http://feeds.business-standard.comThe latest news from India's most respected business daily.enBusiness Standard LimitedSun, 22 Nov 2009 01:15:02 GMTNewspapersBS RSS Generator10http://feeds.business-standard.com/images/logo_small.gifhttp://feeds.business-standard.com14428Business Standardhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/6TT7vbAL2aI/storypage_c.phpFor the past one-and-a-half months, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has stopped her informal interactions with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee after a sharp exchange on telephone over a municipal election issue. But Banerjee had to budge as she found it difficult to deal with other ministers without the help of Mukherjee. Banerjee wanted a meeting with Law Minister Veerappa Moily but the latter started avoiding her. She had no other choice but to request Mukherjee to arrange the meeting. Mukherjee, the number two minister in UPA, obliged, and the meeting was scheduled in his room in Parliament House on Friday.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377209Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:14:53 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377209http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/6-LAa68WZ4I/storypage_c.phpAnand Sharma, Union minister for commerce and industry, must have got used to people addressing him in various ways. But Minister of State for Railways E Ahmed stunned him last week when he was about to enter Parliament. Ahmed was talking to someone outside gate number 4 when Sharma stepped out of the car. Hello commerce, hello commerce, Ahmed called Sharma. Sharma acknowledged the joke and responded with a warm smile.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377214Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:13:57 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377214http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/q0-A1XO1d1M/storypage_c.phpThe sugarcane pricing ordinance not only created an uproar outside Parliament but also in the internal meetings of political parties as sparks flew between BJP and Congress leaders. At the Lok Sabhas Business Advisory Council meeting last week, when BJPs deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, assured the government that BJP would support efforts to offset the Rs 14,000-crore burden, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal quipped, I thought you didnt know about this aspect (Rs 14,000 crore were supposed to be given to the mills) of this ordinance. Swaraj snapped at Bansal, Do you think we are illiterates? And dont forget we passed from the same college and studied under the same professors.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377213Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:12:09 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377213http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/kmaze1qTZRI/storypage_c.phpNational Trusts insurance scheme and a legal guardian programme gives hope to millions for parents who worry about the future of their mentally-disabled children.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377212Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:09:09 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377212http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/EDR7BdIfs8g/storypage_c.phpPartha Chatterjee, an influential Trinamool Congress leader, tells Rajat Roy that his party wants balanced growth in industry and agriculture.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377211Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:06:00 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377211http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/2ItjXfaPqQY/storypage_c.phpThe recent crisis in the BJP government in Karnataka was focused on whether B S Yeddyurappa would remain as the chief minister or would the rebels get their way, or whether the BJP central leadership would succeed in affecting a compromise.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377210Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:03:10 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377210http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/0K-JJRO9_GU/storypage_c.phpUntil now, Sarah Palin has been operating from the safe remove of her laptop and gotten some things done, if you count suggesting that her son Trig would be left to die by Democratic health-care proposals.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377184Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:43:54 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377184http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/d7Fon7dLcpo/storypage_c.phpMinister for Environment Jairam Ramesh wants India to be a deal maker at the Copenhagen Climate Conference. We propose here a deal that India can offer that addresses the objectives of the deal makers and the concerns of those who oppose any deal inconsistent with Indias past stand. Our proposal is consistent with it and the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) accepted at Rio.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377183Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:38:41 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377183http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/toPLtw_uJd4/storypage_c.phpNo one should be surprised by US President Barrack Obamas genuflections to Chinese power and prosperity. For almost a year now Mr Obama has come to terms with the limits to US power and the reality of Chinas. So it is not surprising that Mr Obama allowed his visit to China to be circumscribed by Beijings sensitivities and interests.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377182Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:35:00 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377182http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/eCNfAA_ZuZg/storypage_c.phpMonetising the lifestyle piece is a good idea, as is the buyback of bonds at a discount.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377167Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:36:00 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377167http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/MJoPcB9WS6Y/storypage_c.phpM&S: Marks & Spencers choice of Marc Bolland as chief executive ticks three important boxes. The UK retailer has been talking up global ambitions Bolland has international experience from working at Dutch brewer Heineken. Another goal is to sweat the M&S brand more Bolland is a longstanding marketing man. And M&S is just emerging from recent years of weak performance Bolland spent the last three years kicking UK food retailer Wm Morrison into shape.