Like the lighthouse on our cover, the latest issue of ISBInsight aims to provide a truly 360 degree view on the changes sweeping the landscape of corporate governance in India. Our contributors raise and address some important questions about the new Companies Act of 2013 and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Clause 49 reforms. For example: how do regulators tread the fine line between enforcement and interference in the new regime? How is it that even as the new regulatory framework for corporate governance in India ranks among the best in Asia, governance practice still remains sub-par? And will the legislative call for balancing multiple stakeholder interests threaten the very identity and viability of the Indian corporation as we know it?
Our Features section picks up on these themes. We have an analysis of the gender composition of Indian boards against the backdrop of Section 149(1) of the Companies Act, 2013, which mandates that corporate boards include at least one woman. As usual, lest a single topical flavor dominate, ISBInsight offers a smorgasbord of themes. Our features also include an analysis of a new model for microfinance. And in keeping with the spirit of the recently concluded iDiya competition on social entrepreneurship, we have a narrative from the revolutionary social start-up CGNet Swara.
