Every finance professional who has watched the Indian IPO (initial public offer) market would be acutely conscious of the burst of self-promotion indulged in by firms planning an IPO. The experienced

Quiet IPOs

Business Standard

As expected, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hiked the benchmark reverse repo and repo rates by 25 basis points each, taking them to 6 and 7 per cent, respectively. Many factors would have

No more hikes?

Microsoft was once the envy of every manager. The almost accidental choice by IBM for building the operating system for the IBM PC captured near-monopolies in MS Windows and MS Office. Net profit rose

Learning from Microsoft

Most of the cases of governance failure in US companies a few years ago are in the process of attaining closure, with the key figures involved having been found guilty and sentenced to prison terms,

Governance after Enron

The United Nations report on the status of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic seems to have both positive and negative portents. On the positive side, it shows that the rapid growth in AIDS cases that

Denial won't help

Having messed up the countrys food management system to the extent of necessitating imports, the food and agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, is now talking about measures that can undo the damage.

On the right track

The Economist, a magazine reputed for its special features on countries and global issues, among other things, recently published one on Indian business. Following up on the broad themes it had

The public-private divide

The Prime Minister deserves to be complimented for standing firm on the issue of oil product prices, despite the spectacle of his own Congress party joining the chorus of protest from the Opposition.

Standing his ground

It is not often that an industry that has lived with, and perhaps thrived on, subsidies from the government puts forth the demand that the subsidy regime be scrapped. This is now the case with the

Unexpected demand

Most people would have thought that once the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, being executed by Nandi Infrastructure Enterprises (NICE),

Not very NICE

The electronic revolution is welcome, but not an unmixed blessing. It is posing some novel problems that have not got the attention they merit. One such concerns the disposal of the huge amount of

Software, hard waste

If the Central governments proposals on reservations in educational institutions and private sector jobs are not bad enough, the Punjab government has reached a new high (or low, depending upon how

More reservations

Commodity markets witnessed a meltdown last week. The sharpest decline was seen in the metals sector, which, interestingly enough, had also seen the sharpest rise in past months and had peaked in May.

Only a correction

Everyone, almost, has heard of the king of the Turkish province of Phrygia, Midas, who saved a minor god from certain death and was granted a boon in return, namely, that whatever he touched would

Unaccountable ministers

After gaining nearly 1,200 points from its low in three trading sessions till Monday, the markets saw some selling on Tuesday as the Sensex fell 175 points. While three good days is a very short time

Reality dawns

The data released by the ministry of commerce and industry indicate that Indias exports grew by almost 30 per cent during May 2006, touching $9.4 billion, as compared to $7.2 billion a year ago.

Export eventualities

The deadlock over talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) is no surprise, especially in view of the tough stance both

The Asean folly

No one in the world can trust the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has a long history of making peace overtures when it feels cornered, only to change colour and posture the minute it

Tiger tears

The first vote in the US Congress signals that the nuclear deal with India has broad, bi-partisan support in that country. Critics have focused on how it harms the goal of nuclear non-proliferation,

First hurdle

The Securities and Exchange Board of Indias announcement allowing real estate mutual funds (REMF) is to be welcomed. The Indian real estate market has been through a boom phase, raising general

Real estate options

Eternal vigilance, it has been said rightly, is the price of liberty. By that token, Indian media, both print and electronic, have been remiss on account of their growing obsession with sensationalism

Sleeping beauties

Incisive columns and editorial comment by top opinion leaders

Page 368 - Editorial Comment