Necessity is the mother not just of invention but also innovation. And so, with one-day cricket having become predictable in its tactics and therefore less interesting, this 35-year-old version of the

Cricket in transition

Business Standard

On the face of it, the first meeting of the National Development Council organised by the UPA government was a success. Its agenda was to discuss the Mid-term Appraisal (MTA) of the Tenth Plan, which

Mixed signals

For someone who has consistently espoused the cause of transparency and openness, and has done much to make the office of the President more approachable, President APJ Abdul Kalams note to Prime

Please, Mr President

The US decision to review the anti-dumping duty on shrimp exports from India may have perked up the seafood export industry, but it does not automatically warrantee good times for this sector. 


Brief reprieve

On May 1, the 45th anniversary of the formation of the state, the government of Maharashtra ordered Mumbais neon signs turned off. 


Flickering hopes

M S Banga got one of the most prestigious jobs in Indias corporate sector at the wrong time. Hindustan Lever had become too diversified and enjoyed unsustainable profit margins when he became

Transition at Lever

The significance of the Cabinets approval of changes to the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Banking Regulation Act, and the proposed removal of the cap on voting rights in banks can best be gauged

Towards consolidation

Cooperative sector bankers have rejected the Vaidyanathan task forces recommendations for rehabilitation of the troubled cooperative credit infrastructure. 


Rescuing co-op credit

Just when one felt the government of Maharashtra was finally realising the error of its ways by giving up on its pre-poll promise of free power for farmers , the state has gone and promulgated an

Stamp of waywardness

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the Indian stock markets black Monday, May 17, 2004, when the BSE Sensex dropped over 800 points during the trading day before closing some 500 points below

Setting a floor

Even if the government does manage to resolve the Dabhol issue soon and then is able to get more investors to set up power plants, it is unlikely that the crisis in the countrys power sector will go

Coal for power

After the fringe benefit tax and the cash withdrawal tax and the ITC ordinance, there is now the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2005, introduced in the Lok Sabha. 


Arming the taxman

While the opposition voiced against various steel projects in eastern India, on the ground that the investors are simply interested in exploiting natural resources, is purely tactical and aimed at

Bid for minerals

Reports of shortages of fertilisers in several key agricultural pockets are cause for concern, especially since the kharif sowing is round the corner. 


Fertiliser deficit

All the data point to the fact that buying by mutual funds has been propping up the equity market. Foreign institutional investors have been net sellers in April and in the current month, while mutual

A fragile prop

The need for lifting the ban on commodity options has been felt ever since futures trading was officially permitted in April 2003. Now, the parliamentary standing committee on food and consumer

Lift the ban

The decision of the Securities and Exchange Board of India to raise the proportion of public offers reserved for retail investors is welcome. Investor interest in IPOs has been strong, thanks not only

Retail push

The Delhi governments decision to raise water prices was taken last December and has come into effect now. The increase is steep. Consumers (the ones with working meters, that is) will pay many times

The cost of water

With global oil prices once again threatening to upset the recovery applecart across the world, the attention of governments once again focuses on finding ways to protect their economies from the

Energy insecurities

The Prime Ministers rather blunt statement at the meeting of the full Planning Commission on Tuesday about the unfeasibility of the Tenth Plan GDP growth target of 8.1 per cent per year should come

Re-inventing planning

The governments decision in principle to opt for the Madrid system of international registration of trademarks is a step, albeit belated, in the right direction. 


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