Editorial
Tactical turbulence
THE CENTRE HAS expectedly chosen the lease route to privatise the metro operations of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). For a very simple reason, the thinking in the government circles had veered around to the lease option rather than the more logic
al course of corporatising the existing structure and offering shares to private investors. Any legislative initiative in this regard might well have set the Government on a collision course with the AAI staff _ a situation it would have wanted to avoid
even as it is emerging from its skirmish with employees of the publicly-owned insurance industry.
Miscellaneous
DOWN TO EARTH: The global Quango connection
ON THE threshold of the new millennium, two events took place at opposite ends of the globe that might have a message for the coming century if not the millennium. On December 4, 1999, Khedut Samaj _ the non-political farmers organisation in Gujarat _ ha
d planned a symbolic kar seva. It intended to transfer waters from the Sardar Sarovar behind the Narmada dam through human chains to the main canal going towards the drought-affected areas of North Gujarat, Saurashtra, Kutch and Rajasthan. The purpose wa
s to draw the attention of the public and the Government to the calamitous drought situation in those areas.
LETTERS
This is with reference to the article on nidhi companies ``Too many regulations, but little action'' (Business Line, January 15). Indeed, it is surprising that the nidhi companies, ``despite being allowed to borrow from and lend only to members against s
ecurity such as jewels or immovable property, faced a liquidity crunch''.
Joseph Stiglitz versus World Bank Group -- Minimalist govts and free-market fundamentalism
From the news release stating that the chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank, Mr. Joseph Stiglitz, would leave the organisation at the end of the year, it was clear that he had outworn his welcome. The reason for the World Bank Gro
up's disenchantment with its chief economist is quite simple, says Pratap Ravindran: Mr. Stiglitz's penchant for trashing just about every thing sacred to it.
Dress code
THE women lawyers of Mumbai are up in arms against the High Court's orders prescribing the kind of apparel they should wear when they appear in cases before Their Lordships. They are particularly cut up with the banning of salwar kameez which many of the
m find convenient and comfortable, and which, in fact, is taking precedence over the sari even in the Southern States.
Technology
New products from Indian laboratories -- Cost-effective water purifier
THE National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, has developed a water purifier that can exclude viruses and bacteria, operating at a minimum tap pressure of 90.4 bars. The cost-effective, manually-operated purifier is targeted for application in the rural
areas.
