SIR —   Having participated in a number of international
conferences and seminars in the past three decades, I still
wonder how often the outcomes match the objectives, or whether
the recommendations have been properly implemented or evaluated
subsequently. Conferences come and go. Frequently, they are just
power games of the dominant nations armed with their own vested
interests. The powerful nations would ensure that their
objectives are being met, failing which, they would frequently
refuse to ratify or adopt the ensuing results. The same rules of
games have been played at Davos recently, where WTO witnessed
one of its largest gathering of representatives from countries
all over the world. Again, the delegates have their own stakes
in mind, and the very rich and powerful nations hold on tightly
and dearly to their trump cards. Apparently, none has learned
any lesson from the virtually defunct Doha round of global trade
discussions. Overwhelming farming and agriculture subsidy is
still the bone of contentio