Poor Manmohan Singh is caught between the Pros and the Cons. The Pros in the Opposition are telling the prime minister, who has never seemed sullied by money politics, that he should be resigning. The Congress, led by A. Raja, is telling him that he is allegedly complicit in the 2G scandal. The sad part…
Optimism is good, but let’s not be foolhardy. It is good that we are feeling bucked up at the beginning OF 2018. Major economies expect growth in tandem for the first time since the global financial crisis of 2008. World trade is seen growing at a decent clip after two slow years. Commodity prices are firming…
6 January 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Jan 6 – The options available in solving the global debt crisis had broadened dramatically with U.S. government backing of a Mexican plan to retire a large part of its foreign debt, Philippine Finance Secretary Vicente Jayme said. “I feel that the Mexican package…
7 January 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Jan 7 – The Philippine government will issue treasury bills and notes totalling 29.8 billion pesos in 1988 and depend mainly on domestic resources to finance its projected budget deficit of 27.1 billion pesos, Finance Undersecretary Victor Macalincag said. The government planned to float…
19 January 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Jan 19, Reuter – The Philippines has emerged from a tumultuous year with democracy apparently firmly in place after Monday’s local elections, but there is no euphoria among analysts over the country’s economic prospects. The economy has turned in its best growth in seven…
20 January 1988 The Globe and Mail B24 English All material copyright Thomson Canada Limited or its licensors. All rights reserved. The Philippines has experienced its best growth in seven years, but it still faces a daunting array of problems. Analysts say President Corazon Aquino must now demonstrate that she can manage the economy. …
22 January 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Jan 22, Reuter – The United States is committed to helping the Philippines achieve economic recovery by stepping up investments, keeping its doors open to imports, and maintaining the flow of aid, Ambassador Nicholas Platt said on Friday. He told a meeting of American…
22 January 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Jan 22 – Sugar industry officials said the Philippines might not be able to sell extra sugar to the U.S. because the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) was delaying the issue of guidelines for a re-export plan approved by the U.S. Congress. Sugar Regulatory Administration…
25 January 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Jan 25 – Developing nations are more likely to attract foreign investment by easing curbs on share ownership and employment of expatriates than through incentives such as tax holidays, said William Ryrie of the International Finance Corp, a soft-loan arm of the World Bank. …
10 February 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Feb 10, Reuter – A sword poised over a Gordian knot is the official symbol of the Philippine body charged with selling about 6.8 billion dollars in bad debts accumulated by the country’s two major government banks. “That’s an appropriate symbol for the work…
16 February 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Feb 16 – A stream of unsettling news from the Philippines has held back many potential small and medium-sized European investors, European Chamber of Commerce secretary-general Christian Roehr told Reuters. Roehr said several large European multi-nationals had long been in the Philippines and “are…
16 February 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Feb 16, Reuter – West German Minister of Economics Martin Bangemann is expected to explore ways of expanding trade and investment ties with the Philippines in talks here this week, a West German diplomat said on Tuesday. Hans-Wilhelm Verbeek, First Secretary in the West…
19 February 1988 Reuters News (c) 1988 Reuters Limited English MANILA, Feb 19 – The Philippines plans to speed up its sluggish debt/equity swap program, Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez said. “Our policy is to get rid of the large backlog,” he told a news conference. “We think the people who have applied deserve to…
19 February 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Feb 19 – The Philippines’ 27.8 billion dollar foreign debt makes it a bit player in attempts to find solutions to the debt crisis and Manila prefers to let large debtors take the initiative, Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez said. “I think anybody who…
8 March 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, March 8, Reuter – The Philippines will have a 1989 deficit of 28.5 billion pesos on a projected budget of 190 billion, Budget Secretary Guillermo Carague said. He told Reuters this compares with a projected deficit of 27.1 billion pesos for the 1988 budget…
9 March 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, March 9, Reuter – Fewer staff members taking fewer siestas may help the Philippines boost South-East Asia’s poorest tax-collection effort, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Bienvenido Tan said on Wednesday. Tan told Reuters the country’s tax revenues as a ratio of gross national product…
18 March 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, March 18, Reuter – Volatile penny oil stocks have raised trading on Manila’s two exchanges to fever pitch this year, and analysts said the trend seemed likely to continue. “Rumours are the heart and soul of the (oils) market. It’s a casino,” Noel De…
