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It may sound rather odd that India’s public sector (PSU), set up with great fanfare during the Nehru-Indira Gandhi era to champion the cause of the country’s socialist agenda, is now being projected as a symbol of success of the economy’s conversion into market capitalism. This is despite the fact that only a small portion of their equity is sold to the public by the government in the last two decades of India’s economic and market reform. And, the big buzz around these PSU shares belies their miniscule market presence.

New Delhi: After the recent face off at Daulat Beg Oldi, India and China are slated to discuss the draft of the border defence cooperation agreement at the prime ministerial level.

New Delhi: Thanks to the influence of tropical cyclone, Mahasen. The South-West Monsoon on Friday made a debut in the Andaman Sea and southern parts of Bay of Bengal, three days ahead of its scheduled arrival.

Nawaz Sharif romped home in flying colours with his party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz group) having won 126 out of 272 seats (excluding 70 reserved for women and religious minorities) in the National Assembly, proving once again that psephologists resemble astrologists. It may take one or two days more for the Election Commission of Pakistan to announce final results, the verdict, a landmark in the history of restoration of democracy in the troubled state, is milestone for the PML(N) to demolish the dominance of PPP.

When he took over in 2009 as Prime Minister for the second time, Dr Manmohan Singh would not have dreamt that there would be demand for his ouster. Even his well-wishers wonder why he is sticking to the chair when all the credibility is lost. As his government enters its ninth year next week it should have been a joyous occasion, but it is not so.

New Delhi: India’s involvement in polar research is slated to get a boost as the Arctic Council has welcomed it as an Observer.

After a gap of 6 years, Lalu organized a rally in Gandhi Maidan of Patna and he successfully countered the notion that he could bring crowds in Patna only when he is in power. His rally was expected to be a big one, because he was attracting big crowds in his Parivarttan Yatra preceding that rally. His Parivartan Yatra was more successful than the Adhikar Yatra earlier undertaken by Nitish Kumar.

The three sets of figures released over the new week give insight into the current state of the economy.

The Kerala CPI(M) is well and truly at the crossroads. And the question uppermost in the minds of the party’s rank and file is: Will the compromise formula crafted by the party’s central leadership set things right in the state CPI(M) torn asunder by internecine sectarianism?

What is preventing the government to stop the wastage of billions of dollars in gold import even at the risk of throwing the country’s economy totally out of gear? Why is the government fighting shy of applying brake on gold import, which is eating away much of the Reserve Bank’s foreign exchange reserves built painstakingly with borrowed money, overseas aid, grants, foreign direct and indirect investments? Every week, tonnes of gold are entering India. Who are these imports benefiting?