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August 29, 2007
Rules for the digital world
Parents, teachers and institutions should focus on creating the rule books for engaging with the digital world.

A man-made disaster
The India Meteorological Department releases its long-range monsoon rainfall forecast only a few days prior to the actual onset of the monsoon, serving little purpose

Reinventing water-waste for Indian cities
Indian cities must look at their waste economy and invest in reuse

August 28, 2007
Developing talent for global needs
Globalisation and the outsourcing boom have undoubtedly transformed India. From a developing country, we are today an emerging economy and a super power in the making.

August 27, 2007
When risk becomes uncertainty
That the real economy should suffer because of the greed of a few in the financial services industry is sad.

August 25, 2007
Who's the real villain? CDOs or sub-prime mart?
If I could be born again, and I had a head for big numbers, I'd like to be an investment banker in New York. Look at what I would do for a living, says .

August 24, 2007
Growing at the expense of nature
But in liberalising India, the conflict has started encroaching on urban areas as well.

Don't 'discount' climate change
Using higher discount rates, as some critics want, lowers costs but is vastly unfair to future generations.

August 23, 2007
Education isn't just business
The governing structure of the university is entirely different from that of a listed corporate entity.

US crisis unlikely to affect India much
This bull market is not over.

August 22, 2007
Can good economics clean up Mumbai's air?
There are sound economic and environmental reasons why public transport should be subsidised

August 21, 2007
Who owns the land? Well...
In India, where land acquisition for industrial and real estate development has been widespread, the Land Acquisition Act makes the government the master of all that it surveys

August 20, 2007
What the best PPP contracts contain
The contract is characterised by a minimum revenue guarantee and a cap on the firm's revenues.

August 18, 2007
How India is different from China
The Chinese fight to keep their exchange rate low; we fight to keep it high. And from equal status in 1980, China's per capita income is thrice India's today.

August 17, 2007
Turbulent markets not a cause for panic
The developments will facilitate a restoration of the markets closer to their fundamental valuations.

August 14, 2007
Bottled water costs us the earth
The bottled water industry is global in nature. But it is designed to sell the same product to two completely different markets: one water-rich and the other water-scarce.

August 13, 2007
India and the global meltdown
In sectors in which foreign resources are heavily invested, notably IT and ITES, the competitive edge of Indian firms is not really under any immediate threat

August 11, 2007
Markets: Contagion again?
India's stock market is still ruling only marginally lower than a month ago.

August 09, 2007
How investing in stocks can make you rich
Over long periods of time, there's good reason to believe stocks also will appreciate dramatically faster than any other type of asset.

August 07, 2007
Why we may return to Swadeshi economics
As the export-driven growth model is fraught with extreme risks caused due to a multiplicity of factors, a revisit to Swadeshi economics is inevitable, says .

Of irrational exuberance, bulls & bears
There is a tendency to greet new technologies promising large potential returns with exaggerated optimism. But widespread hysterical behaviour ("irrational exuberance") with price increases detached from all underlying economic is far from norm.

Reform ushers better fiscal management
The states now realise that the bulk of the money that comes from the World Bank does not come as grants. In fact, it costs them as World Bank loans carry an interest rate that is not cheap by any yardstick.

Happiness, growth and capitalism
The social ills adduced to capitalism have less to do with capitalism than individualism.

August 04, 2007
Who's the tallest of them all?
Taipei 101, Incheon, Lotte, Burj Dubai . . . the mania to build taller buildings is getting stronger.

The death of peer reviewing?
An eminent economist told me he reviewed as many as 40 papers on international flights, before meals!s

August 02, 2007
Of NRIs, investments & tax
Resident individuals can acquire and hold immovable property or shares or any other asset outside India without prior approval of the RBI.

Huge salaries: IT firms distorted balance
For most of this present decade, IT firms in India were at the forefront of distorting the compensation structure.

Mumbai needs a fully empowered 'manager'
There is a need in Mumbai to create a fully empowered city government to manage urbanisation with political and financial accountability.

Swadeshi economics in a globalised era
It is time that we think of boosting domestic consumption as a fillip to the Indian economy, says .

