The Supreme Court ruled, last week, that if a disputing party asks its rival to appoint an arbitrator according to their agreement and if it is not complied with, the former can approach a court for appointment of an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. After that, the arbitrator appointed by the court will proceed with the arbitration. In this case, Dakshin Shelters Ltd vs Geeta Johari, disputes arose between the two parties who had signed a development agreement. Geeta Johari invoked the arbitration clause in the agreement and nominated a former judge of the Andhra Pradesh high court on behalf of her and called upon the firm to nominate its arbitrator. The firm raised objections to this request. She moved the high court, which appointed an arbitrator. This was opposed by the firm, leading to the appeal in the Supreme Court.

Right to move court for arbitration

Business Standard

From an integrity perspective, the First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) system is undoubtedly the most problematic method of awarding government contracts and licenses, but over the years, many other anti-competitive practices have gradually found their way into public procurement systems around the world, particularly in jurisdictions with poor acquisition planning capabilities or with poor oversight mechanisms. This article examines some of these anti-competitive methods, together with possible alternatives and reforms for improving their procurement practices in general.

Anti-competitive practices in government contracts

We have spoken about reversion, or losers outperforming winners. This approach works. In their 1985 paper &lsquo;Does the stock market overeact?&rdquo;, DeBondt and Thaler explained the idea of mean reversion and how it leads to the Loser&rsquo;s portfolio of three years outperforming the Winner&rsquo;s portfolio of the same time. Findings of reversion in stock prices towards some fundamental values remain in literature for a decade. DeBondt and Thaler[1985] using overreaction showcased that a stock experiencing a poor performance over a 3-5 year of period subsequently tend to outperform a stock that had previously performed relatively well. This implies that, on average, stocks which are &lsquo;losers&rsquo; in terms of returns subsequently become &lsquo;winners&rsquo; and vice versa. This is the reversion strategy.

Opinion: Momentum, reversion and risk

The rise of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office (PMO) since the assumption of office by its new principal secretary has been undisputed. You ask anyone in industry or in the civil service, the answer is the same. The PMO under Pulok Chaterji is now taking things under its control and the most visible area of change has been the infrastructure sector. Decisions are being taken and action plans finalised, though there may be doubts about their effectiveness.

A K Bhattacharya: PMO and the PM

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee&rsquo;s task in drafting this coming Budget is unenviable. He has to balance growth-enhancing measures with a move back to fiscal sustainability. While there are differences about details, there is a surprising degree of consensus among observers on the broad features of the approach he should take. He will have to transform India&rsquo;s creaking, leaking, overreaching subsidy regime; he will have to push for more reform across sectors; and he will have to broaden the tax net and roll back the tax cuts introduced after the global financial crisis in 2008. Yet not everybody in India Inc seems to agree to this approach. Or that, at least, seems to be the thrust of recent statements from industry organisations. The pre-Budget memorandum from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), for example, agrees that fiscal space is limited. Yet it goes on to demand exemptions for industry from this agenda.

Time for good sense

A recent report of the Global Wind Energy Council exposes India&rsquo;s modest performance vis-&agrave;-vis more green energy-conscious nations in using wind as a renewable source of power. The fresh addition to wind energy capacity in India in 2011 was merely 3,000 megawatts (Mw), which compares very poorly indeed with China&rsquo;s 18,000 Mw &mdash; and is just a fraction of the 41,000 Mw capacity created globally.

In the shade

The media is awash with reminders and analyses of the riots that swept Gujarat a decade ago, following the Godhra train-burning. The focal point of these reports is, almost invariably, Gujarat&rsquo;s chief minister then and for the decade since, Narendra Modi. His many champions attribute to his leadership the genuine progress the state has made in this period and the reputation for clean administration it has earned.