22 March 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, March 22, Reuter – Falling sugar and coconut production is expected to lead to little or no overall growth in Philippine agriculture in 1988, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its annual report on the Philippines. It forecast overall growth of 0.5 pct…
2 June 1998 Reuters News English (c) 1998 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, June 2 (Reuters) – India’s Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha put up a spirited defence of his “investor-friendly” budget on Tuesday and said he was not unduly worried about inflation so long as the economy grew strongly. In an interview with Reuters Television a…
25 March 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, March 25, Reuter – Philippine banks have largely recovered from years of crisis, but high intermediation costs still constrain lending, bankers and analysts say. The industry’s total assets grew to 259.9 billion pesos at end-1987 from 236.4 billion a year earlier, according to a…
3 June 1998 Reuters News English (c) 1998 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, June 3 (Reuters) – India’s fiscal targets for the current year are not just a “hope and a prayer” even if there is a trade-off between growth and Inflation, the government’s chief economic adviser said on Wednesday. Shankar Acharya told Reuters he did…
3 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 3, Reuter – Coup leader Colonel Gregorio Honasan’s escape from captivity on Saturday has dramatically revived threats to Philippine President Corazon Aquino’s power, analysts said. “Honasan’s escape couldn’t have occurred at a less convenient moment for Aquino,” an Asian diplomat said. Aquino is…
4 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 4, Reuter – The Philippines’ gross national product (GNP) is expected to expand by 6.1 pct in 1988 after 5.1 pct growth in 1987, the Central Bank said in its annual report. Key sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, mining, construction and services are…
18 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 18, Reuter – Filipino and foreign businessmen have launched a sharp attack on the Philippines’ 20-month-old debt/equity swap program, charging it is too restrictive and arbitrary and actually deters investors. “Disillusioned investors are the worst possible advertisement for the Philippines,” said a statement…
20 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 20, Reuter – Japan’s attempt to use the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to recycle part of its 30 billion dollar private-sector surplus is not meeting with much success, banking officials and diplomats said. Japan, with 15 pct of the 47-member ADB’s 22.8…
20 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 20, Reuter – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is still awash with funds, with liquid assets of 4.5 billion dollars, 74.2 pct of its undisbursed loan balances, at the end of 1987, Treasurer Alan Gill said in an interview. This compares with liquid…
26 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 26, Reuter – The Philippines has received pledges of aid totalling 66 million dollars from the United States, the Netherlands and Italy to support its ambitious land reform program, Agrarian Reform Secretary Philip Juico told Reuters. The broad outline of the program was…
27 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 27, Reuter – The Asian Development Bank annual meeting starting on Thursday is likely to be dominated by a power-struggle between Japan and the United States, officials said on Wednesday. ADB officials said the three-day meeting would also be marked by the presence…
28 April 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, April 28, Reuter – South Pacific island nations want to form a new regional development bank to increase their access to financial resources, a Western Samoan official said on Thursday. The idea was put to the management of the Asian Development Bank on the…
1 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 1, Reuter – India is loosening controls on industry, investment and imports but liberalisation must take account of existing conditions, Finance Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari told Reuters in an interview. Tiwari, in Manila for the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, denied…
9 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 9, Reuter – The Philippine government said on Monday it was awaiting information about a reported U.S. move to unveil a Marshall Plan-like aid package for this cash-strapped country. The Washington Post reported on Sunday the multinational plan involved aid of up to…
9 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 9, Reuter – Thirsty Filipinos drank nearly a billion liters of San Miguel beer in 1987, boosting the food and beverage conglomerate’s profits to record levels and raising the stakes in long-running boardroom wrangles. San Miguel Corporation Executive Vice President Ramon del Rosario…
29 November 1998 Reuters News English (c) 1998 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (Reuters) – India’s wounded Bharatiya Janata Party should ram through an agenda of bold economic reform in the aftermath of its humbling in three key provincial elections, a senior official of the rival Congress party said on Sunday. Voters spoke with…
