While outplacement is a relatively new concept in India, it helps boost morale at the time of layoffs.

Shyamal Majumdar: Softening the job loss blow

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This is vital to keep the shine on the Election Commission whose independence and credibility are critical for the smooth functioning of a democracy.

Gopal Jain: A code of conduct for the EC

It&rsquo;s not too late. Actually, they should start a movement for the abolition of all words that carry an association with the pub &mdash; including &lsquo;pub-lic&rsquo;, &lsquo;re-pub-lic&rsquo;, &lsquo;pub-lish&rsquo; and so on.

Sadanand Menon: Gaining some free pub-licity

Tamil Nadu politicians have begun speaking up on the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan army and the guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); they should be careful and make a clear distinction between non-combatant civilians who need to be taken out of the danger zone where they are trapped (and for which a time window has been agreed upon), and &ldquo;tigers&rdquo; who should be eliminated. The issue is believed to be an emotive one this side of the Palk Straits, and could become an election issue in Tamil Nadu in the summer. For all that, there should be no doubting the fact that the LTTE deserves the fate that it has met, with the loss of what is said to be its &ldquo;capital&rdquo; as well as one of its important operating bases.

No support for Tigers

The steel industry has come through a quarter that saw the profits of almost all the majors fall by about 50 per cent, and that of one disappear altogether. This may mark the low water point, for the worst seems to be over, as steel prices have recovered in the past few weeks.

Steel balance

Is brand 'goodwill' going to matter more than 'image'.

Madhukar Sabnavis: From &#39;I&#39; to &#39;We&#39;

Going by historical averages, US housing prices could continue to fall for quite some time to come.

Vidya Mahambare: The crisis in perspective

W hen Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi hurled his size ten shoes at President Bush during a press conference in December last year, the news went around the world at a suspiciously celebratory speed. He was still shouting imprecations with secret service people kneeling on his chest when the YouTube videos came out.

Sole survivor

Perhaps Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court had Valentine&rsquo;s Day in mind when, earlier this week, he threw out a criminal complaint of obscenity by the police against a young couple who were found kissing under a Metro pillar. Two policemen bustled up to the newly-weds last September and filed an FIR against them for &ldquo;sitting in an objectionable position near Metro&rsquo;s pillar number 1140 and kissing each other.

Sunil Sethi: A kiss is still a kiss...

The chances of corporate default are higher than in even the Great Depression.

Sunil Kewalramani: A bad year for companies

Kalyan Singh's alliance with the SP is unlikely to affect its Muslim vote.

Aditi Phadnis: Mandal, not mandir

Slumdog is a movie about all things noble - hope, aspiration, and about the grasp being further than the reach.

Surjit S Bhalla: The American in Slumdog

No, not the aphrodisiac, nor the book/movie/rock band, not even the themed bar in Hyderabad (for which a review recommends one to &ldquo;Fly away from here&rdquo;), but what I&rsquo;ve done this week has been to fly away to Spain to taste some wine and visit some vineyards.

Spanish fly

What governments are doing to tackle the economic crisis raises uncomfortable questions. Take the problem of excessive US debt, which has grown from being equal to US GDP in the early 1980s, to being three-and-a-half times the country&rsquo;s GDP today.

T N Ninan: A superpower&#39;s options

Rented housing and fixed rents, like it's in developed countries, could be one way to ensure that everyone in cities has a roof over his head.

Sreelatha Menon: A house of my own

Cricket, a non-linear game, has once again highlighted the conflicts in the global economy by organising a bull run at Friday&rsquo;s auctions of players for the Indian Premier League. Just when the country was coming to terms with the fact that India is not really decoupled from the rest of the world's economy after all, an Indian cricket franchise has splurged cash when the US and the rest of the world are talking of bankruptcy and job losses.

Marked to market

This year is expected to be worse than last year and so, the Railways, which have shown an impressive turnaround, are likely to see a slower growth in freight revenues. The slower growth, however, is not going to result only from a slowing economy. As the prices of oil head towards newer lows, the advantage that the Railways have over road and air will narrow, so the competition will get more intense.

Anand K Sharma & V Ranganathan: Getting Railways to rule the road

Even now, Citigroup Inc&rsquo;s bosses can&rsquo;t get over their delusions of grandeur. You can see their shiny optimism in a $44 billion balance-sheet item called deferred-tax assets, which is a fancy term for pent-up losses that the bank hopes to use later to cut its tax bills.

Citigroup hides mystery meat in balance sheet

A media report has today indicated that the Chief Election Commissioner Shri N Gopalaswami has recommended to the president the removal of the Election Commissioner Shri Navin Chawla presumably on the ground that his continuation as a member of the election commission is not conducive to the conduct of free and fair elections. The chief election commissioner appears to have recommended the removal of Shri Chawla on the ground of political bias.

Any reason for political bias makes an EC member unfit

It's not so easy, even for a millionaire, to get wealth managers to pay attention.

Background cheque for a millionaire

The Indian banking industry just suffered a body blow. Buying and selling of loan portfolios has been declared illegal by a division bench of the Gujarat High Court. Hearing an appeal on questions relating to stamp duty and registration decided by the company court in Gujarat, the division bench opined that banks cannot be in the business of buying and selling loan assets.

Body blow to banking industry

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