July 31, 2007
Climate science and the Indian scientist
Will Indian scientists' measure up to the challenge of climate change?

Barefoot bankers, anyone?
Financial inclusion has become fashionable once again, and the formal sector -- banks and micro-finance institutions -- is straining every nerve to dole out these microscopic loans, and mostly failing because that is not their institutional design.

Hindustan Unilever: A name for corporate moulting
Unilever's shadow on HUL has been lengthening for some time. One indication recently was the change of name from Hindustan Lever, the identity that had been established in the country for half a century.

July 30, 2007
What's up with markets? Some answers
There are many questions on where the stock markets will head in the next few days. Here are some answers.

July 28, 2007
India shining, govt dozing
The main difference between China and us is that its government works. Ours is happy to doze.

Are Indian govt's numbers right?
The broad sense which prevails today is that India's macro-economic numbers are in good shape. But are they?

Market boom or corporate slump?
The stock market may be at a new high this month, but there isn't much reason to cheer if the "early bird" financial results of companies are anything to go by.

July 27, 2007
No tax on gifts from close relatives
This amount transferred to your father will be treated as gift and since tax is not applicable on gifts, received from close relatives, there will be no India tax incidence on either you or your father, irrespective of the amount transferred.

US venture capital should take a call
Venture capital funds are one of the most effective ways of bringing out and nurturing the innate ability of our people.

How to improve corporate governance
Unless a comprehensive theory of corporate governance is first agreed upon, efforts to improve it will not amount to much.

Discovering what we don't know
Recognising solutions to problems, both in science and management, often can be traced to a similar phenomenon -- not knowing that we don't know something.

Reassuring politics, reasonable economics
The Indian system has shown capacity for learning by doing and learning from over-doing.

Software's new challenges
The export-oriented software industry has reacted in several ways to the negative impact of rupee appreciation on its financial performance, especially in the last (April-June) quarter.

All about advertising: Old values die hard
Fidelity is as rare an attribute in advertising, as it is in the case of jobs.

July 26, 2007
Textile exports: Fixing the warp
While considering the options before it, what the government can do is revive the defunct Textile Upgradation Fund Scheme, which lapsed on March 31, 2007.

July 25, 2007
Markets booming, but please beware!
Analysts and investors are optimistic on India, but it is difficult to be as bullish.

Financial analytics: Next big thing
Financial analytics is increasingly finding popularity among companies that are looking to better their financial value proposition and optimise business performance.

July 24, 2007
Govt committees running out of steam?
After the initial flurry of activity, the plethora of committees set up by the government, such as the NAC, have settled down to a quiet existence.

End of the 10-year export party?
In India, the government has given in for now by announcing sops worth Rs 1,400 crore or Rs 14 billion (Rs 600 crore or Rs 6 billion of which are speedy refunds). But the initial relief which greeted the move already seems to be fading.

India should strive for Doha's success
Nobody can rightly argue that the WTO or the external world is primarily responsible for the woes of our farmers.

India on its way to agricultural recovery?
There are several positive indications at the macro level of agriculture which suggest that there could be change on the ground.

Time to revisit the NELP
Before the next round, the government needs to cap the windfall profits coming out of global prices shooting up.

Broadcasting Bill: What purpose?
The problem with the Broadcasting Bill is that having stuck to the Constitutional view of freedom of expression in deciding what is and is not acceptable, the operational details worked out are less than satisfactory.

World money: Sub-prime mess and exchange rates
Clearly the lessons of the LTCM have either not been learnt, or have been forgotten in the last nine years.

July 23, 2007
'Business-govt ties should be more transparent'
Excerpts from Prime Minister 's speech at the release of the book The Indian CEO: A Portrait of Excellence on July 18 in New Delhi.

10 ways to improve India's healthcare system
A coherent and sustainable plan that addresses the healthcare needs of the masses is absent, as are guidelines and protocols for management of disease.

US dollar under siege
From India's perspective, a decline in the dollar against the major currencies invariably means appreciation for the rupee.

Retail expectations: May the best spreadsheet win
The main suggestion is that all organised retailers be licensed by committees that will also have representatives of small retailers and vendors.

What price monetary policy?
There is no shortage of liquidity, so interest rates in the overnight call money market continue to stay below 1 per cent.

