Opinions and Editorials

Of all the innovations that have shaped our lives in recent years, none has been more influential than the destruction of the Berlin Wall.

The global demand especially the Chinese demand for iron ore is having it impact on Karnataka politics.

Power is an essential requirement for all facets of our life and is the most critical infrastructure as it provides necessary input to all other sectors.

60 years ago, as India stood on the brink of becoming a Republic, prime minister Nehru took a brave decision that was to have a dramatic impact on the international landscape for decades to come.

In a recent study of GHG emissions by selected cities this year, Barcelona proudly did the best —with the lowest per capita emissions.

The cabinet clearance of government divestment from some state-owned companies, announced following a cabinet meeting on Thursday, is a good start to what will hopefully be a winter in which UPA-II will finally start flying reformist colours.

What is 1.3 billion divided by 289? That's the number of Indians per medical college, a number so high it is almost criminal.

Listen again to Sachin Tendulkar, just after his 175 at Hyderabad: "It was one of my best innings... but in the end it was very disappointing." In that summation of an exceptional innings, he could be seen to be recalling an entire career in the service of Indian cricket.

There was uproar in Pakistan's political and media circles this week over the intended tabling of the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in Parliament on Monday.

When the Berlin Wall fell, 20 years back, Eastern Europe began a project of economic development akin to what we in India have been engaged in.

It seems the stress of fiscal profligacy has finally pushed the UPA into unveiling an ambitious plan for divesting government stakes in PSUs.

As of now, foreign airlines are barred from holding direct or indirect stakes in domestic carriers. On November 17, however, a committee of secretaries—set up to consider FDI in sensitive sectors—will discuss a proposal to allow foreign airlines to take up to 49% equity in Indian carriers. Such a decision could breathe life into the loss-ridden aviation industry.

On Thursday night, in front of a sell-out crowd, the Indian cricket team ran the Australian team quite close to very nearly pulling off a great win.

The news that the government will shortly consider a proposal to allow foreign airlines to pick up nearly 49% equity stake in Indian carriers will certainly improve the mood in India's aviation sector.

Minister Kamal Nath is a go-getter. He has been putting much-needed energies into the road transport and highways sector, which fell into an unforgivable rut over the past few years. At a recent interaction—the Idea Exchange—with The Express Group journalists, he said he would build more roads in a year than were built over five years of the NDA's tenure.

The plea that private think tanks should be involved in energy futures is correct. The idea that only private think tanks should do it is wrong, as it takes a lot of in-house mindsets and skills to use a model for public policy. The critique that minister Jairam Ramesh should not set up a modelling unit at Isro, but give the money to private consultants is interesting.

The Rs 86,000-crore Indian FMCG industry is on a roll. Compared to other corporate sectors in India, the FMCG industry has performed well in Q2 FY10.While many Indian corporates have reported heavy losses, major FMCG companies have posted a double digit growth in Q2 FY10. As a result, the industry has registered a 12% volume growth in Q2 despite the economic downturn and poor monsoon.

Much as one would like to give kudos to Reserve Bank of India for quietly putting the focus back on liberalisation of the financial sector in its recent review of the monetary policy, its stoic silence on how to grow credit when India's growth pattern is still wavy and fragile is regretful.

Imagine opening a website, keying in a few search terms and presto! You are on the page of a rival website. Users may not mind such an occurrence, but the website in question surely will. That's exactly what happened recently when Consim India, owners of bharatmatrimony.com and indiaproperties.com, petitioned the Madras High Court against Google.com for "infringing on its trademark.

If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir was a fresh sentence in a changing conversation, here's something that renders one speechless: the Union home ministry has banned pre-paid cell-phone connections in the state.