Not Quite La Fin du Monde, if Modi Doesn't Become PM
What if Narendra Modi does not become prime minister? Apart from a spurt in the sale of antidepressants in corporate India, what are other predictable outcomes? Is India slated to stay mired in...
View ArticleSonia Gandhi, Party and Democracy
Once again, a book has given occasion for public bemoaning of Sonia Gandhi’s role in the UPA government. Arun Maira says in his new book that Sonia Gandhi called the shots in the UPA government,...
View ArticleIndia enters a new era
The election results represent a magnificent victory for Narendra Modi and, riding on his coattails, the BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar. The results are a rout for the Congress and its leadership,...
View ArticleWhen the Polity Swings Right
Narendra Modi has trounced the Congress roundly and demonstrated that voters today value the prospect of prosperity much more than identity and voice for their communities, offering which some parties...
View ArticleFallen, into thin air
If Narendra Modi has vaulted to unexpected heights, the Congress party has plummeted to unimaginable depths. Its decimation calls for an explanation beyond the ineptitude of a Rahul Gandhi and his...
View ArticleFor small to be beautiful, reorganize departments and their administration
By choosing to have a compact council of ministers (45, compared to the UPA’s 71), Narendra Modi has signalled that he is earnest about his slogan, minimum government for maximum governance. Reducing...
View ArticleContinuing Relevance of Nehruvian Capitalism
It is conventional wisdom now that India’s first prime minister was a socialist, in addition, of course, to being an idealist with an affectation called the Idea of India. The opinion makers of modern...
View ArticleLessons for Liberals From Dina Nath Batra
There is much that liberals can learn from the organised dedication of their opponents. For liberal politics to advance, it has to embrace an agenda of diverse cultural and material modernity, to be...
View ArticleAssisted Suicide for 2G
It is a crime to make spectrum ideal for superior 4G the habitat of a technological dinosaur. The poor need more data than the rich to climb out of poverty, and to realise that, policy and commercial...
View ArticleHow to keep food prices down
When the stock price index goes up with indefatigable enthusiasm, everyone cheers, except for dour economists who worry about irrational exuberance. When the consumer price index goes up, however,...
View ArticleBitter all right, but essential medicine, nevertheless
It is, indeed, welcome that the government is not shying away from raising petro-product prices, despite still untamed inflation and expectations of poor monsoons leading to still higher food prices....
View ArticleAntony's Misgivings on Secularism
A K Antony has kicked off a crucial debate whose resolution will make or break the Congress The majority is the bedrock of secularism and violating their notion of a fair deal only undermines the...
View ArticleForget the exact count of the poor, living standards are improving
Economists, as someone said, only measure poverty; the point, however, is to remove it. The Rangarajan committee report adds little to the basic task on poverty.The committee’s upward revision of...
View ArticleEarth's Problems Call for Multilateral Action, Says Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs is in India to launch the India chapter of the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 2015 will see three big conferences: in July in Addis Ababa on financing development, in...
View ArticleEconomic Survey suggests some new things, but is overtly academic
The Economic Survey cannot be faulted for not suggesting new things. It calls for a new Fiscal Responsibility law with teeth, a new Central GST as a precursor to a nationwide GST, a new system of...
View ArticleIncremental and Tokenist rather than Visionary
The Budget does not break any new ground. It is an incremental budget with a large dose of tokenism, in the shape of Rs 100 crore allocations for many projects and schemes. Anyone who had been holding...
View ArticleGive the bond market a chance
Allowing banks to raise deposits to fund infrastructure will choke the retarded bond market. Banks are inefficient mediators of savings and routinely allow project costs to be inflated, paving the way...
View ArticleKatju's revelation throws light on why the way judges are appointed has to...
The revelation by Justice Markandeya Katju on one instance of mala fide in appointments to the higher judiciary damns the political executive, the judiciary and Justice Katju himself.An additional...
View ArticleCheap American chicken legs, anyone? Why not!
We need to support the Ministry of External Affairs proposal to allow cheaper import of chicken legs from the US in return for freer export of pomegranate and table grapes to that country. In fact, we...
View ArticleNew APMC to take on powerful traders to cut food inflation
It is welcome that organisations like the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium are preparing their action plan for the opportunity that will open up if and when the government amends the perverse...
View ArticleTwo cheers for 49% FDI cap in insurance
The Cabinet approval for raising the foreign investment cap in insurance is welcome. But only two cheers are due. This is because for foreign capital to come in with enthusiasm and significantly raise...
View ArticlePM Modi, here are the cons of fast-tracking cases against legislators
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reported to be in favour of fast-tracking criminal and other cases against legislators. This is a good beginning, but only a beginning. Equity and fairness cannot be...
View ArticleErrors of Commission
It is abundantly clear that the current system of appointing judges is flawed. But the alternative being proposed and hotly pursued by the government —instituting a commission for judicial appointments...
View ArticleAbba and the Civil Service Exam's English controversy
The Modi government has shown that it is no great shakes when it comes to standing up to irresponsible, populist pressure, by agreeing to exclude the marks for English in the Civil Services exam from...
View ArticleJudicial Appointment Bill may skew independence of judges
It is telling commentary on the quality of our political parties and their elected members’ commitment to the public veal that an amendment to the Constitution on an important subject like appointment...
View ArticlePM’s speech held vision of prosperity, but maintained undertone of cultural...
As speeches go, Narendra Modi's first speech as prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort, was brilliant. Its significance lies not in the individual schemes announced, vision outlined or...
View ArticleScrap the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
Irom Sharmila offers yet another occasion to talk about the need to scrap the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA for short. It is not just anti-democratic, it also contributes to violent...
View ArticleRemedying the coal scam: Here's what SC should do
Rape is ugly, violent, cruel and repulsive, apart from being illegal. Do these qualities necessarily attend on the outcome of rape? Legend has it that Zeus raped Leda of Sparta. Leda gave birth to...
View ArticleSupreme Court ruling on coal scam a reprieve for Manmohan
The Suprme Court judgment holding all allocation of captive mines since 1993 to be illegal offers former prime minister Manmohan Singh some consolation. This is for two reasons. One, the court’s...
View ArticleThe Helen of Troy Fix
Rape is ugly, violent, cruel and repulsive, apart from being illegal. Do these qualities necessarily attend on the crime’s outcome? Legend has it that Zeus raped Leda of Sparta.Leda gave birth to...
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