Eavesdropper / Limited space, limited press

While the current slowdown in the economy is giving almost all corporates the heebie-jeebies, some others seem to be more worried than the others. One such, a leading public listed infotech training and software company, has actually embraced austerity with a fair degree of enthusiasm, if one goes by a recent incident.
This company recently held a press conference to share some of its recent business initiatives. Since all the pink papers were conspicuous by their absence, eavesdropper’s curiosity got the better of it. So, it decided to ask the spokesman as to why they had not been invited. Pat came the reply. “You know, our boardroom cannot accommodate many people,” he said. Since alternative arrangements — such as a conference room or a hall hired for a few hours — were not put in place, was the company cutting costs? Or was it that the management was reluctant to answer questions from business and finance reporters?

India hand at the Fund
A well known American economist with a high degree of familiarity with India is to take charge as the deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Dr Anne O Kreuger, currently at Stanford University and former vice-president of The World Bank, will replace the outgoing deputy MD, Dr Stanley Fischer.
Dr Kreuger’s familiarity with India derives partly from her lifelong professional association with India-born US economists Dr Jagdish Bhagwati and Dr T N Srinivasan, and partly from her regular visits to India in recent years. She has been collaborating with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and has been visiting New Delhi regularly for the past five years. Given her interest in trade policy, Dr Kreuger can certainly be expected to throw the IMF’s weight behind a new WTO (World Trade Organisation) round.