Chugging along
The Railways are badly strapped for cash and things are going to get worse before they get better. A massive injection of funds is required for maintenance and new rolling stock. The Union Railway Minister has been left to do the best he can within the constraints of limited internal resources, an economic downturn and the perennial political difficulties associated with reducing subsidies.

Ignore this jihad
Nawaz Sharif's appeal to his country after its nuclear tests was high-pitched enough to sound as if a war were on, with all the trappings of austerity and an emergency. The international concomitant of this highly theatrical effort will no doubt be an appeal to Islam. The only way India can fight an incorrect and disadvantageous description of its own bomb is to act big.

Pump-priming and other myths
Pump-priming, or increasing government expenditures dramatically, will help boost demand and hence economic growth. This, incidentally, is the prescription of most chambers of commerce. While investors are eagerly waiting to see what measures Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha will unveil to kickstart the economy -- most analysts are still talking of a 4.5% growth this year -- it doesn't appear as if he has too many viable options.