Many factors responsible for investors interest in India are now rapidly receding. 


A P: How did it all start?

Business Standard

Diplomacy, let us not forget, is war by other means. Pakistan has repeatedly gained through diplomacy what it has lost on the battleground. It seeks to do so again. And Manmohan Singh has done well to

Not to be browbeaten

Centre-state financial relations have always been a contentious issue in India. The Constitutional division of powers between the two levels of government have imposed rather rigid restrictions on the

Perverse incentives

The World Development Report 2006, titled Equity and Development, released by the World Bank this week, raises important issues about the nature of inter-linkages between inequality and the

The virtues of equity

The draft National Strategy for Manufacturing, unveiled last week by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC), is reassuring in many ways but disappointing in others. In a

Familiar formulae

If the labour ministry has its way, there will now be a labour cess to fund social security for 370 million unorganised sector workers. This is the thrust of the Unorganised Sector Workers Social

Sham or scam

The methodology used in the World Economic Forums (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) has evolved over time, and the report remains one of several cross-country surveys. 


Fact or opinion?

The US-led six nation Asia-Pacific partnership on clean development launched last week needs a cautious welcome. It is a good initiative in that the major environment-polluting countries like the US

Beyond Kyoto

The Ambani brothers may have decided to put months of acrimony behind them and agreed on how to split their fathers business empire, but controversy continues to dog their footsteps. 


A fresh start

The environment ministrys reported move to initiate the process of fixing norms for safe disposals of electronic waste has not come a day too soon. 


Waste management

Almost the entire north-eastern hilly region is beset with an ecological phenomenon which portends food insecurity and its consequential socio-economic repercussions.


Bamboo flowering

The June numbers for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) show continuing buoyancy in the sector, particularly in manufacturing. This latter grew at a rate of 12.5 per cent over June 2004, taking

All-round growth

The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA government states that generally profit-making companies will not be privatised.


Blind alley

The hot new opportunity for making money seems to be trading in carbon. The prices of carbon credits in the international market have trebled in recent months, and companies able to sell them (like

Green money

"Complete legal equality for women in all spheres will be made a practical reality, especially by removing discriminatory legislation and by enacting new legislation that gives women, for instance,

Partial correction

While it would be foolhardy to dismiss outright the concerns of Indian intelligence agencies with respect to Chinese firm Huawei Technologies proposal to expand its telecom equipment business in the

Sinophobia

The Indian economy has been cruising for so many months now that even normally optimistic people are beginning to ask how long the party can last.


Change of tempo?

The 55th Round of the National Sample Survey (1999-2000) led to a lot of debate on poverty levels, mostly centred on the method of collecting data compared to earlier rounds. Poverty has many

Let's increase poverty

The next world war, predicted a cheerful soul some years ago, will be fought over water. That may or may not turn out true but local skirmishing has certainly started in India.


Privatise water management

The Andhra Pradesh governments demand of a special Rs 25,000-crore package from the Centre for completion of its irrigation projects should not be viewed in isolation. It is a manifestation of the

The irrigation crisis

Beauty, we all know when we look at other peoples wives (and thank our stars), lies in the eyes of the beholder. Likewise, propriety lies in the minds of those who are expected to set an example by

Go stand in the corner

Incisive columns and editorial comment by top opinion leaders

Page 358 - Editorial Comment