Expert Zone
Straight from the Specialists
India Markets Weekahead – It’s a no trade zone for now
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Indian markets were in a narrow Nifty band of 5550-5650 last week but volatility kept market participants on tenterhooks.
The winter session of parliament, as expected, opened with retail FDI being opposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and other opposition parties. The logjam is expected to continue for some time as the Congress-led government seemed too strong-willed to be cowed by the threat to the passage of several financial bills.
Unless the government is able to convince its allies and some fringe parties, the FDI vote could shake investor confidence. The 2010 winter session of parliament was the worst in terms of productivity, followed by this year’s monsoon session. It remains to be seen whether the ongoing session also enters the hall of shame. An all-party meeting on Monday should provide further clues.
Xi Jinping at the helm in Beijing, responsibility looms large
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
The carefully orchestrated and much awaited leadership transition in Beijing was formally concluded on Thursday with the elevation of Xi Jinping as the general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
A gift for Mahatma Gandhi
(Rajan Ghotgalkar is Managing Director of Principal Pnb Asset Management Company. The views expressed in this column are his own and do not represent those of either Principal Pnb or Reuters)
Having replaced the feudal princes by colonising India, the British Civil Service carried on with the master-subject relationship which, understandably, entitled them to huge discretionary powers.
Weighing the Obama-Romney calculus
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Much is at stake in the United States presidential elections this year, perhaps more in terms of policy than in the past few election cycles. The presidency of Barack Obama has been fraught with battles in a deeply divided Congress, leading to paralyses on some major agenda such as government debt, and significant compromises on others such as healthcare reform.
Decoding political risk no mean feat
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Politics is playing a dominant role in financial markets today — and generally speaking, investors do not like it. Political risk is an additional layer of uncertainty that has to be factored in while making investment decisions. Because political risk is intimately linked with the uncertainties of human behaviour, the impact of political risk can at times seem to be almost random. After over two decades as a professional economist, I can assert that forecasting economies is tough. Trying to forecast what politicians are going to do is even worse.
Growing religious intolerance in Pakistan spells demise of democracy
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Today’s murder of Pakistani Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti by religious extremists establishes a pattern of growing religious intolerance. It is undermining Pakistan’s struggling democracy by shutting down free speech and political expression in the name of a ruthless ideology disguised as religion.