July 21, 2007
Export growth: New economics!
The recent forecast by the EAC implies a sharp acceleration in export growth, despite a large 10 per cent appreciation of the rupee. This is new economics.

The role of planning
The Planning Commission no longer sets targets; it provides a broad picture of the economy, its likely direction and pace, all of which help private entrepreneurs in their decisions.

July 20, 2007
Why traders fear the RBI
From the markets' perspective, a greater predictability of the RBI's intervention will give them a space to operate in.

Several birds with one stone
Anyone who is currently permitted to access any market in India should be permitted to use rupee futures.

India's new growth centres
Most are focussed on developing mega-cities, but the real growth will come in small and mid-sized cities.

How promoters rip off shareholders
Promoters pay themselves huge sums in diversified firms and shareholders are none the wiser.

July 19, 2007
How long will the market boom last?
Global stock markets are booming but policymakers must prepare for less favourable conditions.

Health sector and India's goof-ups
The government must urgently clean up the cobwebs of misdirected ideology relating to health insurance

July 18, 2007
How safe are your medicinal pills?
Indeed, India remains on the US list of countries with poor IPR protection precisely on account of its counterfeiting problem

India & China - The gap is narrowing
Recent perceptions of the two countries may have something to do with the narrowing of the gap in FDI flows.

An extra runway isn't the only solution
What has happened that the overall airport experience in Delhi and Mumbai is so much better than what it used to be earlier?

In mint condition, almost...over 70 years of the RBI
Barring a few nuts, no one will dispute that it has done rather a good job of carrying out its remit

July 17, 2007
Why is Vista so slow on uptake?
If you are tempted to buy and install the Vista, my advice is to wait. Particularly, if you are a business user.

July 14, 2007
All about Fiat 500
The idea behind this was simple: the new Fiat 500 was all about innocence and about re-birth, in many ways

O dear, that F word again!
Food will soon become a major problem. India needs to review all its policies.

Delhi's Transports of Horror
Deluded by their visions of a grand future, Delhi's rulers seem incapable of bridging the gap between illusion and ground reality

India's handling of rupee remains a riddle
The current approach toward capital inflows and the rupee remains an enigma.

July 13, 2007
Savings a/cs: Why banks are wary
Most banks are still reluctant to open savings accounts based on company appointment letters, though the Know-Your-Customer norms allow it.

Mumbai a finance hub: The right path?
The High-Powered Expert Committee report sounds impatient on various issues like capital account convertibility.

MBA Schools - Trouble in Paradise?
A broad-based humanities-oriented curriculum the answer for business schools

Rising rupee - Warning ahead
Complacency on the current account just because the deficit can be financed at least for now could prove costly.

July 12, 2007
When did India move to a new growth path?
Most believe it was in the post-1991 period, but the structural break took place in 1980-85.

July 11, 2007
Return of emerging markets
We need to deliver strong 8 per cent plus GDP growth and near 20 per cent earnings to justify and fulfil expectations.

India's apathy towards healthcare
Indians face considerable income loss, primarily due to inaccessibility to good quality and subsidised healthcare

July 10, 2007
Let's bury Doha and start afresh
It is time to lay the Doha Round to rest and think afresh about trade negotiations.

What's a PAN card for?
Government has no right to ask for PAN card details

July 09, 2007
Why our hardware is going soft?
Globally India is nowhere in the IT hardware business. But the domestic market is very large and needs more, not less, competition.

Inside the yuppie's investing mind
Some broad themes show up again and again.

July 07, 2007
UK health services may suffer
Britian's NHS, with its large proportion of Indian doctors, could be another victim.

Why is inequality in India not dropping?
Somewhat surprisingly for many arm-chair experts, inequality in India has stayed broadly constant over the last 25 high-growth years.

India: What more could be done?
Indian government must work to drop the cost of land, labour, capital, energy and transport. If these are done, the rest will take care of itself.

July 06, 2007
Market maniac: Are we there?
US Treasuries, another key indicator of market sentiment, also slipped sharply, with June 13 seeing the largest one-day fall since 2004, with the 10-year bond yield climbing above 5.25 per cent and breaking a long-term technical resistance.

