Quotes from Sucheta Dalal

If India is notorious for never punishing scamsters and letting politicians get away with loot, rape, murder and worse, it is because they are part of a cozy conspiracy of silence. There are innumerable instances of how politicians as a class let each other off the hook after kicking up some dust in parliament.

Industrialists have begun to realise that they would probably be better at influencing policy themselves, rather than depend on some political stooge or corrupt bureaucrat.

Bloomberg does not cater to the Indian audience. It does display Indian stock indices, and during trading hours has a ticker tape of Indian stocks running across the bottom, but then so do most of the news channels.

Technology is changing so fast that investment in hardware is getting riskier everyday. On the other hand, whether it is traditional computers or smart gadgets which are part of the convergence technologies of the future, some planning of hardware needs is still important.

India is a little different from the developed world because discipline of any kind is alien to us. Along with the right to spit in public, we will resist all attempts to discipline our driving. As pedestrians, we will cross any road at will, and as cops, we will view traffic offences as business opportunities.

If e-wallet providers are unregulated, dubious operators will easily manage to avoid audit trails and electronic finger-prints.

If you are a small investor, do take the basic precaution of going to a registered broker/sub-broker and getting receipts for your transactions. Or simply shrug you losses away as you would if you lost your shirt at a casino.

Nobody wants to go back to the bad old days when some bureaucrat in Delhi decided what managing directors would earn, but how about more transparency in reporting pay and perks from multiple sources and giving teeth to institutional investors.

Netizens and site operators must find ways to police themselves in order to keep government interference to a minimum.

A columnist is not a doctor, who diagnoses the disease and dispenses instant medicine. My job is to highlight problems, investigate issues, to provide factual information, and if necessary, goad the people into action - that too is not easy in the current political and business environment.

When dozens of company results are flooding newspaper offices everyday, an occasional fraudster slips in what looks like an authentic press release, with fake company results/information aimed at manipulating share prices.

The Bombay-Pune Expressway, a spanking, modern, six-lane highway will, when completed, be India's first truly international road constructed on the lines of the autobahn or the turnpike.

The truth is that development of public transport facilities needs government funding or cheap loans.

While the middle class is bled dry to meet various the expenditure of a bloated government machinery, every revenue collection agency is busy extorting money instead of ensuring compliance.

Mumbai is on a seismically sensitive zone; it is also dangerously exposed to the sea.

A broker who discovers an undervalued stock does not advertise it until he has bought a large enough quantity without letting the price go up. When the brokers' connection with a stock becomes public knowledge, it is usually a sure sign of manipulation and that the broker is seeking to drive up the price.

Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly India's biggest national icon. Being the object of a billion people's adoration is a tough job.

While readers know that advertisements keep the product cost low, they still buy a newspaper for its editorial content and not for its advertisements.

For some reason most Indians seem to think that it is the job of the media to fight corruption and their own role is restricted to sighing over their newspaper, or debates on the local train as they commute to work.

Driving to work is a nightmare in most Indian cities; people do it because they have little choice.

There is no doubt at all that the government monopoly over the insurance business had to end. There is a crying need for better service, more innovation, and a comprehensive insurance cover.

Security concerns are especially high with regard to the e-filing of Income Tax returns that is rapidly being extended from commercial entities to individuals. Leading IT security experts and tax consultants are unhappy at the lack of security in e-filing of Income Tax returns.

India has a high level of corruption, a lethargic bureaucracy and is low on accountability. Investigations are long drawn and often aimless; those in power are rarely sacked for incompetence unless the media sets up a serious clamour for justice.

We are living in a globalised world and most of us are worried stiff about powerful interest groups steadily pushing India towards obscurantist and fundamentalist beliefs and regressive economic policies.