Economy
Economic slowdown -- Action on wider canvas needed
THE ECONOMY has slowed down in the last quarter this year. In its Annual Report released in September, the Reserve Bank of India lowered its growth forecast for the year to 6-6.5 per cent from its earlier estimate of 6.5-7 per cent of GDP. The Centre for
Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE) revised its projection steeply from 7 per cent to 5.8 per cent, and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) from 7 per cent to 6.1 per cent. From all accounts, it appears we should not expect the gr
owth rate to exceed 5.5-6 per cent of GDP. The Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, has admitted there is an economic slowdown but feels it is exaggerated. He has spoken of a strategy to ``turn around the economy'' without waiting for the Budget, but no
details have been spelt out.
Editorial
On crash course
THE RAIL ACCIDENT near Sarai Banjara, 20 km from Patiala in Punjab killing 43 passengers and injuring some 150 on December 2, serves to highlight yet again the abysmal safety record of the Indian Railways and the continuing neglect of the system even aft
er a series of serious accidents over the past few years. The Amritsar-bound Howrah Mail rammed into a goods train which had derailed minutes before.
Insurance
Insuring consumer expectations
NEW INSURANCE companies setting up businesses in India will face tremendous operational challenges. Of immediate concern, will be the ever-increasing customer expectations and technology leaps to improve customer contact. The overriding strategy would be
to focus on customer satisfaction. Customers expect efficient service and easy accessibility.
Miscellaneous
Godly gimmicks
TRYING to capitalise on the religious susceptibilities and superstitious beliefs of supervisory officials had been the stock-in-trade of certain types of employees, touts and power-brokers even in colonial days. As soon as a young ICS officer or company
executive joined, the attempt to plumb his weaknesses would begin. An office superintendent or a nazir would enter the room, with a bearded person in tow besplattered with all the marks -- vibhhooti, naamam, rudrakshamala, saffron robes, huge circle of k
umkum on the forehead -- of a saintly life, introducing him as an infallible palm reader, a much-sought-after astrologer, and/or the holy priest of a temple whose such-and-such deity was so powerful that there was no boon or curse beyond its ken and ther
efore worth propitiating by going to whatever length.
Politics
Justice delayed...
WHETHER it is justice, vengeance or the need for a scapegoat, the case of General Augusto Pinochet, Chile's retired dictator, raises disturbing questions of law and morality. It is a warning to autocrats everywhere never to step down.
Technology
Euro norms and beyond for automobiles
THE magic epithets `Euro-3 or Euro-4 conformant' for automobiles, signifying the fulfillment of emission norms, have become the hallmark of environmentally-friendly vehicles. These vehicular emission-control legislative norms evolved in Europe and simila
r norms crystallised in other industrially advanced countries over many decades of experience will not serve the purpose in many developing countries such as India.
Searching for innovators
IN THE good old days scientific discoveries and inventions were the results of keen observations and accidental in nature. Take the case of the falling apple and Issac Newton's Laws of Gravity, or the instant camera developed by George Eastman following
his child's query over why a photograph could not be had immediately.