July 05, 2007
'Ideal' inflation & exchange rates
describes what we need and how we get there.

Huge 'bottom of the pyramid' market? Bah!
In PPP terms, the market at the bottom of the pyramid is $1.42 trillion, a far cry from the $13 trillion estimated by others.

Cost of political myopia
The economic benefits of a modern, efficient retail system have been internationally well-documented and well-reported in India. Yes, the government continues to takes one slow step forward only to retrace and go back two, writes .

July 04, 2007
Tobacco curbs: India leads alternative crop plan
India demonstrated leadership on behalf of countries in South-East Asian Region to integrate agricultural diversification and alternative crops to tobacco in the comprehensive tobacco control as FCTC proposes.

Outsourcing: Now a people's project
BPO is acquiring a range and depth that no one had anticipated when it first took off.

Planning in a market economy
Planning has not lost relevance in India, but the Planning Commission has to reinvent itself.

July 03, 2007
The third big loss
A housing slump could lead to a slowdown in consumer spending in the US, which has obvious implications for Asian economies.

How a visionary leader is made
How Indian Industry is managing quality?

Are blogs losing their bite?
Some will morph into newer entities while others, make that most, will die

July 02, 2007
A vicious jobs-skills circle
Regulatory reform will not stimulate improvements in the informal sector as long as the workers remain at current skill levels.

June 29, 2007
How poverty in India can be eliminated
A modern smart card system that delivers cash and/or subsidies to the poor could do the trick.

How to stop SBI's decline?
SBI clearly needs to use information technology extensively to overcome the management challenge created by its size

June 28, 2007
After BPO & KPO, now comes PPO
Person-to-person outsourcing gains currency with small offices and individuals.

June 27, 2007
Are safe havens that safe?
The problems in the US credit markets have partly spilled over to other developed markets.

An America sandwich
Welcome to America, and the good news is that India is going/growing in the same direction.

The Road To Everest
This road, incidentally, is part of a larger project to create the longest torch relay in Olympic history

June 25, 2007
The genesis of corruption in India
Indian democracy is fast turning into by the elite, for the elite and of the elite, says .

CBDT guidance thickens air on taxing FIIs
With the liberalisation of the Indian economy and opening up of capital markets for domestic and institutional players, there was clearly a case to re-examine the 1989 guidelines.

June 23, 2007
Sensex and the bigger fool theory
While it's nice to talk of how well the Sensex has performed over the last couple of years, the rally is limited to less than a handful of stocks.

Indian economy overheating? Bah!
There is abundant evidence that the Indian economy is not overheating. So stop the presses from broadcasting this now absurd conclusion.

June 22, 2007
Role of India's elite institutions
India should create six elite schools and six elite universities in the next five years.

June 21, 2007
What about the deficit, Mr Sinha?
Since the publication of Yashwant Sinha's memoirs of his days as finance minister, a debate is raging over whether due credit is given to the man who presented five Budgets in a row under two governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

June 20, 2007
Online gamers mirror future
The objective of the study was two-fold, to better understand how successful leaders behave in online games and to learn the aspects of game that environment leaders leverage to be more effective.

Crisis on skilled labour?
People learn inside firms, and their learning is best when the firm is in a brutally competitive and globalised market.

It is illegal for NRIs to hold normal Resident bank accounts
On becoming an NRI, legally you are required to inform all your banks and also all the companies where you have investments about the change in your status within a reasonable time.

June 19, 2007
Rise of the rupee: What India must do
This may mean that the Rupee would be readily accepted as an international currency and, as a further fallout, Indians would be highly valued and widely recognised.

B-schools don't teach entrepreneurial spirit
Competitive and unidirectional environment in B-schools offers little room for serious thought.

June 18, 2007
Build it later, define it first
One wing of the government's definition of what constitues infrastructure is different from that of another and this needs to be resolved fast.

The new masters of the universe
The way private equity funds are snapping up businesses, they are looking like the old-style conglomerates.

Have we landed softly?
As far as outcomes are concerned, the evidence on a soft landing, while not yet conclusive, shows movement in the right direction.

