TMCnet News
The new, old order(Financial Express Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)With the tightening of good corporate governance laws through the amended clause 49 of the Sebi listing agreement, one would expect several Indian corporates to pull up their socks and strengthen their credentials regarding one important aspect-a better role for independent directors on boards. But not all companies have woken up to the spirit of the revised guidelines, as revealed by Omkar Goswami, chairman, CERG Advi-sory, himself an independent director on the board of a major firm. At a recent symposium in Mumbai, Mr Goswami narrated the travails of an independent director in a large manufacturing company, who was surprised to read in the morning newspapers about a big-ticket overseas acquisition; he had no clue, despite having been present in all Board meetings. He telephoned the chairman, but could not get past the chairman's assistant. There was no reply to several messages, the honcho not bothering to call back. Forget good corporate governance, even good etiquette is at stake in India Inc! Incredulous on India The government's Incredible India' campaign has been running for well over a year now in key tourism markets across the globe, the European continent being one. However, the government needs to keep the campaign running for another year at least, as was obvious from an episode someone narrated recently. At the ITB (without doubt, the largest travel trade show in the world, taking place every year in March at Berlin) this year, he overheard a European saying, "Oh! Goa was lovely the last winter season. But this year, I think I'll go to India!" |