Economy
Has global recession arrived?
THE ANSWER must be yes, if recent headlines are any indication. Last Friday, The Economist (August 25, 2001) put recession on its cover and this Friday, it was the turn of Japan. The juxtaposition is hardly an accident. Japan defines the issue. Independe ntly, Financial Times got a leaked copy of the World Economic Outlook of the International Monetary Fund which is not due for release until some weeks from now.

Eichel and Sinha face similar problems
THE Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, is not alone in his dilemma about reining in the fiscal deficit, especially during an economic downturn. Mr Sinha faces the dismal prospect of a decrease in Government revenue, both on corporate and personal incom e tax as also from indirect imposts, such as Customs and excise. Expenditure continues to rise.

Editorial
PM's spring-cleaning
THE DECISION OF Singapore Airlines to abandon Air-India on the day the Prime Minister was twiddling with the pecking order in the Union Cabinet can be taken as a sample of the foreign perspective on India's reforms. The two events were surely not meant t o synchronise but even an insider will find it hard to fault Singapore Airlines, given the uncharitable bitterness of political parties over the disinvestment in Air India. But will the realigning of chairs in the Union Cabinet, termed by many as signifi cant, matter any for reforms?

Information Technology
Tech wreck
A NOVEL kind of conference held at Aspen, Colarado (US) took note of the hollowness typical of the hardsell of tool-kits, both for better corporate governance and smoother computer performance. The theme chosen for the conference was succinctly and succu lently titled `Tech Wreck'. It was a gathering of those who had been in the grip of a state of alarm for some time over their being taken for a ride by untested `solutions' for various real or supposed problems arising in executive suites in managing cor porates or in SOHOs (small office home offices) grappling with the misbehaviour of computers.

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