Politics means sugarcane gets Maharashtra's scarce water

Man-made drought

Business Standard

Novartis judgment might have many side effects

Patent problems

Prevention better than cure

Rare earths undersea will change geopolitical equations

A blow to a monopoly

Beyond India's grasp

The campaign to pardon Sanjay Dutt has done him no good

Time lost, time to serve

India's Sri Lanka policy must not be reactive

Between two stools

Risks of not taking quick and strong action are enormous

Current account-ability

Slums in urban India symbolise both hope and despair. They are the entry point for impoverished villagers seeking to escape their deprivation. Living conditions in them, however, are often so unspeakable that the declared aim of the government is to have a slum-free India. But if the first detailed census of slum households in the country is anything to go by, they are very varied in nature, and therefore the government's attitude to, and policy for, slums needs to be much more nuanced. What can be said unequivocally is that a slum is no fit place to live. In fact, the census covers not just officially recognised and notified slums but others as well, and the criteria used to identify a slum is any place which is home to at least 60-70 households and is unfit to live in for a variety of reasons like the nature of the shelter available, overcrowding, the lack of sanitation and drinking water. Nearly twice as many households in slums do not have in-premise latrines or drinking water sour

The reality of slums

Touching the sky

The Cyprus conundrum

Rural development ministry's odd suggestions on land

Two steps backward

Banks should become active traders in govt securities

Leveraging the debt office

Govt must recognise that RTE is not working as it should

Whitewash, but no lessons

If Tendulkar does not go on his own, he should be pushed

Time to go

Core FSLRC recommendations are in line with global thinking

Search for structure

Electric cars may work - but where to charge them?On March 18, Mahindra & Mahindra launched the country's first all-electric four-seat car, which it called the e2o. Those who have test-driven the car say there is a total lack of engine noise - as the car runs on a lithium ion battery - which can at times be unnerving. The turning radius is short, the ride quality is decent, and the pick-up is not bad. But if you want to do corners at high speed, you could lose traction or upset the dynamics of the car. But this is a minor glitch. As a technology, it's environment friendly. And it's inexpensive to run. The cost of driving the car is just 50 paisa per km, which is significantly lower than petrol cars (Rs 4.56 per km), diesel cars (Rs 2.7 per km) and even CNG cars (Rs 2.12 per km). So, an electric vehicle is the way to go.The problem is the price. At Rs 5.96 lakh (on-road price in New Delhi), the e2o isn't really cheap. For this price, buyers have the option to pick from a whole range

A new spark

Govt cannot assume it will solve current account problem

When gold falls

Export fall-off requires more than just sops

Trade travails

The questions that surround the DMK's exit from the UPA

Breaking foreign policy

The implications of the food security Bill remain worrying

Change without reform

Incisive columns and editorial comment by top opinion leaders

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