A proposal mooted by the Union power ministry to revive the financial health of electricity distribution companies in the states has resurrected the debate over what ails the country&rsquo;s power sector and what remedial measures ought to be taken. The proposal says that the state governments should free their electricity distribution firms from the burden of their accumulated losses by either issuing them bonds or taking over these losses as loans in their books. The ministry also expects the state governments to not allow distribution companies to run up any more cash losses once their balance sheets are cleaned up.

Fixing power reforms

Business Standard

A crisis of confidence has engulfed India and its financial markets. Investors are despondent about the macro situation, specifically concerned about the fiscal situation and current account, worried about the growing perception of policy paralysis, and questioning the trend rate of the country&rsquo;s growth. Though investors are respectful of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and its guidance, no one is willing to give the current government the benefit of the doubt.

Akash Prakash: Bearish but invested

Political pundits will marvel at Mayawati&rsquo;s grand strategy. Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls next year. Her 22 per cent or so Dalit vote bank is secure, but she needs around 36 per cent votes to return to power. She could do that with the aid of &ldquo;like-minded&rdquo; parties but she knows how fickle that support can be; and you never know what they may demand in return.

Bhupesh Bhandari: Mayawati's bitter-sweet offer

It took just about a week for Sonu Gujjar to convert his carefully cultivated image of a new-age workers&rsquo; hero to that of a traitor &mdash; an adjective being used quite liberally these days by his followers who had once trusted him implicitly.

Shyamal Majumdar: In letter, but not in spirit

Alessio Rastani has outshone some big stock market voices this week. Few knew who Rastani was until BBC unleashed him on the world. A small-time independent trader, he pronounced on a business programme that &ldquo;Governments don&rsquo;t rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world.&rdquo; A few minutes after he said that, his broadcast went viral on YouTube. In the hours that followed, BBC was plagued by accusations that Rastani is a hoax, a psychopath, immoral and even Satanic. Ultimately it seems, in the cloak-and-daggers world of banking, Rastani has emerged, at least, as vaguely honest.

Tips from a trader

Homer has been stood on his head; it is now the Greeks who have been gifted a &ldquo;Trojan&rdquo; horse. The gift is a financial bailout package, so that the country does not default on its international debt obligations. But the Greeks have looked to see what is inside the horse, and they don&rsquo;t like what they see.

T N Ninan: Greek tragedy

When it is notified, the Lok Pal structure will, in the first instance, focus on calibrating penalties to errant acts performed in the past, but if it does not reduce the number of such acts, it will have failed utterly. For the deterrence effect to work, there has to be a short time interval between the lodging of a complaint and action on the complaint. For that to happen, there has to be enough manpower so that allegations received can be investigated quickly and fairly.

Indira Rajaraman: The Lok Pal and deterrence

Some charming India-Pakistan bonhomie was on show this week: S M Krishna unexpectedly turned up at Hina Rabbani Khar&rsquo;s party after another day at the United Nations General Assembly in New York while a delegation of Pakistani commerce officials were given a good time by Indian industry in Mumbai with promises to ramp up trade. But glowing smiles and warm hospitality are surface niceties. Like stray swallows they do not a summer make.

Sunil Sethi: India and Pakistan: smiles, smirks, snarls

The United Nations or UN is the world&rsquo;s most chattering club. Prolix, uninspiring and poorly delivered speeches are an assault on the patience of the delegates who are condemned to listen to these verbal inflictions. Exactly 50 years ago, I joined the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York. My first job was to sit in the General Assembly Hall to take down the salient points made by the &ldquo;distinguished speakers&rdquo;. As a newcomer I was diligent.

K Natwar Singh: Not-so-United Nations

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has been made to stoop.

Aditi Phadnis: On a low note

Is Syria burning? Most emphatically not. This was the overwhelming impression after a visit to the country late last month. Nor does it look as if the regime is on the verge of collapse. As an international group of journalists invited by the Syrian government, we visited, in addition to Damascus, Hama and locales near Homs. From the many Syrians we met, the common refrain was, &ldquo;We do not want to become the next Libya&rdquo; &mdash; referring to the total disarray there months after Nato intervention. Given its pivotal position in the eastern Mediterranean, any precipitate international action to provoke change in Syria would affect the entire region, including Israel. It would appear for now at least with the international community&rsquo;s preoccupation with the Palestinian statehood issue, the Syrian regime has bought itself some time.

Rajendra Abhyankar: Is Syria burning?

Even after my father passed away and my mother was left all by herself in Kolkata, she refused to relocate to Santiniketan. Though part of her reluctance had to do with her unwillingness to accept my lifestyle, she also feared that Santiniketan would not have adequate medical facilities.

Keya Sarkar: Talking Bangla blues

When a sixth person I know ran off with a gym instructor, I had to wonder what it was about the species that made them so attractive to people you wouldn&rsquo;t suspect of harbouring forbidden passions. Without wanting to appear judgemental, I admit that attempting to engage your average trainer in conversation isn&rsquo;t easy &mdash; not least when you&rsquo;re attempting humour as a form of procrastination against their singular focus to make sure you don&rsquo;t cheat while lifting weights with your legs &ldquo;15 times, three sets each&rdquo;.

Kishore Singh: Smitten by the enemy

Princess Diana would have been 50 this year.

Lessons from Diana

Come on, Mommy, it's an earthquake &mdash; don&rsquo;t you know what to do? Duck, cover and hold,&rdquo; my 6-year-old advised me from under our dining table in Palo Alto in October 2007, one small hand holding on tightly to the shaking table leg, the other on the back of his neck. His 8-year-old sister was already in position.

Learning to be disaster-ready


Is there any one catalytic moment that defines an artist&rsquo;s style or representation? Or does all of an artist&rsquo;s life with its highs and lows, joys and sorrows, triumphs and losses, lead to an autobiographical illustration of his art? Should the personal even form part of an artist&rsquo;s oeuvre?
How important is it for a collector to be familiar with an artist&rsquo;s life when he invests in his art? Or should art be viewed only through the prism of aesthetics, irrespective of

That cathartic moment

It varies across investors as per their risk profile. And so will the method to determine a risk-free benchmark.

What does risk mean?

Our human intelligence capabilities need to be improved. The grass roots information and intelligence collection systems that have traditionally been a part of policing have languished or fallen into disuse in some places. The role of a vigilant and effective beat constable can be vital in checking the activities of networks, which otherwise operate under the radar.

'Police must function within a democratic framework'

Many are agonising over why those who earn more than Rs 32 a day are not being considered poor.

Sreelatha Menon: A right to identity Act?

Last week Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pulled an old rabbit out of his hat, or turban so to speak, to win the sympathy of the media and the general public for his government when he referred to the threat to India&rsquo;s economic growth and political stability from external destabilisers. While many in the media pooh-poohed the prime minister, few opposition political parties did so. The reason being that most Indian political leaders and security specialists are all too familiar with the history of such attempts and one should not ridicule a prime minister when he talks of such threats to the nation. However, given the context, many would imagine that the PM was exaggerating the problem only to buy some respite from his critics. This may well be so, but even then one cannot entirely ignore the possibility that those who wish to see India weakened would make the most of the current situation.

Domestic destabilisers

India needs to re-engineer its politico-military architecture for handling nuclear assets; it cannot be left to the political leadership or the armed forces alone, nor will loose decision making structures do.

S C S Bangara: Managing nuclear assets

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