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Good Reason for Confidence

3 For details on this concept, see John A King, "Economic Development Projects and Their Appraisal", John Hopkins Press, 1967.
4 The money incomes of these graduates need not reflect their marginal productivity to the society. Of these graduates, 65 per cent were employed by government agencies and 10 per cent by universities. Since we do not have information on tin"co-efficient of inefficiency" we assume that they arc worth the wage they are getting from the society. In our calculations, non- pecuniary returns are not taken into account.

On the Move Again


ing debt into equity, however difficult to justify on other grounds, could bring about this result There are two other directions in which policy should move. Firstly, it is well known how economic concentration is made possible by cross- holding of investments. As a first step in the direction of a positive policy of breaking up concentration, companies may be required to disgorge some of their security holdings. Second, banks have become financiers of even the permanent working capital requirements of companies. This part can be converted into debentures. This is the direction in which the new control measures planned by Reserve Bank should bo aiming.

Needed Action, Not Warnings

Needed Action, Not Warnings Package Deal Nishtar TEXTILE Commissioner Rangaswami warned mills the other day that any violation of the directive on stock limits would be dealt with severely. He also asked mills and traders to submit periodical returns of stocks and consumption and warned that penal action would be taken if they failed to do so. Does the Textile Commissioner still have to think in terms of warnings? Has not the position in respect of cotton prices assumed sufficiently alarming proportions to demand stem action ? It is quite some time ago that the president of the East India Cotton Association made the charge that some of the affluent mills had indulged in massive and aggressive buying and had acquired stocks much in excess of the prescribed limits. That a large number of traders and mills had failed to supply the requisite returns of stocks and consumption should have served as an eye-opener.

Cooling Off

the Genera] Academic Board, the Professorial Board, the Registrar, the Bursar, and the student representatives of the Executive Committee of the Students' Council, headed by the President. Many touchy matters could be sorted out in one meeting of such a high-powered committee. Where the students disagreed with any of the views expressed by the Administration, or the latter opposed any of the student suggestions, the matter came out into the open because the minutes of the meeting were always publicly displayed. The above is only one example of a jointly run university, A lot of work was involved in creating a structure that called for student representation at as many levels as was possible. The organisation was only experimental to begin with, but it has now been formalised. The onus has always been on the students to prove their maturity, ability, attitudes and, above all, representativeness. The experiment has succeeded in varying degrees at various institutions. Should not our universities give the students a chance to become full-fledged, practising members of that jealously guarded institution we call democracy?

Stock Market Is All Smiles

titive position of these commodities Stock Market Is All Smiles and help improve their contribution to the foreign exchange pool. Proposals Nishtar THREE cheers for Indira. The stock market has cast off its slough of despondency and is all smiles now. Nobody ever thought that the radical Prime Minister could present a marketoriented budget. But she has done it. And the market has not been slow to respond to this generous gesture. The budget has been accorded an enthusiastic welcome. Excitement ran high in the special post-budget session on February 28, and gains recorded by some of the popular counters could compare favourably with the sharpest rise in any single session even when the stock market had been in a state of gay abandon during the earlier half

Uneasy on Budget Eve

Uneasy on Budget Eve Nishtar THE pre-budget bullish fervour noticed on the previous two occasions is conspicuously lacking this time. Instead, the stock market presents an uneasy look. The new licensing policy has evoked a mixed reaction. While the raising of the exemption limit from Rs 25 lakhs to Rs one crore has been welcomed, the market is not pleased with the exclusion of large industrial houses from participating Fully in industrial growth. It is also critical of the option allowed to public financial institutions to convert their future loans and debentures into equity capital on the argument that this would not only discourage prospective investors but also lead to unnecessary freezing of funds.

Cotton Stock Limits Cut

nut crop increased by only 0.32 per Cotton Stock Limits Cut cent during this period. Performance in subsequent years has not been very Nishtar much better. The production in 1964- TH E Union Government announced on February 16 its decision to reduce by a quantity equivalent to one month's average consumption, and with immediate effect, stocks of Indian cotton allowed to be kept by mills, including growers' co-operative spinning mills and Government-run units. As a result of this measure, the stock limits of mills in Bombay and Ahmedabad will be equivalent to one-and-ahalf months' consumption, while those in Assam will be allowed to hold three months' requirements. Units in other areas can hold cotton for two-and-ahalf months' consumption. The limit for growers' co-operative spinning mills and Government-run units is higher at 4 months' average consumption. Mills having stocks of Indian cotton in excess of the new limits are prohibited from buying any further quantity of Indian cotton till such time as the excess position is corrected to below the limits now prescribed.

No Escape from Stricter Discipline

A Beginning Eunice de Souza THE University of Bombay prides itself on the fact that it is one of the few universities where no student disturbances have taken place. Unfortunately, not much else has either. A few of its constituent colleges still have some prestige. A few of its teachers, who still have the respect and affection of their students, do what they can to maintain standards. The majority contents itself with ritual grumble about falling standards, uninspiring curricula, unresponsive students and the rest.

Unrelieved Gloom

Unrelieved Gloom Nishtar FRUSTRATED by the receding prospect of early resumption of forward trading and tormented by thoughts or a radical Budget and possible implications of the recent curbs on advances against shares, the stock market presents a picture of unrelieved gloom. Though it has been under no serious pressure, the market has continued to beat a gradual retreat over the past few weeks. At its last week's low it stood very close to its August low the decisive penetration of which can have serious trend implications. In its mood of despair, the market has taken no notice of favourable corporate news which has been plentiful. Nor has it derived any cheer from the optimistic reckoning of the economic prospect by knowledgeable spokesmen

Glint of Cleared Securities

Glint of Cleared Securities Nishtar the new issue market will intrigue many observers. The point made by some of the leading spokesmen of the private sector that, entrepreneurs have been scared away by political and economic uncertainties cannot carry much conviction because the stock market also has had to reckon with all these uncertainties. Unless one is to dismiss as purely speculative the 1960 boom which carried the market to the highest level for more than a decade, it must be admitted that small investors and speculators are more enterprising than entrepreneurs. Now Delhi's democratic socialism has enough room for private initiative and enterprise, and no viable project need suffer for want of requisite finance as financial institutions are reasonably well supplied with funds to support entrepreneurial activity. Rut how can one expect a marked revival in the capital market when big business continues to use the language of crisis accusing New Delhi of ideological attitudes of hostility and mistrust towards the private sector?

Oilseeds Market Ablaze

Oilseeds Market Ablaze Nishtar THE oilseeds market is ablaze. Prices have continued to surge forward week after week, and the rise has far exceeded the expectations of even the inveterate bulls. On January 6 groundnut oil ready in Bombay was quoted around Rs 4,625 (a tonne), cottonseed oil at Rs 4,500, linseed oil at Rs 4,700, and castor oil (commercial) at Rs 3,100. Never before has groundnut oil been quoted so high during December/January

Better Crop, Yet Market Aflame

Better Crop, Yet Market Aflame Nishtar ON December 16, groundnut oil ready in Bombay was bid up to Rs 3,875 per tonne. Never before

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