June 16, 2007
India's new farm story?
Just when people have begun to look away from the services sector and start to cheer the momentum achieved by Indian manufacturing (like 15 per cent growth in April), the new story in India may be something else altogether -- agriculture.

Reservations? Here's an alternative
Graduated education vouchers could be an answer to the rising discord over reservations.

June 12, 2007
Pirates of the bio-world
The virus samples given freely by countries to the WHO are being used in patenting and commercial production of vaccines.

From knock-offs to knock-outs
Many Chinese companies, including a textile major have spawned strong domestic labels in recent years

What a visionary CEO must do
How Indian Industry is managing quality?

June 11, 2007
The coming collapse of the US dollar
We might see a global meltdown of the US dollar or we controlled devaluation of the US currency: either way global economy is doomed.

Rupee impact is large, but not the only one
India is in a

The exchange rate debate
As the rupee continues to remain strong, the debate about the exchange rate is hotting up. Hardly a day passes without the pink and, increasingly, even the white newspapers carrying an article or interview on the subject.

Maran or Raja? Who's better for BSNL?
To BSNL's detriment, Raja emerges the clear loser.

Why is RBI intervening again?
If the RBI were to support the country's configuration of growth, the supply of money would have to grow.

June 09, 2007
Met FDI target? Not yet
Before concluding that the current level of FDI flows is a reflection of India coming into its own with regard to manufacturing, it is important to carefully study the numbers and to understand the story that they tell.

Rupee, inflation, and a BMW
The rupee and a BMW both move fast. So will a rise in the rupee make the BMW move even faster?

June 08, 2007
World class, in our backyard
Hiring a professor's top students and getting the professor for free seems to be the way R&D is done today. And the irony was that we found it in our own backyard.

Proprietary trading: Risks and rewards
The positive side of the huge amount of speculative trading in currencies, bonds and derivatives is that it provides liquidity.

The constraint is not money
Setting apart something like 10 per cent of GDP every year for investment in infrastructure is going to be a new experience for this country -- and long overdue.

The lesson from telecom, cable TV & FM radio
The lesson from telecom, FM radio and cable TV is that lowering licence fees increases usage and raises government revenues.

June 07, 2007
Interest rates, living standards, & inflation
explores what the right aims and strategies could do for us.

Will bureaucrats take a pay cut, please?
Will the prime minister give the same similar advice to the bureaucracy as he gave to India Inc on pay cuts, etc?

June 05, 2007
Mobile spam can kill the golden goose
It will be a while before legislative and technical solutions are found to this problem

Drought-proofing rural India
The dairy is the vital link in adversity - it links people to the market.

A revolution at snail's pace
After a full year of deliberations, the Prabir Sengupta Committee will place before Mr AK Antony its recommendations on companies that should be granted the honorific "Raksha Utpadan Ratnas" or "Champions".

Fiscal federalism and management
An important development is the significant increase in the direct transfers to various autonomous bodies.

June 02, 2007
Triumph as defeat
The government has given up the claim of record economic performance and laid itself open to the charge that rapid economic growth is not benefiting the common man.

June 01, 2007
What can turn the rupee around?
The inflationary spurt and the continuing fear that prices may once again get out of control, particularly given global price trends, will keep the RBI deterred.

Towards an 'idea' economy
The future will be driven by companies with most ideas.

May 31, 2007
NRIs' rental income is repatriable
A N Shanbhag, the highly respected investment guru, and his son Sandeep Shanbhag, answer your questions on NRI investment

AICTE is the B-school bottleneck
More intensive use of the existing faculty and infrastructure is only a temporary remedy.

The prime minister has a point
The prime minister is right when he exhorts the corporate world to rethink its terms of engagement in a society as poor and in as much flux as India.

Give big salaries, but disclose why
India Inc can't trim salaries, but it can give shareholders a little more information on why senior executives are getting such fancy compensation packages.

What your insurance agent will never tell you
The incentive of the insurance advisor is definitely not in favour of the individual wanting an insurance policy.

The tragedy & tyranny of India's tax administration
Improving tax administration is as difficult as standing inside a bucket and lifting it simultaneously, says .

