What is it about the FIFA World Cup football tournament that convulses even non-football fans for one month every four years? What is it that brings in consolidated TV-viewing figures of a stupendous

A money machine

Business Standard

It has been a feature of recent governments that many decisions that require detailed consideration, or which involve more than one ministry, are first considered by Groups of Ministers (GoM)which

Exercises in futility

Many visitors to Shanghai return raving about the ride from the airport into the city on the worlds first magnetic train at window-blurring speed. Few mention that the project is not economically

China`s public miracles

The intellectual argument for exempting dividend payments from tax in the hands of the recipient has rested on the premise that a tax on profits has already been paid by the company in question; and

Cap the benefit

Given heightened security concerns after the Mumbai strikes, the clamour for new laws to protect the country is understandable. But the usual problem with laws drafted in such a context is that they

Knee-jerk responses

Even as the club of G-8 leaders meets in St Petersburg in a clear signal that they see (or would like) Russia as part of the western alliance, the fact is that the West looks with growing concern at

A stronger Russia

All those who feared that the economy would slow down this quarter because of higher energy costs and rising interest rates, must stand re-assured by the double-digit growth in industrial production

Powering along

The tea leaves from the various marketsfinancial, commodity and assetare becoming increasingly difficult to read. All markets are in turmoil, with volatile price movements but no definite trend in

Skittish markets

The government announced at the time of the last round of increases in the prices of petrol and diesel that in future the oil marketing companies would be free to raise prices on their own, without

An empty promise

In medieval times it was the practice of impecunious and unscrupulous European monarchs to organise the punishment of entire Jewish communities for the actions of one or two Jewish moneylenders who

An eternal flashpoint

With over 15,000 registered and unregistered producers of medicines, and with more than 100 important drugs like the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the Indian pharmaceuticals industry may just have pulled

Not again

The proud claim made in recent years has been that, while Islamist jehadism has swept virtually every country with a large Muslim population, India has been miraculously free from the problem and that

Home-grown jehad

The good that men do is often interred with the offices they hold. This is something that can certainly be said of the 10 communist MPs, not to mention several from other parties, who hold offices of

Most ill-advised

Failures seem to have become routine at the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) talks on trade liberalisation. Deadlines, too, have lost their sanctity. As such, the failure of the latest bid by the

Some `development round`!

It has been said for decades that India has the third-largest scientific and technical manpower in the worldwithout reference to whether most of the people qualified in the relevant disciplines are

Not a scientific power

Anyone who thought that the Indian corporate sector would not be able to maintain the momentum of the last couple of years into the first quarter of a new year, had better think again. The quarterly

Further acceleration!

On the face of it, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has done the right thing by not completely giving in to the bureaucracy and by allowing file notings to be made available under the Right to

RTI, RIP

If newspaper reports of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs meeting with representatives of CII-Assocham on their affirmative action report are to be believed, the immediate crisis in terms of the threat

Will the fat lady sing?

As with other parts of infrastructure, new institutional structures have been attempted in Indian ports. Vendors like P&amp;O have got 30-year contracts to run terminals at different ports. This

Why does it cost so much?

The revised estimates for GDP growth during 2005-06 were released yesterday. They indicate that GDP grew by 8.4 per cent during the year, slightly higher than the 8.1 per cent that had been suggested

Advantage agriculture

Governments are supposed to govern, and its members are supposed to set an example to the country. By extension, so are legislators. The UPA government hasnt done a great job of governing so far. And

Slap in the face

Incisive columns and editorial comment by top opinion leaders

Page 291 - Editorial Comment