11 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 11, Reuter – The Philippine Senate has ended a six-month lull by taking some tough steps on the country’s debt. It has proposed limiting debt service limit and suspending payments on a 1.2 billion dollar nuclear plant loan. The Senate also unanimously passed…
1 December 1998 Reuters News English (c) 1998 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz India Ltd is bullish about the Indian car market despite the nation’s “feel bad” economy, managing director Till Becker de Freitas said. “There is a ‘feel bad” factor which is not reflected in reality. I know a lot…
10 December 1998 Reuters News English (c) 1998 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 10 (Reuters) – BankAmerica Corp will sell its retail banking business in India but remains committed to its wholesale banking business in the country, a senior bank official said on Thursday. “The bank will continue its wholesale banking business in India,” Josephine…
12 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 12, Reuter – The Philippine Senate is apparently softening its stand on a tough anti-nuclear bill, with some legislators saying on Thursday, they back amendments that would tone down the measure. The “Freedom from Nuclear Weapons Bill” aims to ban port calls by…
22 May 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited KATHMANDU, May 22 (Reuter) – Nepal’s coalition government plans to grant the Himalayan kingdom’s central bank full independence, the finance minister said on Wednesday. The Nepal Rastra Bank is currently under the supervision of the finance ministry. “We are considering that the central bank should…
24 July 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, July 24 (Reuters) – Japan is keen on expanding investment in India but finds its bureaucracy extremely inflexible, a senior Japanese official said on Thursday. Nobuaki Tanaka, deputy director-general in Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said India accounts for a minuscule 0.25 percent of Japan’s…
18 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 18, Reuter – Philippine banks are missing opportunities by restricting foreign exchange trading to U.S. dollars and not dealing in stronger currencies like the yen, Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez said. He told Reuters in an interview that technically, commercial banks could buy or…
18 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 18, Reuter – The Philippine economy is growing strongly in real terms but is in danger of overheating, Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez said. “The growth is real,” he told Reuters in an interview. “The reason I talk about overheating is when you…
25 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 25, Reuter – The Philippine economy is growing strongly well into the third year of President Corazon Aquino’s rule but growth is accompanied by painful adjustments to make up for years of depression, analysts say. Under Aquino more than 100 state-owned firms have…
27 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 27, Reuter – Philippine Airlines Inc’s loss in the 1987/88 fiscal year may delay government plans to privatise the state-owned carrier, industry analysts say. PAL posted a net loss of 67.98 million pesos in the year ended March 31, a sharp decline from…
31 May 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, May 31, Reuter – There are no magical solutions to the Philippines’ heavy foreign debt burden, Finance Secretary Vicente Jayme told a businessmen’s meeting. Earlier this month the Philippine Senate issued a flurry of tough proposals on the country’s $28.7 billion dollar foreign debt…
5 June 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, June 5, Reuter – To pay or not — that is the question facing the Philippines, only Asian nation on the World Bank’s list of 17 highly indebted, middle-income countries. The Philippines, with a foreign debt of 28.7 billion dollars, has received no new…
6 June 1988 The Toronto Star FIN B4 English Copyright (c) 1988 The Toronto Star MANILA, Philippines – “No one’s talking new money, so we must reduce external outflows,” Economic Planning Secretary (Minister) Solita Monsod said in a newspaper interview. “Confrontation is a state of mind. We’re not saying that we won’t pay, just that…
26 July 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, July 26, Reuter – The Philippines welcomes a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase its 1988 sugar import quota to 158,640 short tons from 110,600 tons, Agriculture Secretary Carlos Dominguez said. “We welcome the opportunity … and we will try…
28 July 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, July 28, Reuter – The Philippines plans to approach its creditor banks for a new-money loan package and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new funding program this autumn, central bank governor Jose Fernandez said on Thursday. He told a news conference that…
3 August 1988 Reuters News English (c) 1988 Reuters Limited MANILA, Aug 3, Reuter – The Philippines has told its commercial bank creditors they must help bridge a 1.8 billion dollar financing gap in 1989, a senior official close to talks held in New York last month told Reuters. The official said Philippine officials had…
20 November 1989 Reuters News English (c) 1989 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, NOV 20, Reuters – Whoever wins this week’s Indian elections will face some knotty economic problems, but analysts believe the nation will continue to open up to the world. “Liberalisation will have to continue whichever government comes in. This is economic reality,” said…
