Dhiraj Nayyar:writes:   In India, Modi needs to clear away the sobwebs choking the legal and business sectors.  The real problem involves a raft of laws that lend themselves to exploitation, impeding business and government efficiency even today.

the government has now picked out 287 such measures, most of which are ludicrously outdated. One says that property in a certain part of Kolkata, one of India’s largest cities, can only be sold to the British East India Company. Another bans flying kites or balloons without police permission, because these constitute aircraft according to a 1934 law.

Such colonial-era rules may make for good comedy. But, of course, most of them are never enforced. The real problem involves a raft of laws that lend themselves to exploitation, impeding business and government efficiency even today.

Three prominent Indian think tanks — the Centre for Civil Society, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and the Vidhi Legal Centre — recently released a report called the Repeal 100 Laws Project that identifies several such regulations. The Indian Boilers Act of 1923, for instance, requires that government inspectors certify the fitness of steam boilers in Indian factories. Originally meant as a health-and-safety measure, the law has essentially become an instrument of extortion by bribe-taking inspectors.

After days of intense speculation, Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced that he had chosen Bulc, a liberal.

The Slovenian government followed with a statement announcing that it “authorized Ambassador Rado Genorio, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the European Union to refer the proposal to the competent EU institutions”.

Bulc will in theory inherit the Energy Union Vice-Presidency from Bratušek, who was rejected by the European Parliament on Wednesday (8 October).

But Juncker might need to rethink the allocation of portfolios in his team. Indeed, Bulc has neither the political experience, nor the policy background to lead a team of Commissioners on this matter.

Instead, the Energy Union Vice-Presidency could go to Kristalina Georgieva, who was initially allocated the Budget and Human Resources portfolio, Parliament sources told EurActiv. Georgieva’s responsibilities would then be given to Maroš Šefčovič, the Slovak who is currently nominated for Transport and Space.

As a result, Bulc would take the Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship portfolio from Hungary’s Tibor Navracsis, who was rejected by Parliament because of his track record serving in a populist government, which has adopted restrictive media laws and launched a crackdown on NGOs.

Recent Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee meeting noted the following: ?“Some participants expressed concern that the persistent shortfall of economic growth and inflation in the euro area could lead to a further appreciation of the dollar and have adverse effects on the U.S. external sector. Several participants added that slower economic growth in China or Japan or unanticipated events in the Middle East or Ukraine might pose a similar risk. At the same time, a couple of participants pointed out that the appreciation of the dollar might also tend to slow the gradual increase in inflation toward the FOMC’s 2 percent goal.?

Note:  Remarks from the US Federal Resevre on the Global Economy are highly unusual.  The Wall Street Journal editorializes on the reaction to a downturn in Europe, with Germany losing its mojo.  “Everyone is looking to the European Central Bank to save the day, but there’s only so much Mario Draghi can do.”