Getting the measure of the IT economy
The `new economy', realistically the Information Technology economy, in India is no more than a myth. Software revenues may cross the $10bn mark, but these are mostly export-driven and do not strictly mean GDP.

Disaster management is the disaster
As Gujarat limps its way back from hell, just as Orissa and Uttarkashi did not too long ago, it is not impertinent to wonder who at the national level is paid to worry about disaster management. You will find your answer with the agriculture ministry.

Mumbai's dream merchants
A certain section among Mumbai's business, corporate and financial elite has harboured a dream to see this metropolis develop into a sophisticated financial hub a la Hong Kong or Singapore. The Exim Bank's latest study, `Mumbai as an International Financial Centre.

Look who's talking
Thank goodness for little mercies, at least somebody is keeping count. Among the rash of challenges and dangers facing India in its 51st year as a republic, the President of this great land has found a silver lining.

Cleansing of the spirit
The government's policy on beer and wine is baffling, to say the least. While internationally, beer is usually sold at prices equivalent to or even lower than soft drinks, in many parts of this country a bottle of beer is more expensive than a 180 ml bottle of whiskey or rum.

It wasn't all God's will
The air is thick with reports of the failures that converged to magnify the scope of the disaster in Gujarat. Some are absolutely correct, others the understandable anger and agony of the victims and of a nation bereaved but not things about which it is ever possible to do anything.