When asked, as leader of the largest constituent of the UPA Government, to become the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi refused, displaying statesmanship and sagacity. Better yet, she astutely nominated Manmohan Singh, a man known for his erudition and honesty, as Prime Minister.

Last week we saw sale of promoter’s stake in Ranbaxy, India’s largest generic pharma company, to Dii Ichi Sankyo of Japan. Ranbaxy, set up in 1961, was valued at $ 8.5 b. in the deal. During a prior week I had attended the analyst meet of Punjab National Bank, which, after 119 years, has grown to become the largest but one (after SBI) public sector bank.

Over the past 5 years the welcoming policies towards unknown “foreign” buyers into the Indian stock markets has created a fake bull market in the Indian stock exchanges. The P-Notes or participatory notes were even recognised to be fake by the creators of these instruments: they are called “synthetics”.

An ostrich can hide from reality for awhile, by digging its head in the sand, but ultimately, when he raises it to breathe, he must face it.

As the home to 34 of the world’s 50 least-developed countries, Africa is the poorest and least-developed continent on the planet. It’s 11.7 million square miles of desert and jungle, with little in between.