The Hindu Business Line : Friday, November 14, 2003

Is it time for financial disintermediation?
THE level of non-performing assets (NPAs) in banks inspires a debate on the usefulness of financial intermediaries. Economic theory says that financial intermediaries are necessary to bridge the gap of asymmetric ... More

PENSION PLANS

Supreme Court ruling — Easier to make EPF a pension scheme
The Supreme Court's recent decision upholding the validity of the government pension scheme started in 1996 will pave the way for the smoother conversion of the Government's provident fund scheme into a pension scheme. More

EDITORIAL

Pressures on PSUs
ARE PUBLIC SECTOR enterprises subject to the pulls and pressures of ministers? It would appear to be so going by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's clarification that the Central Vigilance Commissioner had, at his meeting with him, not ... More

ECONOMY

Take heart, China is no big deal
THE more you learn about China, the stronger is the impression that fears about long-drawn-out, intense competition from the Dragon are misplaced. China, the world's biggest enigma, may after all be no big deal. Dr ... More

POLITICS

Is it Advantage Congress?
From first impressions it appears the Congress(I) is ahead in Delhi, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which go to the polls next month along with Madhya Pradesh, where, however, the party is not so happily placed. Rasheeda Bhagat surveys the electi on scene. More

Did he, didn't he?
THE miasma of misunderstanding and suspicion created by differing perceptions on what exactly transpired at the meeting of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), Mr P. Shankar, and the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari ... More

COTTON

Bt cotton fiasco — Pushing farmers into a `booby' trap
THE failure of Bt cotton, and that too in its very first year of planting is well-documented. So much so that even a Parliamentary Committee has put its stamp over the scientific blunder. According to an official ... More

INTERVIEW

`A segment shift is happening in car market'
`You have a segment shift because people buy as much as they can afford. For the money that they could previously afford a small car, they can now buy an Ikon. Around the world as auto markets mature, you see this segment shift from one-litre cars to 1.3- and 1.5-litre cars and as they mature, even two-litre cars. We have seen that in Asia and in Europe. While India may not have shifted as quickly as China, there is every reason to believe that the shift is occurring.' More

LETTERS

WTO ruling

Stamp paper scam

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