THE NATIONAL Sample Survey carries out a full poverty survey once in 5-6 years. In between, it also carries out mini-surveys with a thin sample. The value of mini-surveys is disputed by economists, but these are the only sources of …
I was brought up to believe that democracy means representation of the people. Our politicians seem to believe it means representation of condoms. This is the implication of the Union Cabinet\’s decision to freeze the allocation of Lok Sabha seats …
Ideological rhetoric may suggest that socialism is caring and capitalism is hard-hearted. Yet on Republic Day, the Indian President agonised over the stone-hearted society which socialist India had created. A few days later president Clinton in his state of the …
In this last Swaminomics of the millennium, I would like to sum up our performance in the 20th century in one sentence. Indians have succeeded in countries ruled by whites, but failed in their own. This outcome would have astonished …
Many Indians believe that the USA is determined to support Pakistan and undermine India. I keep telling them that in fact the US cares little about either country, has little interest in the quarrels of India and Pakistan, and is …
When economic reforms began in 1991, optimists hoped India would soon become the next Asian tiger. The original tigers were Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. Then came the tiger cubs, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. And finally came the spectacular …
One reason for widespread dismay at the toppling of the Vajpayee government is that several Bills which looked like being enacted after years of delay now stand torpedoed. So it is not just Vajpayee\’s fortunes that have been affected, but …
When the Vajpayee government was voted out of power, the vast majority of newspapers favoured a fresh poll. They felt horse-trading in the political marketplace was both immoral and futile, and that the voting public should be approached for a …
Most reactions of sectional groups to the budget were predictable. But one surprised me, very pleasantly. This was the positive reaction of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM). Does this mean we are about to witness the evolution of a more …
The share of services in India\’s GDP has shot up to 46.6 per cent, leaving the share of industry far behind at 27 per cent. Is this healthy or unhealthy? Optimists feel India has successfully leapfrogged over the conventional transition …
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