Our PM back-pedals again

Once again India's Prime Minister says that Musharraf is to be trusted. Dr Singh's words in the interview returning from Havana "We have now agreed on a new mechanism to deal with terrorism. I think the explicit mention that both of our countries condemn this scourge that we will work together. I do think it is a new beginning. I hope it works, but if it does not work, then also we have to deal with the consequences." indicate the mind of someone who has forgotten the last 5 years, someone who has not been in touch with reality in India OR someone who has lost all hope in achieving anything -- that is willing to pick up any straws that Mussharraf throws to him, but has not the courage to raise his voice at Musharraf.

The World Bank defines Governance

The World Bank's 2006 Report on Governance has me confused. Indicators are measured by 6 dimensions. Why should Regulatory Quality be "focuses more on the policies themselves, including measures of the incidence of market-unfriendly policies such as price controls or inadequate bank supervision, as well as perceptions of the burdens imposed by excessive regulation in areas such as foreign trade and business development. " ? Since when did Price Controls be indicators of negative governance ? Since when should Governments HAVE to be "market-friendly" to be good for their own citizens ? This seems like the regular confusion that Democracy and Capitalism are synonymous. India has been a democracy for more than 50 years and for many years was leaning towards or was Socialist, while China has for the past two decades been "market friendly" {shall we say ?} without being a Democracy is the "American" definition.

Mind you, the World Bank can be very confusing. At one place it says "6 dimensions of the Governance indicators", at another place it says "six aggregate governance indicators" and at another "The Worldwide Governance Indicators project defines governance as the set of traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. The political, economic, and institutional dimensions of governance are captured by six aggregate indicators." Are the 6 dimensions or aggregate indicators ?