest background,' Tech Mahindra's CEO C P Gurnani tells Shyamal Majumdar.
'The economy may not improve unless you admit there are some problems.'
