Never a dull moment

There was an interesting ( and depressing at the same time ) news yesterday, Our Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is going to meet industry leaders and promoters to persuade them to lead less ostentatious and sedate lifestyles. Such a request would fly against the desire of captains of industry to pit themselves against business captains abroad , especially those in USA and Europe , who lead a lavish lifestyle.What use is an open unbridled economy ( where government does not interfere and step in only to write off all loans and extend sops when things become dicey as during economic slow down ) unless the fruits of labour can not enjoyed and displayed by the business leaders and captains of the industry ? This is not the interesting aspect of this news item. Finance Minister has stated that with 37.2 % of Indian population living below poverty line, the captains of the industry have to be sensitive to the masses and the travails of our nation. The poverty line debate has been a slippe...

The world Cup fever is over. A new name is embellished on the cup- that of Spain, the perennial under achiever. Spain has some of the best clubs- Real Madrid and Barcelona count among the best clubs in the world with an array of international stars in their ranks. Most of the South American stars tend to play in Spain and some in Italy - could be due to skill in Spanish language. With such a rich tradition in football, it is surprising that Spain has taken such a long time to win the World Cup. This is the first time Spain entered the semi finals in World Cup and it has gone all the way to win the coveted trophy. Spain played the game in a fluid and non confrontationist style. The first yellow card on a Spanish player was in the quarter final match against Paraguay. The semifinals against Germany was a blemishless game with no yellow cards against either team. The final was a scrappy affair with The Netherlands playing a rough game earning eight yellow cards and a red cards. Spain m...