Indian cricket has hit another crisis. Losing two consecutive one-dayers to South Africaboth by comprehensive marginshas once again raised debates about the recent performances of the team,

Beyond the players

Business Standard

After being the bad guys for refusing to implement the then Human Resource Development Minster Murli Manohar Joshis diktat on slashing fees some years ago, the Indian Institute of Management at

Now the tough part

Three months ago, President Bush issued an order stating that the US government must limit its use of the doctrine of eminent domain, which allows the state to compulsorily take over private property,

Not by fiat

If nothing else, India-Pakistan relations can never be dull. No sooner has the surprise Havana deal been concluded than comes the announcement from the Mumbai police that they have found a clear

Spy vs spy?

The air chief marshals letter to the defence minister, pointing to the steady decline in superiority over Pakistan, has found its way to the press and makes for somewhat distressing reading. What

Air force sans planes?

Floods in West Bengal have taken a toll of 78 lives in the last few weeks and have affected the lives of over seven million people in 16 districts of the state. But leaving aside a few notable

When floods are not news

The Congress and the CPI(M) are trying to arrive at a middle path on pension reforms. The New Pension System has been introduced for all new recruits into the central government from January 2004.

Building a halfway house

The Prime Minister and finance minister have drawn attention to the need for a proper bond market. In a mature market economy, liquidity and market efficiency are found in four markets: equities,

Creating a bond market

If the spate of suicides by farmers has attracted public attention to the agrarian crisis, the report of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) succeeds in focusing on the farmer rather than farming

Preventing those suicides

For several years North Korea has been threatening to conduct a nuclear test. Yesterday, it finally did so, after having warned last week that it was about to take the step. As with Indiatwice (1974

Thank Pakistan

Going by the mercy pleas put forward to stop the carrying out of the death penalty handed out to Mohammed Afzal Guru, who masterminded the attack on Parliament five years ago, it would appear that the

Attacking Parliament is ok?

An outstanding feature of the 20th century was the attempt by economics to achieve intellectual sophistication. Nowhere was this truer than the problem of unemployment and how to tackle it. In the

Nobel, but not novel

Politics can be the art of make-believe, but what is happening on the question of allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) into retailing invites disbelief. Thanks to the Left parties, this is

Assume they're not here

Exactly four months ago, the stock market was the last place you wanted to be invested in. After a two-year rally, in which the Sensex had gained an astonishing 200 per cent in value, touching its

Back with confidence

Given the poor performance of most airlines, it is perhaps a welcome development that they have decided to come up with an industry body along the lines of a Nasscoma body which can take up critical

Watch the cartel

Consider a car. The vast majority of its componentsthe tyres, gauges, windshield, alarm system, electrical system, etcare not made by the car manufacturer. Once a vehicle is sold, it can be

Closed Vista?

When the Planning Commissions then deputy chairman went to the Prime Minister of the time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with a 7 per cent growth target for the 10th five-year Plan (2002-07), Mr Vajpayee

One-way ride?

Samvat 2062 ended last week with the proverbial bang associated with Diwali fireworks. A 60 per cent gain in stock prices is not something that traders would have anticipated as they clicked the mouse

Trade carefully

It will take adroitness on the governments part to get out of the corner that it finds itself in, on the issue of caste-based reservations. The Supreme Court has taken a tough stand on OBC (Other

The die is caste

Starting with Tehelka reporter Aniruddh Bahal exposing on camera how the then BJP president accepted bundles of currency notes, the Indian electronic media has in the last few years used several other

Shooting the messenger

The news media are full of reports about the US administration repeatedly denying that it has any plans for a quick exit from Iraq. The very repetition of these denials, now almost on a daily basis,

What about the Iraqis?

Incisive columns and editorial comment by top opinion leaders

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