Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar

Dear Sukumar Muralidharan, I read your article the other day in Frontline magazine. You echoed the standard left-wing line against the GATT accord (popularly called the Dunkel Draft), implying that India should leave the global trading system which has been signed by 126 countries. Your main objections were that (a) GATT represents an unequal trading […]

The Lok Sabha debate on GATT and the Dunkel Draft was marked by lamentable ignorance of what sovereignty is about. Speaker after speaker complained that GATT would erode the sovereignty of India. In fact, membership of any international group binds India to group rules, and to that extent limits its sovereign right to do whatever

For decades, people have worried that the fruits of economic growth will not reach the poor, and that special efforts must be made by the state to ensure that this happens. Compounding these worries has been the famous hypothesis of Simon Kuznets, the economic historian, that inequalities widen in the initial stages of economic development

For those who believe that satellite TV is a form of western cultural imperialism, here is some news. For the first time in history, India\’s Republic Day was seen live all over Asia on Star TV, and the fuming politicians and intellectuals of Pakistan could do nothing about it. The budget speech of Dr Man

Many promoters of companies, multinationals as well as Indian businessmen, are voting themselves new allotments of shares at highly preferential prices, sometimes one-fifth the market price. This benefits promoters at the cost of minority shareholders, and would be banned in many countries. Yet, company after company is doing this in India, all -the-name of corporate

Many promoters of companies, multinationals as well as Indian businessmen, are voting themselves new allotments of shares at highly preferential prices, sometimes one-fifth the market price. This benefits promoters at the cost of minority shareholders, and would be banned in many countries. Yet, company after company is doing this in India, all -the-name of corporate

Many readers heard of Cipla, the pharmaceutical company, when its share price recently hit Rs 35, 000, making it the priciest stock in India. But relatively few readers know that Cipla is owned by a Muslim, Mr. Yusuf Hamied. It is good that Cipla is viewed in secular rather than communal terms. But it is

I Call myself a feminist. This amuses many men who believe feminists must be female. For the same reason it also amuses many women, some of whom add that I am not highly visible in supporting womens\’ organisations. I can only say that I regard feminism as being about basic rights and liberties of all

THIS year marks the birth centenary of Mao Zedong. China still pays lip service to the ideals of Mao. But the truth is that the special form of capitalism created by Chiang Kai Shek is now sweeping China. In the military field, Mao defeated Chiang decisively. But in the economic field, Chiang is posthumously beating

HUNDREDS of newspaper articles have been written on child labour in the match industry of Sivakasi and neighbouring areas. Some say it is the exploitation of the poor by capitalists. Others say it is the exploitation of children by their parents. Most accounts leave out a more important reason – the exploitation of females by