Personal View

Its actions in Tata group’s internecine feud do not inspire confidence Alok Tiwari We all have heard the tale of two cats fighting over a loaf of bread. They approach a monkey asking it to resolve the dispute. The monkey gets a balance and while pretending to split the loaf in two exact halves eventually ends up eating all the bread itself. One is reminded of that fable as we watch factions inside Tata empire go at each other. Except that in this case there are more than two cats. The loaf of bread is also rather large, amounting to nearly Rs 26 lakh crore. It is also covered with a thick layer of butter in the form of storied reputation of Tatas. The monkey, of course, is the government that finds itself in a rather enviable position of being an arbiter. There are many strands to the developments in Bombay House and beyond. Some of them have continued since the heydays of the late Ratan Tata. Some began shortly after his passing two years ago. Put together they would be worthy...

Even if fear seems exaggerated today, we need to tread with caution Alok Tiwari Intelligent machines taking over have been staple of science fiction almost since the time computers were invented. Partly because computers by their nature appeared smart even when they were not. Heck, for decades a pocket calculator has been doing in seconds sums that would take hours even for a maths teacher. Add to that all the other wondrous things computers do today, and it is easy to suspend disbelief about an intelligent machine outthinking the humans. Yet so far it was firmly in the realm of imagination. No longer. With AI (Artificial Intelligence) becoming commonplace, the fear of one day machines going against humans has become real. For a long time, warnings have come from outliers. Now even tech bros are sounding alarm. It all started when Jacob Coxon, an AI researcher resigned his job warning that tech companies were going too fast in developing self-improving AI models. These could get out of...

Govt push to bring pvt sector in space programme is ringing alarm bells Alok Tiwari When nine employee associations of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) wrote to their chairman last week expressing concern about its future, it brought into open the unease that has been simmering under the surface for years. The reason is simple. Government’s push to encourage private sector in space sector is now beginning to threaten the very existence of ISRO. Despite the shortcomings inevitable in any government organization, ISRO remains one of India’s few success stories, especially in the public sector. Just a few years ago it was hailed for putting a satellite around Mars for less than a Hollywood movie’s cost. Its pioneering work over the decades has placed the country in the frontline of space powers. Since then, there has been a visible movement downhill. Now symptoms are out in the open. Not only have the launch frequency slowed but senior scientists are increasingly heading for ...

Our banking system is meant to rob the poor to pay the rich Alok Tiwari National Company Law Tribunal will review its award in the Subhash Chandra case. Thank God for that! The case in which founder of Essel group was getting away by paying just Rs 6.5 crore against a default of Rs 22,000 crore had caused jaws to drop nationally even in a country that is by now used to such magical tricks in favour of the ultra-rich. Chandra, a former BJP-supported MP, had pulled off a trick that was pure genius. The loan default of Essel Group companies from legitimate financial institutions that includes LIC Housing Finance and HDFC Bank was around Rs 4,200 crore. When this case went before the NCLT, several more entities joined in claiming that the group owed them money too. The total claim swelled to Rs 22,000 crore. The original lenders pointed out that these entities were mostly related parties of Chandra and Essel group. So, any loan transaction between them was a sweetheart deal. NCLT, of...