May 30, 2007
India a tech giant? Well no...
The average quality of education in science and technology is relatively low in India

Why have economists gone so wrong?
The reason: The consensus was that the US economy was headed for a slowdown. The global economy is unlikely to slow down significantly.

May 28, 2007
What does a billionaire dream of?
Menon's dreams begin and end in his native village of Moolancode

External debt: Funding enigma
Historically, India's approach towards foreign direct investment has been fairly liberal though offshore debt has been restrictive.

What makes Indian telecom unique
Going by the superb bottom line and market valuations of these companies, it's obvious the huge investments have paid back several times over.

The banking sector's capital needs
The sector needs to raise around Rs 150,000 crore (Rs billion) just by way of fresh equity.

Suzlon-REpower: FY08 earnings may be hit
The structure of Suzlon's takeover of REpower significantly lessens the financial implications, though the FY08 earnings may still take a hit.

May 26, 2007
Stop bashing industry. Govern better
Yes, industry should be socially responsible and it would be nice if the rich did not flaunt their wealth in a poor country, but what is needed most of all is effective governance and reform of the government.

The Mystery Report
The Mystery Report lists 48 (!) "Recommended Actions" (mostly in the next two years) for paving the way for Mumbai's rise as an IFC. It's a wide-ranging and challenging list.

May 25, 2007
Why India must change its image
India should join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to change the perception that it is a poor country.

The destructive Delhi-Mumbai divide
Last year's hike in the ECB ceiling undermined the RBI's monetary agenda and unnecessarily jeopardised monetary management.

4 conflicts and a retail sector
As developments in modern retail begin to live up to the hype, a number of conflicts have started to emerge.

Bird, plane or India?
It is not surprising that India's economic performance of the last five years has got everyone excitedly. But is this the long-waited takeoff or is India flattering to deceive?

Innovation tips from the Beatles
Innovation happen when two worlds, previously unconnected, collide. And innovators are really people who see the connections between these worlds.

May 24, 2007
A giant leap for Vijay Mallya
As an overnight producer of nearly 10 per cent of the world's Scotch whisky, Vijay Mallya has moved to a global liquor arena.

May 23, 2007
Why investors are a frustrated lot
Reliance Industries, Bharti, Infosys, Reliance Communications and ICICI Bank have accounted for approximately 130 per cent of the Sensex return of the past 12 months.

KAS: A micro-finance success story
The KAS Foundation is touching the lives of 700,000 people.

May 22, 2007
Kindergarten approach to climate
We need to agree once and for all that the industrialised world is responsible for climate change

The role of an ideal CEO
A CEO's complete involvement in any change process in the organisation is a must.

Mobility needs to go places
Given the obvious benefits of mobile computing and the continued challenges of wireline reach in India, there are many obstacles and hurdles as I see it. The biggest one is cost.

Rupee appreciation: Lessons from China
The lesson for India is not that it should revert to distorting the price of capital but eliminate the distortions in the use of labour.

Are B-schools keeping pace with time?
The problem is that the corporate world is evolving so rapidly that most of the B-schools are not able to keep pace with changes

May 21, 2007
The long and winding road to nowhere
India's hunt for independent regulatory authorities for infrastructure appears to be going nowhere.

An American in Chennai
The time has come for India to take its place at the table.

Will A Raja end roaming charges?
The country's cellular operators have a small window in which they can persuade Mr Raja not to do anything.

W&M: A great milestone for Mallya
Mr Mallya's United Spirits, the third-largest spirits group in the world, acquires both a global footprint and a quality label.

May 19, 2007
Delhi's pioneering businessmen
No one would have dreamt then that, in the space of a generation, Delhi would be challenging Mumbai to become the country's business capital.

May 18, 2007
It's not just about market access
The real issue constraining LDC exports is equally about their inability to produce marketable goods and services.

You can run, but you can't hide
The raft of liberalisation measures announced in the monetary policy provided a strong signal that we are back on the path to further liberalization.

Global warming is part of evolution
Preparing to live in a warmer earth is as important, if not more important, as trying to cool it down.

May 17, 2007
Exchange rate muddles
If instead of appreciating the nominal exchange rate it is devalued, the price level will rise

Regulating to kill the Internet
Instead of helping the industry by insisting on unbundling the local loop, the TRAI has made things worse.

