The Times has come down strongly on Immigration Minister Damian Green for suggesting there needs to be a “dramatic shift in culture” to reduce Britain’s “dependence on foreign workers.” Green said last week: “Business has got addicted to immigration. It’s the first thing they look for – ‘we’ve got a problem, let’s bring someone in from abroad’.” [Read more]

The election of Monsieur Francois Hollande as French President brings with it the promise of Europe taking an interesting new turn in its thus far faltering, if not failed and chaotic, bid to deal with the problem of debt – the result, in the first place, of American-style light-touch regulation of the financial market. [Read more]

The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman was in London last week for the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting – leading the Indian delegation in the absence of Dr Farooq Abdullah, the Minister for New and Renewable Energy. It was an important conference to attend, as India is a major partner in this 23-nation initiative. [Read more]

The Spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank is over. But there appears to be a lack of clarity on whether or not India will help shore up the IMF package that will go into fighting the Eurozone crisis that is slowing down economies around in the world. [Read more]

There’s growing talk in Europe about the reported political ambitions of Pascal Lamy, the Frenchman who heads the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). There are implications for India and BRICS. [Read more]