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377133Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:28:31 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377133http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/wPbU0Bz6PC0/storypage_c.phpEU president: Hailing from Belgium and having a name difficult to spell shouldnt disqualify anyone for a job. Herman Van Rompuy certainly lacks the stardust of some of the candidates who might have been appointed to the job of EU council president, like the UKs Tony Blair or Spains Felipe Gonzales.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377138Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:27:38 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377138http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/hY7wJb7dOL0/storypage_c.phpBecause of the close parallels between the current global financial crisis and the Great Depression, 1929, it is no wonder that there is no end to books on what we need to do now or what it really meant then and who was responsible for the meltdown. Liaquat Ahamed, a professional investment manager for 25 years who has also worked for the World Bank and now an adviser to several hedge fund groups in the US, has come with his own diagnosis of what happened to the West after World War I, of bubbles followed by busts and a cascading series of events that led to the Great Depression, in Lords of Finance: The Bankers who Broke the World (William Heinemann, Special Indian price, Rs 1,185).http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377142Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:16:27 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377142http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/2QVS_M1H4qQ/storypage_c.phpNorth Indians travelling south of the Vindhyas experience disconnect in terms of body-language versus verbalisation. Yes in those parts is emphasised with a side-to-side shake of the head. That gesture means no in most other places. Foreigners visiting India are often equally foxed by namaskars. Putting palms together is common to many forms of prayer and not employed much as a peer-to-peer greeting outside India.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377145Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:12:33 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377145http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/2UOCfpM8ROU/storypage_c.phpThe emerging consensus is that no agreement on climate change at least not one with specific commitments will be reached at next months summit in Copenhagen. Environmentalists and policy-makers in many countries are dismayed and discouraged. But, in fact, now the world has an opportunity to fix the problem which has stymied successful cooperation on climate change.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377144Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:10:41 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377144http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/Ciuo8hoebic/storypage_c.phpThe time may have come for India to stop thinking of five-year plans, and to focus instead on 10- and 20-year scenarios. Long-term scenario-building achieved a new level of popular awareness when Goldman Sachs came out with its Brics report, in 2003 positing that India and China would become two of the three largest economies in the world in the space of roughly one generation.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377143Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:07:00 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377143http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/BLQW8yOauJA/storypage_c.phpMy son has a list of people he wants me to meet in Dubai, friends of his, or family of friends, or friends of friends clearly, his social skills are better honed than mine. I dont know anyone in Dubai I can go cold-calling on, besides its not Dubai Im going to over the weekend, I remind him, its Abu Dhabi. Oh, thats so boring, he says, why dont you cancel your trip and Ill take you to the movies instead? Its not an option, I tell him. Wheres Abu Dhabi? my daughter asks, showing an ignorance of geography that has always shocked my wife. Now my wife explains to her, Its where the money is.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377110Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:54:24 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377110http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/gz0Y4UOmDCs/storypage_c.phpDastkars Nature Bazaar always wears a festive look with flags fluttering bright in the sun, colourful tents, folk music and handicrafts galore. Thats why I was disconcerted by my friend Veenas somber face inside Karm Marg stall. She was busy on the phone, and before I knew what was wrong, she had slipped away to not return for the rest of the day. Whats up? I queried the next morning. She rubbed her eyes tiredly: Were having funding issues. The financial meltdown in the West has been quite tough on organisations like ours that have benefited greatly from foreign aid...http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377113Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:51:57 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377113http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/VMo_vg22TcE/storypage_c.phpA rising China has not only inched closer to the US, it has also developed backward linkages - through the disassembly line - with a host of other countries, including developed ones.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377112Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:44:45 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377112http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Business-Standard-Opinion-Analysis/~3/4hqKO-KJVJg/storypage_c.phpLondoners were regaled recently with the spectacle of their former deputy mayor cleaning out a public lavatory wearing a bright fluorescent orange jacket emblazoned with the words Community Payback. It must have been even more exciting for viewers than Marie Antoinette in the tumbril on her way to the guillotine for it was not the end of the road for Ian Clement. He will soon return from the lavatory to face the music of daily life, when some of the real fun might start.http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377111Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:38:54 GMThttp://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=377111