Economy
In the battlefield of Doha
THE opposing forces to meet on the battlefield of the WTO meet at Doha in November are now clearly discernible as their battalions have been arraigned by their veteran generals with decades of experience. The conches have been blown to excite martial spi
rits and the whole world is expectantly looking at the commencement of the proceedings.
Editorial
Blacked out
PRECIOUS EIGHT YEARS have passed since New Delhi formalised its decision to involve the private sector in coal mining for captive consumption in power, steel and cement projects. By now, the process should have been carried forward, with amendments to th
e Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act to facilitate private participation in coal mining even for non-captive purposes.
Miscellaneous
`How to...' homilies
THERE has always been an insatiable craving in us for advice on quick fixes to situations we encounter in our daily lives at home or in office. There is no other explanation for the roaring sales of ``How to...'' homilies by all kinds of people. The very
first in the field I remember is the one by Dale Carnegie on How to win friends and influence people. The demand for Benjamin Spock's tome on baby care perhaps came close to the Bible. There was even a book on How to succeed in business without really t
rying! Indeed, writings of this genre are legion.
Politics
Will economics bridge Strait of Taiwan
WILL economics drive politics across the 165-km Strait of Taiwan, often described as the world's most dangerous waterway and the last Cold War frontier? That must have been China's hope as Taiwan sent out feelers to the mainland over the weekend to arres
t a potentially serious economic downturn.
States
Of political tantrums and burquas
KASHMIR is at centre stage again, though for a different reason. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, cut to the quick by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's promise of holding ``free and fair'' elections in the State next
year, has threatened to quit the National Democratic Alliance. He feels that Mr Vajpayee's statement implied that the elections conducted till now in the State had been rigged.
Technology
Car of the new millennium
``I BELIEVE that one day hydrogen and oxygen, which make up water, will -- singly or together -- provide an unlimited source of heat and light,'' wrote the French science fiction writer Jules Verne in his 1874 book The Mysterious Island.
Biotech battles -- Blunting the competitive edge
THIS is the tale of two biotech start-ups, both entrepreneurial ventures that came up in Hyderabad. Shantha Biotechnics, started by Mr K. I. Varaprasad Reddy, created waves by bringing to the market the country's first genetically engineered rDNA vaccine
for Hepatitis B in 1997.
