That Miss America Nina Davuluri would not be able to become a Bollywood actress because the producer would prefer a fair girl over her due to market demands is giving the market too much credit. Too much credit for being too fair and for acting on forces outside of itself. The market does not work on an already created need, affinity or both but has mechanisms to create its own. `If you
The All India Students Association (AISA) won all four central panel seats in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union elections again this year. Besides a slight aberration last year, when the JNUSU president`s post when to the Democratic Student`s Forum (DSF), a breakaway group of the CPI(M)-affiliated Students’ Federation of India (SFI) formed that year itself, this is pretty m
Security concerns regarding online data and records are rising with each passing day, and the situation is set to stay that way in times to come. The problem is compounded by newer technologies being introduced: while on one hand may make life easier, they also make security more vulnerable. Altaf Halde, managing director (South Asia) of Kaspersky, a Russian multinational computer secur
Dr Ami Bera is a self-made man and pursued what is called the American Dream. Son of an Indian immigrant couple from Rajkot in Gujarat, Bera is the only Indian American currently serving in the Congress, and third after Dilip Singh Saund and Bobby Jindal to be from the community in the House. During the last week of August, he made his first trip to India after being elected to the House of Rep
Basel-III norms are required to be fulfilled (though voluntary) by different countries in the banking operations on bank capital adequacy, stress testing and market liquidity norm. But in its new report, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has come heavily against these norms. It said that countries banking in each countries need to follow prudential rules to their speci
Ratings agencies perform the critical function of assessing the fundamentals and future prospects of corporate houses that continuously seek to raise money from private investors or the public. That puts the onus on ratings agencies to get their systems of governance right, both within their own companies and the companies they assess. How do they do it? How do they ensure a rating or grading r
India’s current account deficit (CAD) hitting a record high of 4.8% in July and the continuous simultaneous steady plunging of the rupee, which has not bottomed out yet, has become a major source of worry for the country. The depreciation of the rupee (15% against the dollar since January) will result in the cost of future import of goods such as petroleum, coal, and non-essential
Set up in 2007, Central Railside Warehouse Company (CRWC) is a young organisation by public sector standards. Coming under the department of food and public distribution, the ministry of consumer affairs, it develops and constructs warehouses with the railways for storage of food and other products. The idea is to reduce the logistic expenses and benefit industries. Starting with Bangalore, CRW
At the Times of India, where I began my career in business journalism in early 1992, we were called “commerce desk”. The description emanated from the obsolete pre-liberalisation context when even a top newspaper would have only two-three semi-retired folks tracking India’s economic story; one dedicated to reprinting stock quotes from a list telexed by Bombay S
Janmashtami heralds the start of the unrelenting festive season—from now until the end of the year, the spate of festivals includes Ganesh Chaturthi and the multiple Visarjan days, the Navratris, Dusshera, Diwali, Eid, Christmas and New Years (and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few). Though I look upon the impending traffic snarls, deafening cacophony of music and crackers, and bur
The real estate sector is in choppy waters and the RBI’s move is being seen as an attempt to shield the country’s banking structure from grave risks such schemes pose to the financial health of banks. At present, a large number of real estate companies use such schemes to lure buyers. In the 80:20 scheme, for instance, a buyer pays 20 percent of the value of t
Delhi finance and power secretary Shakti Sinha, a 1979 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre, has had an exciting three-decade career. He served on the board of World Bank, advising it on several projects related to developing countries, and worked with the Afghanistan government, helping it prepare national development strategies. He also served as joint secretary to former prime minister Atal
All public services are paid for by individual citizens, either directly or indirectly, through taxes. Therefore, they have every right to expect high quality service. That’s why citizen’s charter is important. We have seen nearly two decades of struggle towards implementation of the citizen’s charter. Till 1996, the citizen’s charter was unknown to government de
If any of you woke up this morning to book train tickets for Diwali for a vacation back home, this blog might be catharsis. You logged in to irctc.co.in at 8 am to book your tickets – not for anything but lack of choice – and waited till 8.30 am to see the face of the `plan my travel` page, only to realise that all tickets have been booked and your favourite train is showing the sta
As the rupee continues to hit new lows, economists and corporate honchos continue to predict deteriorating economic performance and politicians continue to fight over reforms like there is no tomorrow, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended revamping the banking structure to further strengthen the backbone of our economy. The apex bank has reiterated the need to seriously and u
A note prepared by the National Alliance for People`s Movements on August 29, the day the Lok Sabha passed the land bill: The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 is being discussed in Lok Sabha right now [it was passed later in the day]. There has not been any consensus on the Bill yet the UPA government is bringing the Bill. In some cases the new Bill
Amitabh Kant, CEO and MD, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, tells Governance Now how the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor development corporation (DMICDC) is implementing the country`s most ambitious project: the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. Building 24 cities from scratch along a 1,483-km railway track, if successfully implemented, the corridor will be Indi
The way the political administrations in multiple states are treating Asaram ‘Bapu’, the self-claimed godman/spiritual guru who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a teenager, has given rise to several questions. About not only law enforcement but also law implementation. We live in a democracy that believes in the rule of law. So why is Asaram being treated above law?
Public Money, Private Agenda: The Use And Abuse Of MPLADS By A Surya Prakash Rupa, Rs 395 In the 1970s, corporators of the then Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) gave themselves Rs 50,000 a year. Their idea was that each one of them must have these monies over and above their collective control over the BMC budgets. This they could spend on works that caug
In conversation with Pankaj Kumar, former Punjab director general of police KPS Gill, the man known for eliminating terrorism from Punjab, says what is happening between the two agencies poses a threat to the national security. The CBI is blaming the IB and the two agencies seem to be acting against each other. Don’t you think
