Violent words in political speech will lower the national debate

Careful, Mr Modi

Business Standard

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the government agency responsible for keeping track of how the economy is performing, goes through five phases of estimating how much Indias GDP amounts to

Fine-tuning GDP

It is reported that, in Maharashtra, the last six months have seen no fewer than seven officers belonging to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) leave the service to join the private sector, at

Attrition in government

As has long been known, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. As the ruling emperor of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan will readily provide yet another confirmation of this adage. For no reason

Ethnic politics

The National Sample Survey Organisation, which is responsible for collecting data on household expenditure and employment patterns, has published a summary of the findings of its 62nd Round survey,

Not a pretty picture

The blanket ban on the trade and movement of chickens, ducks and eggs in West Bengal, though intended to curb the spread of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu infection, is unlikely to achieve the

Not the right strategy

The highly vexatious experience of those who use the new expressway between Delhi and Gurgaon brings to the fore some important issues. First and foremost is the basic issue of assessing traffic

NHAI hai, hai ...

On Friday, the government announced the de-reservation of 79 items from the list meant exclusively for manufacture by the small-scale sector. This leaves only 35 items on the list, down to almost

Reservations RIP

Yesterdays performance of Reliance Powers stock, which, only a few weeks ago had astounded observers with the magnitude of oversubscription, must not be seen as just a reflection of the state of the

Signals from IPOs

The worst fears about the impact of the rush for bio-fuels are coming true. Evidence that has now surfaced suggests that bio-fuels based on plant sources may actually aggravate, rather than alleviate,

Bio-fuels not the answer?

The December 2007 numbers for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), released yesterday, serve to confirm the deceleration that is taking place in the industrial sector. After a significant dip in

The evidence mounts

Mr Chidambaram will present the UPA governments fifth and final Budget on February 29, with an undoubted mandate from his Cabinet colleagues to do whatever he can to further their prospects in the

Honour fiscal commitments

The reported move by the government, to prepare for a virtually across-the-board waiver of bad or rescheduled agricultural loans, is imprudent in every way. Most importantly, it may end up crippling

Bad idea

The report of the latest tiger census, which shows the existence of no more than 1,411 wild cats, justifies the fear that tiger conservation efforts are not paying off. Indeed, the current tiger count

Disappearing cats

Anil Ambani has made a virtue out of necessity. Faced with serious reputational risk, which almost certainly would have come in the way of his taking more companies public and thereby torpedoed his

Making good

The Cabinets decision to extend the stock curbs on wheat and pulses for six more months is an ill-conceived and ill-timed move that can misfire. That this has been done under the Essential

Unwise decision

If the number of patent applications filed under the World Intellectual Property Organisations (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is any indication, India appears to be a laggard among the

Poor patent score

P>Switzerland, the banking capital of the world, is also the home of Basel, which in turn is the origin of a series of risk management norms that the global banking system has embraced over the past several years.

Editorial: Traditional medicine

P>Political parties can and do act in mysterious ways, their wonders to perform or not perform.

Editorial: Back to the future

P>The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) deserves a pat on the back for its move to frame a new set of rules on corporate social responsibility (CSR), making it a must for companies to report on their social and environmental initiatives.

Editorial: Measuring CSR

Nothing better depicts the contempt that Delhis lawmakers have for the law than what is happening on the illegal buildings that dot the capital, buildings that were first sealed (and in some cases

Now a farce

Incisive columns and editorial comment by top opinion leaders

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