22 November 1989 Reuters News English (c) 1989 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, NOV 22, Reuter – Political instability likely to result from this week’s elections could dangerously slow India’s economic growth, economic analysts said. They said the new government could also face a resource crisis brought on by plunging foreign exchange reserves, unbridled domestic demand…
17 June 1999 Reuters News English (c) 1999 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, June 17 (Reuters) – India’s Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar said on Thursday the economy was on a high growth path and was expected to grow at over six percent in 1999/2000 (April-March). “The economy is now on a higher growth path. In 1999/2000,…
22 November 1989 Reuters News English (c) 1989 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Reuter – Political instability likely to result from this week’s elections could slow India’s growth dangerously, analysts said on Wednesday. They said the new government would also face a resource crisis brought on by plunging foreign exchange reserves, unbridled domestic demand and a…
29 June 1999 Reuters News English (c) 1999 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, June 29 (Reuters) – Consumer electronics firm Philips India Ltd has shed nearly a third of its staff over the past five years, but is still not slim enough to achieve optimum shareholder value, its chief said. Asked if Philips India, 51 percent-owned…
27 August 1991 Reuters News English (c) 1991 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Reuters – India hopes to receive substantial financial aid from a consortium of donors next month, Finance Secretary Sriranga Shukla said on Tuesday. Shukla, in Tokyo for talks ahead of the September 19-20 meeting in Paris, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World…
13 April 1992 Reuters News English (c) 1992 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Reuters – India intends to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more contingency funds, although foreign reserves are at a very comfortable level, Finance Minister Manmohan Singh said. Singh, who has spearheaded a series of sweeping reforms that have turned India’s socialist economic…
29 August 1992 Los Angeles Daily News Valley The Japanese government Friday approved an $87 billion spending package – the nation’s largest since World War II – in a bid to jolt the dormant economy back to life. During a late-evening meeting, government ministers rubber-stamped the growth-boosting package totaling 10.7 trillion yen. The massive package was in line…
1 February 1993 Reuters News English (c) 1993 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Feb 1, Reuter – Currency speculators who sparked a fresh crisis in the European monetary system over the weekend brought their heavy guns to bear on Britain’s currency on Monday, ramming the pound to new lows in Tokyo trading. Asian stock markets were mixed. …
22 April 1993 Reuters News English (c) 1993 Reuters Limited TOKYO, April 22, Reuters – One of the architects of India’s radical economic reforms said on Thursday the changes sweeping the country were irreversible despite recent religious and political strife. “Now there is no doubt about the permanence and irreversibility of reform. You cannot re-erect…
20 August 1993 Reuters News English (c) 1993 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Aug 20 (Reuter) – The Japanese government heaved a sigh of relief on Friday after action by the United States yanked the yen back from a close brush with parity with the U.S. cent. But currency traders served notice that the rampant yen was…
19 March 2002 Reuters News English (c) 2002 Reuters Limited BANGKOK, March 19 (Reuters) – The head of Thailand’s stock exchange, one of the best performers in Asia so far this year, said on Tuesday he expected market capitalisation to rise 50 percent thanks to new issues and higher share prices. Stock Exchange of Thailand…
20 March 2002 Reuters News English (c) 2002 Reuters Limited BANGKOK, March 20 (Reuters) – Thailand will see growth of at least three percent this year and more if the U.S. economy picks up faster than expected, Thai Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak forecast on Wednesday. Somkid told Reuters in an interview the government of Prime…
14 September 1993 Reuters News English (c) 1993 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Sept 14 (Reuter) – Japan’s sickly economy has been contracting as its stubborn trade surplus balloons, government figures showed on Tuesday. Gross national product (GNP) shrank 0.5 percent in the April/June quarter from the previous quarter after adjustment for inflation, the government’s Economic Planning…
13 December 1993 Reuters News English (c) 1993 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Dec 13 (Reuter) – Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Takemura said Tokyo had every intention of making a decision on opening the country’s rice market by late Monday. Leaders of the eight-group ruling coalition were to meet during the evening to decide whether to accept…
21 September 1994 Reuters News English (c) 1994 Reuters Limited TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) – India’s new telecommunications policy will open the domestic market to foreign firms, end a century-old state monopoly and aim to provide 60 telephones for every 1,000 people by 2000, a minister said on Wednesday. India now has 9.64 telephones per…
