The young pledge to innovate

Sunday 18 June '06

The interesting session on energy dramatically highlighted how 87 per cent of fuel in the gasoline tank is wasted and only 7 per cent actually goes to power the engine.

The future: productivity and sustainability

Sunday 11 June '06

India must improve total factor productivity, or its incremental capital-output ratio, to realise the somewhat daunting growth targets contemplated for the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

Stanford re-examines federal complexities

Sunday 4 June '06

There are already multiple examples where state governments which are part of the ruling configuration at the Centre or are well-disposed towards the ruling configuration have derived significant advantages from somewhat discretionary transfers

When report cards are ready reckoners

Sunday 28 May '06

P Chidambaram can draw comfort from withstanding pressures of fiscal profligacy or reversing tax reform and securing universal acceptance of VAT.

Energy prices vs global warming

Sunday 21 May '06

Global warming is primarily a result of excessive fossil fuel use, which is induced by low energy prices. If people pay market-related price for energy...

Australia seeks greater Asian engagement

Sunday 14 May '06

Growth using the same technologies as in the past may not be sustainable; the pattern of resource consumption required not only to employ these workers...

The Asian way of development

Sunday 7 May '06

Notwithstanding our claims about economic liberalisation, procedural simplification and de-bureaucratisation, India ranks poorly in the index presented in the Asian Development Outlook 2006 on ‘Doing Business’. China is at 7, Pakistan at 60, and Bangladesh at 65. India is ranked 116

Reforming the IMF—too late and too little

Sunday 30 April '06

In popular perception, the IMF has been preaching reforms to all developing countries and urging them to take timely decisions...

The new ‘Consensus Mantra’

Sunday 23 April '06

While advising the industry to take voluntary affirmative action and leaving space for greater consultations on quota reservations in educational institutions, PM is seeking a new consensus.

Public-Private Partnership no panacea

Sunday 16 April '06

Public-Private Partnership is a favoured fashion. Its newly discovered virtues, both at the Centre and the states, endow it with almost magical qualities to resolve the multiple ills which plague our infrastructure.

Getting projects on track

Sunday 9 April '06

If the underlining approach is resource conservation, discouragement of disbursements and fear of objections from supervisory agencies, delayed implementation is inevitable

Engaging the states—the Stanford way

Sunday 2 April '06

Six years ago the Stanford Center for International Development, with the support of the Indian diaspora in the Silicon Valley...

We must fear the lack of fear

Sunday 26 March '06

Few will disagree that Harvard remains a prime centre of academic excellence.

Centre-state relations: A wake-up call

Sunday 19 March '06

Looking at the somewhat opaque manner in which various ministries allocate funds to states, it is difficult in one place to collate all the funds which any state has received in a fiscal year and relate them to principles based on either equity or efficiency

When truth is worthy of reiteration

Sunday 12 March '06

A surfeit of high-profile visits has kept policy makers somewhat distracted. It is now customary for visiting dignitaries to be accompanied by a contingent of high-profile CEOs exploring enhanced investment and trade prospects.