The Hindu Business Line : Monday, December 22, 2003

Not really redeeming
THE RECENT ATTEMPTS by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to force mutual fund schemes to broaden their investor base are welcome. However, the two guidelines it has proposed may not really curb the growing clout of institutional ... More

ECONOMY

Party is on in Asia — Beware the hangover
Asians are resisting their currency strength by buying debt of an already highly indebted US. That is setting off a heady asset price increase in Asia. But when other countries protest, the Asian game would be up and it would be left holding America n assets whose intrinsic value would be a lot less than they paid for. The hangover could be painful, says V. Anantha Nageswaran. More

FOODS & FOOD PROCESSING

Sustainability index
THE M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai, recently held a meeting of experts to consider the preliminary draft of an Atlas on Sustainability of Food Security in India. While there is a general ... More

PAPER, BOARD & NEWSPRINT

The paradox of paper
There is no level-playing field between the big consumer and the small consumer, and the government appears to support the former with its sales tax structure. More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

RBI study on FDI — Raises questions on quality of growth
INCREASED foreign direct investment (FDI) is the holy grail of today's policy-makers in developing countries. It is rightly preferred to debt flows because, apparently, it does not create servicing obligations. While ... More

SOCIAL WELFARE

Exit options for an aging population
It is necessary, and extremely important, to allow employees to exit whenever they choose to do so from the pension plan, as also from the Employees Provident Fund and the Public Provident Fund, the rates of return on which have been unilaterally sla shed by 20 per cent or more. More

INTEREST RATES

What, floating rate deposits?
THESE are tough times for retail investors. They borrow at floating rates, but invest at a fixed rate, and are therefore exposed to high interest rate risk. Since retail investors cannot hedge their interest rate risk, ... More

LETTERS

Equity rationale

Democracy and development

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