12 September 2003 Reuters News English (c) 2003 Reuters Limited BEIJING, Sept 12 (Reuters) – China has not ruled out another big bailout of its ailing state-run banking sector but sees signs the banks have turned a corner and are on track to meet foreign competition, the country’s new banking regulator said on Friday.…
12 September 2003 Reuters News English (c) 2003 Reuters Limited BEIJING, Sept 12 (Reuters) – China’s new banking regulator said on Friday foreign banks should begin making up lost ground and challenge local peers within months, dismissing concerns they are losing market share in a potentially highly lucrative market. Foreign banks now command a…
15 September 2003 Reuters News English (c) 2003 Reuters Limited TAIPEI, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Taiwan will permit its banks to do business in China next year if mainland regulators grant the island some supervisory authority and allow banks to accept local currency deposits, Taiwan’s top policymaker on China said on Monday. A week after…
15 June 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited CALCUTTA, India, June 15 (Reuters) – India is not likely to see a return to one-party rule, a leader of the current ruling coalition said. Jyoti Basu said his Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), which has made a success of multi-party politics, had valuable…
9 December 2003 Reuters News English (c) 2003 Reuters Limited BOMBAY, Dec 9 (Reuters) – India’s largest truck and bus maker Tata, riding a dramatic return to profits and fuelled by new global ambitions, expects to see explosive growth starting in 2006, a senior executive said on Tuesday. Ravi Kant, executive director of the commercial…
11 December 2003 Reuters News English (c) 2003 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 11 (Reuters) – India hopes to reduce its dependence on imported crude to half its requirement in seven years from 70 percent as a result of new domestic oil and gas discoveries, Oil Minister Ram Naik told Reuters on Thursday. “This…
9 January 2005 Reuters News English (c) 2005 Reuters Limited COLOMBO, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The only problem Sri Lanka’s intrepid garment makers faced after a giant tsunami hit two weeks ago was a slight rise in absenteeism at some of the hundreds of garment factories dotting the Indian Ocean island. “In one zone in…
29 August 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the rupee’s volatility had subsided and the policy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was to intervene to prevent volatility and speculative activity in the market. “The value of the rupee will be…
16 September 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Sept 16 (Reuter) – India’s government, clearly alarmed by a fiscal deficit that was threatening to soar out of control, moved on Tuesday to boost revenues with a host of steps including a jump in import tariffs and a cut in federal spending. …
“In India, I See a Lot More Acceptance of Gender in the Workplace” DuPont Chair & CEO ELLEN KULLMAN in conversation with CHAITANYA KALBAG. Edited excerpts: Do you think the India-US CEO Forum you are a member of has managed to get things moving a bit in terms of a more positive attitude towards bilateral…
In a spirited panel discussion moderated by Business Today editor Chaitanya Kalbag, Yashwant Sinha, MP and former finance minister, M. Damodaran, former SEBI chairman, Satya Poddar, Partner, Ernst & Young, Samiran Chakraborty, Regional Head of Research, Standard Chartered Bank and Nilesh Shah, President, Corporate Finance, Axis Bank, shared their views. Edited excerpts Chaitanya Kalbag: All…
27 November 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (Reuters) – “May you be the mother of a hundred sons.” That benediction has been called down upon generations of Hindu brides in India, but the country’s junior health minister Renuka Chowdhury has a new mantra: “One is fun.” Some demographers…
“Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.” …
8 January 2005 Reuters News English (c) 2005 Reuters Limited SAMMANTHURAI, Sri Lanka, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Sitting cross-legged on the cramped, bucking floor of a Black Hawk helicopter as it roars above central Sri Lanka’s pristine jungle and muddy rivers, aid has never seemed as complicated. A second U.S. Air Force Black Hawk…
7 January 2005 Reuters News English (c) 2005 Reuters Limited COLOMBO, Jan 7 (Reuters) – More than 30,000 Sri Lankans lost their lives when the tsunami hit their island the day after Christmas, but perversely the economy looks like it will gain from the destruction, analysts said on Friday. The Sri Lankan rupee has been…
‘I have to follow capitalism’ It is like being thrown about in an ideological cocktail shaker. You get off a gleaming passenger jet and drive over a soaring expressway to the 227-year-old Writers’ Buildings in Kolkata to meet a very capitalist communist politician. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee says there is no place for…
Despite the crisis, a clear message must be sent to the investor community that India is open for business. There was an initial spurt of excitement after the new Reserve Bank of India governor was announced. Professor (Raghuram) Rajan is obviously highly accomplished. But there is only a very limited amount the central bank can…