Shreekant Sambrani: The ashes of Gujarat's burning train

The script is familiar. TOI enters a market, cuts prices, riles the incumbent and generally increases noise and spend levels. That is exactly what has been happening in Chennai since 2008. Last year, TOI ran an ad campaign poking fun at market leader The Hindu. Last month, The Hindu responded with an uncharacteristically aggressive ad campaign that essentially dubs TOI as a dumb paper.

Vanita Kohli-Khandekar: The trouble with English papers

If you were telling a story in the Cameroons, you might start with: &ldquo;A fable! A fable! Bring it! Bring it!&rdquo; Most Bengalis know the folktale riff on &ldquo;Once upon a time&rdquo;: &ldquo;Once there was a king, once there was a queen&hellip;.&rdquo; Many tales begin with: &ldquo;Once there was, once there wasn&rsquo;t&rdquo;. The older storytelling traditions may invoke a truly ancient past: &ldquo;In the time when men and animals talked to one another&hellip;.

Nilanjana S Roy: Once upon a time in Delhi

I hope to see a Budgetary increase for the rural development ministry. Going by the trend, the ministry has been receiving increased Budgetary allocations and that is because it is very crucial, representing 70 per cent of the country&rsquo;s population. We got Rs 80,000 crore last year. We hope that figure will increase exponentially this year and that it is prioritised.

I would like to see NRLM prioritised

Being a new law, trasfer pricing (TP) has emerged as the single largest source of tax litigation in India. Over the last seven rounds of TP audits, substantial adjustments have been made, most of which are pending litigation in tribunals or courts. This uncertainty/lack of clarity in matters relating to TP is having a negative impact on the Indian economy and also the country&rsquo;s tax administration. The situation requires the introduction of Advance Pricing Arrangements (APAs) on an urgent basis.

Certainity in uncertain times

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is among the most discreet of politicians. So, when he makes a controversial remark, it can be assumed that it is the product of measured judgement rather than hot-headed indiscretion.

No-Go Organisations?

Europe needs a growth strategy. In the short term, that means preventing an austerity spiral. In the long run, it means structural reform and a drive to create a genuine single market. The European Union (EU) summit this week is a chance to aim at both targets.

Hugo Dixon: A real common market

The Indian government faces a genuine dilemma in formulating a useful policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharmaceutical industry. After a spate of high-profile foreign takeovers of established Indian firms, the central government last year took FDI in brownfield pharma companies out of the automatic route.

Subir Roy: Finding the right medicine

The glare created by recent judgments in public interest cases, like the 2G spectrum scam, illegal money cached abroad and human rights violations have blinded the eyes to the darker side of such litigation. Every now and then, the Supreme Court and high courts come across instances public interest litigation (PIL) abuse.

M J Antony: The public interest camouflage

Such a tax is vital to the objective of reducing inequity but it is unlikely to yield significantly higher revenues.

Should there be a super-rich tax?

From sampling to surveying to estimating, the the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) continues to use methods that are consistent across time. However, the economic structure is changing and so is the proclivity of Indian households to respond to surveys. Methods that were developed in the past will not work as well now, and these methods need to change. The changes will require innovative practices that will need to be developed not just in research institutions such as the Indian Statistical Institute, but also within the Central Statistical Organisation and NSSO.

Laveesh Bhandari: Doing more with less

The present system of selectively taxing specific services owes its origin to 1994 when service tax was first introduced as a part of the Budget and not through a separate Service Tax Act. At that time, even the constitutionality of service tax was an issue because there was no entry for service tax in List 1 of the Constitution. The government began only with three services, namely, telephone, insurance and stock brokerage. The list was expanded in every subsequent Budget.

Sukumar Mukhopadhyay: Have GST serviced, please

As we mature as an advertising audience, it's a great time to be young in India.


Growing up young

Under the Constitution of India as originally adopted, the right to property protected a citizen's right to private ownership and enjoyment of property.


Changes aplenty over time

The rollback became an integral part of Budgeting around the turn of the century. In hindsight, rollbacks were politically inevitable, given coalition governments and the secrecy of budgeting. Soon

The rollback mechanism

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