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Clearly, nothing fragile about this growth

Business Standard

The India of IT outsourcing and global business, with its corollary of slickly dressed executives in fancy offices, is rarely associated with the other, less-savoury India of caste and gender prejudice.

Indians are over committed, reluctant to disagree: Study

In Brussels, the seat of the European Union, the New Year has begun with much sombre soul searching. Already struggling to combat high unemployment and revive its sluggish economy, the outcome of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen has deepened the sense of crisis that has come to pervade the European project.

Europe catches cold after climate talks

The time when India merely provided the blue collar labour for the West&rsquo;s creative ideas is past, says Ajit Shetty, chairman of the board of directors of Janssen Pharmaceutica, the pharma subsidiary of Johnson &amp; Johnson.

Downturn presents new lease of life for Indian drug firms

In an interview with Pallavi Aiyar, her first to the press since taking over as the new European Commissioner on Climate Change, former Danish climate and energy minister and host of the UN climate change meet at Copenhagen, Connie Hedegaard, lashes at her critics, praises Jairam Ramesh, admits the Kyoto Protocol is a hard sell in Europe and insists the EU continues to be the leader on climate issues.

'You will never have a new international agreement unless you get the US on board'

The recently concluded United Nations&rsquo; climate change conference in Copenhagen presented a rare opportunity for China to cast its stringent three-decade-old, one-child policy in a positive light.

Pallavi Aiyar: The missing P-word in global warming

At the United Nations climate change meet in Copenhagen last December, some of the most visible NGO campaigners milling around outside the conference venue were dressed as large, furry animals. As they distributed vegan sandwiches to all who would accept them, their message was simple: &ldquo;Less meat means less heat.

Chewing the cud could sink the planet!

Internet search giant Google&rsquo;s clash with the Chinese authorities may be dominating headlines, but the company has its fair share of woes in Europe, too. Given that its European operations are far larger and more profitable than its business in China, the outcome of its travails here will have a far greater impact on its future.

Google's Chinese problems pale when compared to those in Europe

The euro, the single currency that 16 EU (European Union) countries share, is usually highlighted as one of the main achievements of the European project; a rare example of &ldquo;success&rdquo; in what has increasingly become a beleaguered tale of EU infighting and lack of vision.

Greek debt crisis tests euro zone

Help!

Patent settlements between pharmaceutical companies that make original drugs and their generic manufacturing rivals are to come under renewed scrutiny from the European Union&rsquo;s (EU&rsquo;s) competition regulation authority, as part of an ongoing probe into the sector.

Drug patent settlements to come under EU scanner

Europe may continue to reel from the shock of the global financial crisis, but even in these depressed circumstances Information Technology (IT)-related outsourcing remains surprisingly buoyant to the benefit of Indian firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Banks' losses TCS' gain in economic crisis

The fate of one of the world&rsquo;s most crucial economic engagements will be at stake next week, when the 27-member European Union (EU) and India hold talks in New Delhi to thrash out the details of a free trade agreement (FTA) that could potentially boost bilateral trade to hundreds of billions of dollars.

India, European Union to resume FTA talks next week

The Danish chair of the UN talks on climate change, Connie Hedegaard, today stepped down and was replaced by Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Draft-II surfaces amid reshuffle

With last-ditch efforts to save the Copenhagen talks on climate change from failure in full swing, the Danish presidency made it clear today that there would be no Danish draft-II and that the two-track process of negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol and a long-term cooperation agreement (LCA) would form the basis for any political agreement signed by heads of state and government on Friday.

Signs of thaw in positions on climate heat talks

It has been a prickly year for China-India ties with the Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute poisoning bilateral rhetoric. In Copenhagen, Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai is back in vogue with the two sides holding meetings up to six times a day, according to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Hindi-Chini camaraderie at Copenhagen

With last-ditch efforts on to save the Copenhagen talks on climate change from failure, the Danish Presidency today said there would be no Danish draft-II. The two-track process of negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol and long-term cooperation agreement (LCA) would form the basis of any political agreement signed by heads of state and government on Friday.

Climate talks see green light at tunnel end

And, India chose to break ranks consistently to be with its new friends.

UN Climate meet showed the old North-South divide outdated

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has responded to India&rsquo;s concerns regarding a joint Sino-US statement issued in the wake of President Obama&rsquo;s visit to China in November. That statement had seemed to imply that Washington and Beijing had agreed to keep a joint eye on issues related to South Asia, possibly including the differences between India and Pakistan.

China assures india on joint statement with US

With no signs of a possible deal at the climate summit in the Danish capital, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made it clear that future negotiations on tackling the menace should be based on equitable burden sharing as enshrined in Kyoto Protocol and Bali mandate.

PM sticks to Kyoto Protocol

As rumours swooped around thick and fast about a potentially explosive, secret Danish draft, I looked around for a quiet corner in the otherwise crushingly-full Bella Centre for a quick cup of coffee. I found myself sharing a table with a pretty, blonde Danish girl. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m with the Indian press,&rdquo; I said to her by way of introduction. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;m Connie Hedegaard&rsquo;s press secretary,&rdquo; the girl replied.

Pallavi Aiyar

Pallavi Aiyar

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