Peddling Poison: Coca Cola and Pepsi Must Go!

THE year: 1970. In the South American country of Chile, Salvador Allende had just been elected as president but was yet to be confirmed and sworn in constitutionally. Allende had won in the face of … Read more

Nanotechnology: The Genie Is Out Of The Bottle

EVERY few years, a new hype fuels another stock market explosion. If it was microelectronics, the Internet and biotechnology earlier, it is now the turn of nanotechnology. And along with the hype, as it inevitably … Read more

The Musharraf Road Show: Strategic Implications

PAKISTANI president General Pervez Musharraf has returned after a high profile three week long international tour that took him to Germany, Britain, USA and France. Surely much to the disappointment of General Musharraf himself, this … Read more

Subsidising Tatas and Ambanis: The Crux of Power Sector Reforms

The bankruptcy of the privatisation policy of the power distribution is now clear from what is happening in Delhi. Even after another 9% rate hike this year following the earlier steep rise of 16% about … Read more

Poor Teledensity: A Recipe For Backwardness

THE telecom sector, vital for the economic growth of the country is now entering a phase where the well off subscribers bills are being reduced, while the pace of telecom penetration reduces. The last year … Read more

Human Cloning A Distinct Possibility

RECENTLY, the team that had cloned Dolly (the first large animal to be cloned) announced that they are working on human cloning. A few months back, the whole world and especially the scientific establishment was … Read more

CAS: Deeper Into The Mire

WITH national elections due in a bit more than a year, and elections to the Delhi Assembly less than a year away, the BJP is into full election mode. This has meant being driven by … Read more

River Grid Project Becomes Sangh Parivar Agenda

THE ambitious programme launched by the BJP-led government for inter-linking of rivers in different parts of the country is rapidly gathering momentum under the aegis of the Task Force headed by former union minister Suresh … Read more

Telecom, Power And GATS

THIS year, the Inter-ministerial Conference of WTO in Cancun, Mexico, scheduled for September, is slated to take up the service issues for various sectors. The Generalised Agreement in Services (GATS) was negotiated as a part … Read more

SARS : How Much of a Threat ?

THE SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic has struck fear in country governments, practitioners and whole populations across the globe.  It has made global headlines and seems to have even overshadowed the human tragedy that … Read more

The Electricity Bill 2003 – From Crisis To Disaster

THE Electricity Bill 2003 was passed by the Lok Sabha on April 9 after being tabled in its current forum on April 6, thus ensuring no debate in the country. While all the old ills … Read more

California’s Power Market Collapse And The Electricity Bill

LAST week, the government finally placed the Electricity Bill 2001 (presumably now 2003) in the Parliament. With this, electricity is now to be looked on as a marketable commodity to be traded like any other. … Read more