American Periscope
HP-Compaq merger -- Where are the synergies?
I WAS looking for a simple answer and found a simplistic one. When asked to explain the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and Compaq Computer Corp. merger announcement, a young business student thought for a while and replied: ``Well, Compaq makes PCs and HP make
s printers, and I guess they go together.'' That's about as much sense anyone can make about the deal.
Economy
US markets: Bracing for bear attack?
FEARS of global economic recession intensified as the US prepared itself for an indefinite war on global terrorism, and a week of closure of American stock markets in the wake of the attacks led to a worldwide plunge in stocks and securities. The New Yor
k Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are to resume trading today (Monday, September l7).
Ground shifts under global economy
TWO Mondays ago, I finished my column with a promise to explore the prospect for the euro versus the US dollar based on structural economic fundamentals. Little did I envisage that the economic and political landscape of the world would be so profoundly
(and perhaps irrevocably) altered within the two-week period, rendering such analysis somewhat irrelevant and meaningless.
Revival of rural credit -- Must to kickstart economy
VARIOUS suggestions to kick-start the Indian economy are being made. All focus on increasing the level of investments in the economy, particularly the rural sector. In this context, a recent paper by Dr N. A. Mujumdar, Former Principal Adviser to the RBI
, on ``The New Architecture of the Rural Credit System'' seems timely. This monograph was prepared for the University of Mumbai in memory of the late eminent economist and Professor, M. L. Dantwala. Dr Mujumdar's contribution serves to highlight the impo
rtance of revamping the rural credit system to rejuvenate the agricultural and rural sector, in particular -- and the economy, in general.
Editorial
Free fall
STOCK MARKETS UNDER attack. Most Asian and European shares, already in a bear grip, were further squeezed as worries mounted on what the terror-struck US will do in retaliation and where its economy is headed. Added to this, Wall Street remained shuttere
d for four straight days, spreading uncertainty all round.
Health
Stem cells research -- Beyond ethics
ONCE the preserve of scientific conferences, stem cells have become the stuff of prime-time presidential addresses, excited headlines and confused cocktail party conversations. The decision by the US President, Mr George Bush, to allow federal funding fo
r stem cells research offers an opportunity to scientists and hope to victims of all sorts of illnesses, from Alzheimers disease to diabetes. By limiting this research to some 60 lines derived from embryos that had already been destroyed, he keeps faith
with his campaign promises and anti-abortion supporters. However, the struggle has just begun for biologists.
Politics
Dravidian letdown
THE general secretary of the MDMK, Mr Vaiko, is reported as being against any truck with the DMK or AIADMK in the coming local bodies elections as both these parties ``have moved away from Dravidian principles.'' What these principles are and whether the
y at any time had any principles are moot questions. No doubt, the Dravidian movement and its brand of politics had been founded on certain legitimate planks such as social justice and equality, self-respect, rationalism and the greatness of Tamil cultur
e.
A boon for Mr Vajpayee
CYNICAL though this may seem, the September 11 tragic happenings in the US could not have come at a better time for Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee who, by all accounts, is facing perhaps the most difficult period of his Prime Ministership. Let us consider in so
me detail how the Black Tuesday attacks by the terrorists in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania have come to his assistance.
