The Indian Express -- Expressions

This page contains Editorial and Op-Ed articles

Friday, December 19 1997

Letters to the Editor

The amnesty that worked

At collections of some Rs. 3,000 crore, the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) has defied conventional wisdom on tax amnesty schemes. With about ten days to go before closure, collections will almost certainly gather pace as many fence-sitters decide to jump. But the significance of the scheme lies in the acknowledgement that the carrot of tax amnesty and moderation will only work, in a country of notorious tax-dodgers and a flourishing black economy, when a firm stick is wielded alongside.

Tamil Nadu cocktail

The Bharatiya Janata Party is too busy congratulating itself on the coup it has pulled off in Tamil Nadu to pause and think of this. But the smart, tactical move may well prove a strategic setback. The electoral alliance the party has entered into with the All-India Anna DMK of J Jayalalitha can only compound the damage done to the BJP's image by its recent exercises in realpolitik in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

Seek partners for post-Kyoto trip

The third Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) finally agreed at Kyoto on December 11 on a protocol to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The FCCC was drafted and agreed to at the Rio Summit in 1992. Subsequently, two Conferences of the Parties were held in 1995 and 1996 respectively for implementation of the Convention.

Seek partners for post-Kyoto trip

Autonomy of the victim

Are your children safe?

Tamil Nadu cocktail

The amnesty that worked

Fewer flags at factory gates

Has Dravid's Pepsi proved costly? There's nothing official about it