Sometimes wishful thinking pays off. RBI, in making passwords or PIN mandatory for credit card online transactions has taken the first step in protecting card fraud, the most rampant of technology offences, belonging to the wider genre of economic offences. It may be simplistic, but not incorrect to attribute the upswing to opportunities created by globalisation and the increasingly important role of information transmission. Also, such crimes involve players from multiple jurisdictions, who deploy sophisticated technology.

Laws governing economic offences need to be updated

Business Standard

The International Monetary Fund will probably sell 200 metric tons of gold annually starting next year, &ldquo;potentially weighing on prices,&rdquo; Citigroup Inc. said in a report.

IMF gold sales may begin in 2010

There is a prevailing opinion amongst some analysts and economists that Cenvat is not VAT. This opinion further goes to say that it is a mistake on the part of the Central Board of Excise and Customs to consider Cenvat as VAT. I am writing to say that this opinion is incorrect. Cenvat is VAT. It is a kind of VAT.

Wrong to say that Cenvat is not VAT

The Securities and Exchange Board of India&rsquo;s (SEBI) passed an order last week, nicely articulating why preferential allotment (out-of-turn allotment other than an evenly-made allotment to all existing shareholders) of warrants to promoters is kosher.

Warrants 'kosher', but warrant reflection

Much like the famous tale of the group of blind men and the elephant, the Doha trade negotiations have now degenerated into an interminable source of conflict over what the mandate entails. Consequently, there has been a logjam in negotiations at the World Trade Organisation &mdash; which ought to be the epicenter for the Doha talks &mdash; during the last seven months. Tectonic changes in governments, particularly in Washington, have definitely contributed to the present state of affairs.

D Ravi Kanth: World Trade Ordeal

The external trade data for June, published by the ministry of commerce and industry yesterday, indicate that the bleak state of affairs continues. Since October 2008, exports have been declining in dollar value terms, though some of the impact on rupee realisations by exporters was mitigated by the significant depreciation of the rupee. With the revival of portfolio investment inflows, the exchange rate has changed direction, so even that source of relief is now no longer available. In June 2009, exports in dollar terms declined by 27.7 per cent over June 2008, to $12.8 billion. The decline in rupee terms was only slightly less steep, at 19.4 per cent. The one small saving grace in this is that the June decline is slightly smaller than that for the April-June quarter, which was 31.3 per cent in dollar terms and 19.6 per cent in rupee terms. The bottom line is that, even as the rest of the economy is showing some signs of revival, exports continue to plunge.

Continuing decline

With the mobile phone industry adding 10 million new subscribers each month, and a severe spectrum crunch having resulted, it is not surprising that the government is confident of getting big money when it auctions the 3G/Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum; it increased the estimate for this from Rs 20,000 crore in the Interim Budget to Rs 35,000 crore in the latest Budget. And since there was a difference of opinion between the finance and communications ministries on what the minimum reserve price for the 3G auction should be (finance wanted double the Rs 2,020 crore that communications wanted), the Prime Minister has been quick to set up a Group of Ministers to decide on the issue. The GoM will also decide on issues like the number of slots that are to be offered, the annual revenue-share licence fees, and so on.

Regulatory pitfalls again

Bureaucrats taking up private jobs is another kind of Public Private Partnership, one that needs careful handling.

A K Bhattacharya: Saving the other PPPs

It is advisable to shift the GST introduction date to April 2011, and begin preparatory work in earnest.

M Govinda Rao: GST by 2010 - Prepare well before the plunge

December 1992 was a memorable month for Indian aviation.That was the period Indian Airlines (IA) pilots struck work. The strike was ostensibly aimed at better allowances and safety standards. It lasted a staggering 45 days and over 400 pilots stayed away from work.

Govindraj Ethiraj: Why private airlines can be trusted

Socio-economic pundits have attributed several reasons for the failure of land reforms in northern states. After reading the recent Supreme Court (SC) judgment in K N Farms Industries vs State of Bihar, it would seem that one of the troubles was with the word &lsquo;land&rsquo;. The proceedings which started in 1973 with respect to 380 acres in Jamshedpur went through 27 years of litigation which ended in the SC last month.

M J Antony: The perils of language

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he has not conceded ground, but it remains true that Pakistan has taken little action to demonstrate its intention to tackle terror.

&#39;Has India let Pakistan off the hook?&#39;

Some weeks ago, I had excited mail from Professor Richard Jefferson. The American-born molecular biologist, who lives in Australia, was writing from Geneva airport a couple of days before he was scheduled to give a speech at a major UN meeting on Intellectual Property and Public Policy Issues and he was clearly elated that his crusade of decades for an open, collaborative system of scientific research was paying off finally.

Latha Jishnu: A singular victory for open innovation

The advance estimates for US GDP during the second quarter of 2009 (April-June) point to a distinct improvement in overall growth performance. The economy declined by a seasonally adjusted, annualised rate of 1 per cent. This was better than the consensus forecast of minus 1.5 per cent and a significant improvement over the minus 6.4 per cent recorded during the previous quarter.

Beginnings of a recovery

We need a completely different approach to developing infrastructure. It is not enough to state what we want and allocate funds. For the Old Guard, who see aspirational statements with budgetary allocations as the panacea, to comprehend this requires a true paradigm shift, as with Newton and the apple.

Shyam Ponappa: Infrastructure policies and Newton's apple

Blunders in CVs are common, and poor language skills are only a part of the problem.

Shyamal Majumdar: &#39;Indicting&#39; themselves

Airline losses have more to do with their business models than the price of aviation fuel.

Surajeet Das Gupta: Flying on empty

The Director General of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons has taken offence to Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) chief Anil Ambani&rsquo;s statements that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has goldplated its costs. VK Sibal has said inflating expenses does not benefit either the contractor or the government. In his words, &ldquo;No company would like to increase its investment unproductively. Every addition dollar of wasteful investment dents the profit of the contractor.

Sunil Jain: Golden and other rules

In the 1940s and 1950s Americans were amazed and disturbed by the publication of the Kinsey Reports, the volumes on human sexuality, prepared by Dr Alfred Kinsey which showed just how complex human sexual experience really was. For the first time, scientists could apply graphs and pie charts to this previously hidden area. Naturally, there were some hair-raising surprises.

The hair-raising costs of restoration

In an earlier article (&ldquo;Bali Hai&rdquo;, May 12, 2009), I thought I saw Dr Subbarao, the current RBI Governor, looking very debonair in what-looked-like Rip Curl surfer shorts and shades, about to take to the surf in Bali. I was a bit surprised because, in the few months since he had taken charge, he hadn&rsquo;t struck me as a surfer, or particularly cool, for that matter.

Jamal Mecklai: Surf's up!

One of the notable episodes of Rajiv Gandhi&rsquo;s leadership of the government was the manner in which he dealt with the drought of 1987. Action was taken quickly, and it was taken purposively.

T N Ninan: Dealing with a drought

Business Standard brings you expert opinions on various issues

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