The Hindu Business Line : Monday, October 20, 2003

Labour reforms
ONE SUSPECTS THAT the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was only indulging in a bit of diplomatic double-speak when he spoke of the need to bring in changes to the labour laws so that they become instruments "for speedy employment ... More

ECONOMY

Doing business in rich and poor countries
Businessmen around the world face — and complain about — the different policy regimes, especially when it comes to questions of starting a business. But doing business in poor countries, which score poorly in regulation, credit delivery a nd infrastructure compared to richer countries, is particularly arduous, says a World Bank report based on business confidence surveys. More

Petrifying prospect
THE faint-hearted are advised to keep away from the just published Times Atlas of the World which grimly details the ravages being wrought by exploding population. The most conspicuous of them is the bursting of ... More

STOCK MARKETS

The raison d'etre of stock splits
THE proposal for a 10-for-one stock split by TVS Motors brings to the fore the stock market reaction to such corporate decisions. Empirical evidence suggests that stock splits generate excess returns following the ... More

WTO

New phase of WTO consultations
The new phase of consultations in Geneva with the objective of arriving at agreed modalities of negotiations in the different spheres will be markedly different from other negotiations in that "the process in Geneva will have to be supplemented by di rect contacts with Ministers and senior officials in capitals, since they have indicated they want to exercise close personal supervision of this process". More

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

PURA and the government input
While the private sector must build on the PURA concept, the foundation itself needs to be laid by the government, especially by allocating resources. For this, it can re-look at various existing programmes and re-allocate resources for PURA. For thi s the PMO, the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry must put their heads together, says P. V. Indiresan. More

HUMAN RESOURCES

HR department: A new agenda
THE HISTORY of the human resource (HR) departments in India has been reactive rather than pro-active. The HR department has always looked outside for recognition. This could be because of its statutory origins. All ... More

ECONOMIC OFFENCES

Business corruption and individual values
THE survey results on corruption released annually by Transparency International generate the usual comments on which countries have improved their ranking and which have not. The perception of corruption is now ... More

LETTERS

Indian economy

Development agenda

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