The message from Seattle
The mother of all protests at Seattle may not be successful in its avowed aim of closing down the WTO, but it has at least made known the extent of opposition to the global establishment.

Government must repeal antiquated telecom laws
On October 12, 1999, a division bench of the Delhi high court stayed the show cause notice issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to MTNL for starting CDMA-based cellular services without TRAI's approval of the proposed tariff.

Horticulture -- Lessons from Maharashtra
One of the more pleasing aspects of Indian agriculture is the promotional and developmental work done by the Union government and the state governments from 1950 to 1990.

Sales taxation and VAT
In view of the amendments to our Constitution, transactions which are not sales as understood, such as supply or use of goods during execution of individual works contacts, lease of assets or hire-purchase of goods, can now be taxed as deemed sales under a state sales tax law.

Mutual funds may drive banks out of business
Merger games have started in our banking industry at last - and about time. HDFC Bank in a brilliant move has announced a merger with Times Bank. In reality it is more a takeover of the latter, given the exchange ratio of

NTPC divestment
The Union power minister is of the view that NTPC disinvestment should be postponed, otherwise it would not fetch the right price. In an attempt to strengthen NTPC through restructuring and re-engineering, the options of either NHPC takeover or hiving off some assets of NTPC to a subsidiary are being considered.

Wheat for growth
The Government has levied a 50% import duty on common and durum wheat with immediate effect. Why it did not do so earlier is a mystery.