The succession drama in Andhra Pradesh seems to have taken a short break. Soon after the Andhra Pradesh government announced the death of its chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash last week, the race among contenders for the top job in the state became intense. Members of the ruling party were divided into camps, each projecting its leader as the rightful heir to the seat that fell vacant after Rajasekhara Reddy's sudden death.

A K Bhattacharya: Dynastic politics under scrutiny

Business Standard

Among the steppes and ranges of Mongolia, a new wind of hope is blowing. This Alaska-sized, landlocked country wedged between Russia and China where horses, camels, sheep, and goats roam and over 30 per cent of the 3 million population are still nomads and half the people are among the world&rsquo;s poorest could become a Dubai in the next ten years or so.

Barun Roy: A Dubai in the steppes?

Snarled in spats with established players and legal cases, the regulator has done little to streamline the process of expanding city gas networks.

Latha Jishnu: Gas and the city - far apart

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was launched by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the first flush of its commitment to the 'Aam Aadmi' agenda. Criticised by many for a variety of reasons, from fiscal burden to the prospect of leakages, it nevertheless became the UPA's defining and differentiating programme.

The essence of NREGS

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has reason to feel satisfied with the outcome of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 countries, in London last week. India's role in breaking the deadlock over the Doha round of trade talks came in for appreciation as the gathered ministers renewed their call for an end to all forms of protectionism and an early conclusion of the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations.

Outlook for Pittsburgh

Last week the CSO released its estimates for national income and growth for the quarter ending June 2009. Most analysts (and markets) were cheered by the results. GDP growth (y-o-y) accelerated to 6.1 per cent from the 5.8 per cent rate recorded in the final two quarters of 2008/9, with particularly strong performances from construction, utilities and trade/transport/communications.

Shankar Acharya: Growth and equity

If you&rsquo;re wondering why the G20 finance ministers want to curb excessive banker bonuses, there&rsquo;s a good reason for it. Though bank bonuses came down dramatically in 2008 &mdash; average CEO compensation at the top 20 US banks that got aid fell 30 per cent in 2008 &mdash; they still got paid a lot more than the CEOs for S&amp;P 500 companies, companies which never got any taxpayer-funded Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Sunil Jain: Banking on TARP

There are many manifestations of commoditisation of a product or a service category. These include a shift in consumers&rsquo; minds from it being aspirational to becoming just another need, and loss of branding power resulting in reduced pricing power for the marketers of such products or services.

Arvind Singhal: The challenge of commoditisation

Customers have never had more choice; the more you talk the less you pay.

Shobhana Subramanian: The challenge before Tata Teleservices

The New Delhi Municipal Committee&rsquo;s reported plan to tie up with a private company to get electronic waste (e-waste) recycled and disposed of safely seems a well-conceived move aimed at tackling the health and environmental hazards posed by discarded modern gadgets. Almost unheard of till a couple of decades back, e-waste now constitutes a sizeable chunk of urban waste. In the absence of appropriate arrangements for its safe disposal, much of this hazardous junk either lands in the usual garbage landfills or is recycled in a crude and highly unsafe manner by the unorganised sector. The electronic and electrical equipment commonly used in homes, offices and factories, including computers, mobile phones, TVs, refrigerators and air-conditioners, contain highly toxic substances like lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, arsenic and others which can cause nervous and respiratory ailments, muscular weakness and dreaded diseases like cancer.

Tackling e-waste

With an unusual monsoon, just enough rain is not what is needed - we need a better water-management strategy.

Sunita Narain: Rain and still no rain

The recent Japanese elections have dislodged the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power for almost a half-century, in favour of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ has won 308 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives and, in coalition with a couple of smaller parties, can reach the two-thirds mark of 320&mdash;which would give it legislative dominance, despite the lack of a majority in the House of Councillors, which has some veto powers. International commentary on the policy platforms of the two parties has focused on the apparent lack of significant differences between them, raising doubts about whether the change in regime, in and of itself, will help Japan deal with the significant economic challenges it faces with respect to an extremely sluggish economy and a rapidly aging population.

Japan in transition

The message from the recent G-20 meeting was crystal clear; do not expect central banks to take the risk of short-circuiting fragile recoveries, either through premature tightening of monetary policy or phasing out of fiscal stimulus. The assembled cast of policymakers seemed to be in total agreement, there is no question of reversing the emergency measures until a global recovery is totally secure.

Akash Prakash: The tightening dilemma

Purists will tell you that celebrity endorsement is nothing but lazy advertising. Instead of working on the brand, companies use a celebrity to create awareness and get the message across in a jiffy. The cost of creating the campaign may go up, but the money and time required to rub the brand in get reduced by a huge margin.

Bhupesh Bhandari: Are celebrities worth their price?

It is not often that you meet a head of state, rarer still to meet a head of state who is an elder statesman with wisdom and special insights. So it was a rare privilege this week to meet Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, along with a CII team that was in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to continue a CEOs&rsquo; dialogue. Peres&rsquo; mind ranged far and wide. Agriculture is technology-intensive, he said, which is why 100,000 cows in Israel produce as much milk as 4 million cows in Ethiopia.

T N Ninan: An I for an I

Labour relations usually go for a toss when industry is unwilling to deal with workers as stakeholders with legitimate concerns and demands.

Latha Jishnu: Who is afraid of trade unions?

The attention that we give to food during days of fasting never ceases to amaze me.

Fasting, feasting

The UK police are extremely courteous even if they don't solve crimes.

Sunanda K Datta-Ray: Such charming cops

Anyone who has ever attended, in any capacity, a panel discussion or a book launch or talk in Delhi has had to pay an awful price, even when the event is free, which it mostly is because we live in one of the most culturally subsidised cities in the world. (Pay attention, America, those warming strategic ties are just the thin edge of our evil Socialist wedge).

It is only in retrospect that I realise how many things I took for granted when I lived in Mumbai. Roads, street lights, water, sanitation, garbage disposal, etc. were not issues which were top of the mind as I rushed to catch my 8.20 train to Churchgate Station. Or in later years (as I prospered) when I got into my car to read the entire bunch of morning papers on my way to work every morning.

Keya Sarkar: Tagore never ate &#39;Kurkure&#39;

The US' 14 engineering targets should get us thinking along similar lines, but strong inter-disciplinary activity and cooperation between academia, government and industry is vital for this, says Dinesh Mohan.

Dinesh Mohan: Challenges of the 21st century

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