They have responsibilities but no power
That's the main reason why young officers in PSU banks are in an exit mode.

Long way to go on ethical standards
When a chairman of an Indian listed company has to resign for a trivial lie, or face an inquiry for granting favours to his companions, one say that governance standards have truly come of age in India.

Competition is key to survival
Competition-induced consumer awareness creates a virtuous circle of greater corporate responsibility

May 16, 2007
Lessons from the rupee's rise
The biggest surprises in the financial markets come when most people expect them least

To succeed, learn to be intuitive
Never underestimate the importance of instinct.

May 15, 2007
Delhi's strained infrastructure
The chief minister must look at improving the management teams that run Delhi's civic services.

The cost of bureaucratic processes
By the time vital decisions, such as importing foodgrain, get implemented, it is often too late.

May 14, 2007
The other uprising
A mutiny against poor-quality and expensive government education

India Inc can help educate our kids
With the government failing to fulfil its obligation to provide free and compulsory education, any help from the corporate groups in this direction should be welcome.

Maneka Gandhi on India and global warming
In fact, one of the most important indicators has gone unnoticed: the dying out of pollination agents, such as bees and butterflies, on which our entire planet depends

Time to foster competitiveness
Financial subsidies that are not WTO-compatible will have to be phased out and GSP benefits will not be available for long. Things have just got tougher.

What is the real interest rate?
The current rates of inflation hardly make sense unless they represent future levels of inflation. They don't.

May 12, 2007
Exiting a booming India
The economy is on a roll but there are increasing numbers who want to get out.

India's Grapes of Wrath
The faster we make the transition from farm to industry, the shorter the pain?

Lessons RBI can learn from China
The RBI Deputy Governor should be sent to China to learn how the Chinese do their exchange rate management.

May 09, 2007
Of India, reforms and skewed governance
'If governance ensured we were poor during the socialist period, it now ensures that we do not get rich.'

May 08, 2007
Vijay Mallya? Smart Cookie!
'He proved it once again when he reportedly had beer -- and other kinds of liquor -- served on the A380, the big bird from Airbus Industrie on its first flight within India.'

How venture capital funding works
The first quarter of the calendar year 2007 is already over. There is no sign of the VC story slowing down. This is a good sign for all the entrepreneurs out there with an idea!

May 07, 2007
God's own country?
Kerala, lauded for being a model state in education and many development indicators, has a healthcare system that seems to be chronically ill.

Towards a sensible land policy
When land was allotted to PSUs in the past, care was taken to ensure this was wasteland - it makes sense to do the same for private industry today.

Why valuing real estate biz is fuzzy
The performance of real estate companies is dependent on a lot of intangibles and is prone to errors in assumptions.

May 05, 2007
India to be among largest consumer markets
While just 5 per cent of the country's population can be classified as middle class today, this will grow to over 40 per cent by 2025.

The IT growth story: India vs Israel
Israel's record is certainly the more impressive when you realise that more than 70 Israeli companies are listed on Nasdaq - next only to the US and Canada in the country rankings.

The danger of leaking cell numbers
Who actually is leaking millions of private cell phone numbers to providers of unsolicited services?

May 04, 2007
'Profit is ours, loss is mine'
Often, what we reserve for use during an emergency is the better option.

May 02, 2007
Comrade Montek Singh Ahluwalia?
The metamorphosis of the liberal Ahluwalia to Comrade Ahuwalia, in the past decade, is bewildering, says .

May 01, 2007
Learn from the North Block, Mr Nath
The commerce minister ought to seek validation for his incentives with the finance ministry.

IMD and its weather 'pastcasts'
Here is some unsolicited advice for the science minister: Please consider abandoning immediately the monsoon modelling and forecasting exercise.

RBI's reverse swing
It's a classic example of the proverbial banker offering an umbrella when there is little possibility of rain.

Socially responsible investment
As emerging markets rise rapidly in significance for global investment flows, the share of SRI funds in their stocks will grow significantly.

Do you want water or minerals?
Water or mines? The answer should be obvious, but thanks to the pots of gold that lie hidden in them, mines are robbing the countryside of its natural wealth.

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