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| Cover Story |
 The philosopher king is
voted back:
The division of functions between Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh appears logical and highly beneficial with the former focusing on the affairs of the party and the later on administration and governance. This has enabled Manmohan Singh to find the time to focus on major global issues, improving contacts and relations with several national leaders and in providing undivided attention to development.
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| Inklings |
 Economics and not politics was the guiding factor in the recent polls. The Indian electorate has elected a government that is more experienced to handle the effects of recession and ride out the crisis.
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| Editor's Notes |
 The Indian Profit League: It’s big reward for those investors who backed Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi’s bold venture. The first edition itself was a big draw.
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| Analysis |
 While regional inequalities in the accessibility to banking facilities are a well-known phenomenon in the Indian economy, it is not often recognised that the inequalities in the availability of educational loans are more pronounced. |
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Economy |
 Tasks for the new Government: Expanding the fiscal stimulus and controlling fiscal deficit do not go together. Early push for the financial sector reforms; greater role for bank financing – for productive sectors... |
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Budget |
 The Congress-led govt will be busy preparing its first budget. IE elicited the views of a former senior member of the IAS, R Swaminathan, who served long years at the ADB and retired as its Secretary on the directions he considered important for this budget. |
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| Elections |
 From the T N Seshan era, the Election Commission has ensured more orderly conduct of polling. Of course the size and complexity of conducting the elections have multiplied manifold: 714 million voters, 8.35 lakh polling booths, 46.9 lakh polling staff to man these. |
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| Elections |
 AP - The state’s budgeted revenue receipts for 2009-10 is Rs. 79,691 crore. Its interest payments budgeted stood at Rs. 9103 crore.
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| Elections |
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 Kerala’s election outcome has once again kept the state’s reputation to alternate precisely between the Left/LDF and Congress/UDF.
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| Banking |
 Banks may be asked to extend credit facilities to BPL families under the DRI scheme (call it Darkness Removal Initiatives, if necessary) for installing solar power system for domestic lighting.
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| Energy |
 Energy subsidies – mother of all corruption: Government should dismantle the Administrative Pricing Mechanism and enable the free market to determine prices. |
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| Comments |
 Abolish the Planning Commission. The very concept that we need a central planning body is an anachronism in a society that is moving towards a market economy. |
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| Report |
 There was some hot action on the reinsurance front with rates hardening from the traditional re-insurers, reduction of commission...
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| Macro Economy |
 As far as Indian banks are concerned, small savings products do not seem to provide much of a competition. The influence of small savings interest rates appears to be overestimated. |
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| Macro Economics |
 The New Pension System has the potential to add to the level and efficacy of competition in the financial market place. It can highlight the purely risk cover functions and role of insurance companies. |
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| Macro Economics |
 Indian investments have closely tracked the level of domestic savings only. If foreign capital were used effectively, one would have seen Indian investments... |
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| Analysis |
 DLF: Problems getting graver by the day. The company demeva-porate in all segments of real estate business – residential and commercial, sale or leasing.
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| Comments |
 Faulty policy, no timely action, blamed for sugar price rise. Sugar prices are on the rise. But there seems to be a design behind it if the pattern of increase is analysed carefully.
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| Business Briefs |
 Madras HC’s nod for TVS twin-spark technology - Sri City gets Rs 80 crore investments from Rockworth - TN power regulator hikes tariff for
bio-mass and co-gen power - Labour unrest at MRF factory
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| Analysis |
 Jet Airways recently launched ‘Konnect’, a budget service, which will offer upto 15 per cent - lower fares than itself. The Konnect service will fly to destinations currently not covered by JetLite.
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The emperor’s cloth story:
CAPITATION KAMADENU
 SRM University, founded by an odd time civil contractor, today has an asset base of over Rs. 1000 crore. It runs several colleges and other businesses. Many Chennaiites complain of the humungous capitation fees demanded for medical and engineering seats. A former vice chancellor of Anna University estimated the money collected by this institution a few years ago at over Rs.300 crore per year. The Income tax department is reported to have issued a demand notice of a a few hundred crores on this institution for receiving anonymous donations. SRM published widely its getting ranked within ten top such institutions in India, based on a survey by a little known agency. |
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 A permanent damage to Chennai’s rivers/canals:There is a disturbing lack of
familiarity of our politicians and planners with the elegance, economies and advantages of developing our waterways for transportation.
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 Metro dream
coming true.
It is a matter for satisfaction, the com-mencement of work on the Chennai Metro Rail. The solution to tackle the humungous increase in commuter traffic lies in massive, rapid rail transportation.
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 It is time that a Banking Commission is appointed to formulate a road map for the banking sector, instead of making any ad hoc amalgamation of banks. |
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 Overall, it is safe to assume that the first budget may defer harder options and would like to leave a ‘feel good’ factor in the electorate while focusing on resto-ration of growth and the social...
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 Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project: I had an opportunity to visit the sophis-ticated, eight-lane roadway across the sea linking Bandra in the west to Worli in the south of Mumbai under construction.
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 Why have
they remained pipedreams? India has failed to develop international pipeline projects so far despite having good diplomatic relations with neigh-bouring countries with rich gas reserves. |
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 “We should provide time-bound incentives and not size-bound. A participatory system on sharing profits and a royalty of even 2 % will also help the venture capital fund to have a vested interest in the growth of the assisted unit.” - Lakshmi Venkatesan.
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 The budget is technically an annual financial statement - much like the financial statement of a corporation. Unfortunately, it has been treated as the most important economic policy statement of the government.
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 Growth of Indian insurance business has been dominated by market-oriented equity investments. This has its pluses, particularly over the long term. But the focus on equities should not obscure the other equally interesting avenues. |
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 The bank consolidation debate has sharply highlighted the judgmental nature of economics where exact relationships and solutions like in the physical sciences are not possible. |
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 Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) block of nations is a key driving force for global growth. BRIC, with trade expansion, generates 65 per cent of global growth. |
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 BJP, the party in power in the state, without adopting a path of con-frontation with the Centre
on ideological differences, should seek investment for infrastructure development. |
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 Insurance:
First acts of maturity… Indian insurance market is seeing the heat picking up; a lot more of hot action can follow the Budget.
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 Nissan’s Chennai car project on track...
Fiat and Honda unveil new cars...
TNEB's losses to widen; registers transmission...
Ashok Leyland inks pact with Union Bank of India |
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 ICICI Bank plans to open nearly 600 branches this year, but will not hire a fresh; part of the current workforce would be redeployed to manage the expanded network of 2000 branches, says newly appointed CEO and MD, Chanda Kochhar. |
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 Rs.3000 crore enterprise... There will be an estimated 300 MPs with assets worth Rs one crore or more in the new Lok Sabha, which is nearly double from 154 in the 14th Lok Sabha. |
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