India’s economy is barrelling along at a growth rate of over 9 per cent, savings rates are up, investments are up, more jobs are being created, and inflation appears to be under control. So have we hit our stride? Have we chanced upon the right development model for the huge, tumultuous democracy that we are?…
Or, why India really needs to dig itself out of a mineral hole Last week I was on a flight to Mumbai. About two hours in, the captain announced that there was unseasonal heavy rain ahead and it might be difficult to land in such bad weather. “We have fuel for about fifteen minutes,” he…
India must construct an enlightened climate change policy ‘Food Prices set to rise as floods ruin crops’. ‘Prime Minister promises aid to flood victims’. Does that sound like a recent edition of the Hindustan Times? Wait a minute. These headlines are from a British newspaper. A week ago, I was walking through a huge tropical…
7 December 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (Reuters) – The speaker of India’s parliament said on Sunday democracy had taken deep root in his country a half-century after independence, and all parties would speak the language of economic reform will go ahead,” Purno Sangma, speaker of the Lok…
8 December 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – India’s main opposition group will block the full convertibility of the rupee, favour foreign investment only if it goes into infrastructure and shake out state firms if it wins power, its chief planner said on Monday. Jay Dubashi, chief…
8 December 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Global investors cannot afford to ignore India, but Indian companies need to prove that they can compete in developed markets, Fred Steingraber, chief executive officer of A.T. Kearney Inc., said on Monday. “I don’t think anybody is prepared to…
9 December 1997 Reuters News English (c) 1997 Reuters Limited NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (Reuters) – India will accelerate its drive to increase electricity generation and is looking for huge funds to meet the nation’s power deficit, Power Minister Yoginder Alagh said on Tuesday. “Between now and March it will be faster and not slower,”…
Song sung blue Everybody knows one Song sung blue Every garden grows one If you are of a certain vintage, you will have been moved by these Neil Diamond lines, sung on a hot August night almost exactly 40 years ago. This steamy August, India has been convulsed by the sudden expelling of decades of…
I remember back in the 1970s, when a new India was just over a quarter of a century old, Geoffrey Moorhouse, in his foreword to his “Calcutta” wrote: “The imperial residue of Calcutta, a generation after Empire ended. is both a monstrous and a marvellous city. Journalism and television have given us a rough idea…
21 May 1987 The San Francisco Chronicle Manila President Corazon Aquino’s ambitious plan to distribute land to more than half the country’s peasants is in danger of falling victim to the Philippines’ return to full legislative democracy. Pressure has been mounting on Aquino to use her sweeping legislative powers and sign the Accelerated Land Reform…
They say nothing sharpens our minds as much as high danger or a threat to our survival. We are prepared to stand and fight when we are cornered. Twenty-two years ago, when we were staring into the abyss, we pulled a reformist rabbit out of our socialist hat. But it took just about five years…
1 June 1987 Reuters News English (c) 1987 Reuters Limited MANILA, June 1- The head of Philippine National Oil Co said the proposed privatisation of Petron Corp, a fully owned subsidiary, would rob the government of a valuable and profit-making asset and suggested reconsideration of what he termed a strategically unwise move. “Petron is PNOC’s…
From the Editor These are extraordinary times and we witness extraordinary phenomena. Three weeks before the Union Budget, when finance ministers customarily crawl under their carapaces, the honourable Member of Parliament from Sivaganga delivered a rousing speech on national security. What he said, with feeling and not a little frustration, was that we Indians seem…
2 June 1987 Reuters News English (c) 1987 Reuters Limited MANILA, June 2, Reuter – The Philippine economy’s impressive growth in this year’s first quarter suggests the government’s ambitious economic targets are within reach, Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez said today. “I don’t see anything on the horizon that should cut (growth) short,” Fernandez said…
You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and It is all moving…
Although commerce is older even than the thirty pieces of silver that persuaded Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus Christ, it took humans a long time to start to formally teach, and learn, the elements of business. The oldest business school in the world, ESCP Europe, was set up in Paris in 1819, a pipsqueak in…
3 June 1987 Reuters News English (c) 1987 Reuters Limited MANILA, June 3, Reuter – The latest draft of the Philippines’ ambitious land reform program delays final land distribution until 1997, details options for compensating landowners, and holds out imprisonment for violators. Teodoro Benigno, spokesman for President Corazon Aquino, told reporters a cabinet meeting today…
3 June 1987 Reuters News English (c) 1987 Reuters Limited MANILA, June 3, Reuter – Japan will expand its assistance to the Philippines and encourage Manila to increase its exports, the head of a Japanese economic mission said today. Former foreign minister Saburo Okita told a news conference the aid would be in line with…