India thinks it is a potential superpower, with a world-class IT industry. Narendra Modi has launched Digital India. Yet India looks like the most backward of all democracies in one respect — the time taken for polling. In most democracies, …
In Digital India, why do elections stretch for weeks? Read More »
India and Pakistan may now have an uneasy truce or a resumption of hostilities. Yet the chances of a temporary truce look high, after the return of downed Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. The political outcome will boost Narendra Modi’s chances …
Ten million farmers have received their first instalment of ₹2,000 under the PM-Kisan scheme, and will receive ₹6,000 in a full year. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has promised a minimum income for all if elected. Many experts believe India is on …
The terrorist attack at Pulwama, killing 40 Indian soldiers, provides Narendra Modi a huge but risky chance to portray himself as the toughest politician in India. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s victory in the 1999 Kargil war helped him win the next …
Stick to political theatre, it is safer than risking war with Pak Read More »
RBI needs to calculate and monitor public sector borrowing requirement After the interim budget, economic experts on TV bemoaned the smoke and mirrors that cloak the true extent of the fiscal deficit. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) recently castigated …
Billionaires are widely seen as undeserving exploiters. Thomas Piketty, author of the bestseller Capital in the 21st Century, says the global system is rigged in favour of old wealth, so inheritance rather than productive work begets great riches. The 2008 …
Unicorns signal an India that’s excitingly mobile Read More »
Unemployment in 2017-18 was a 45-year high of 6.1%, says the labour survey of the government’s National Sample Survey Office. This report, long suppressed by the government, has leaked to the media. Unemployment was only 2.2% in 2011-12, meaning it …
Job data’s bad, but do not assume Modi will lose Read More »
Nobody cares about workers who die cleaning sewers in abysmal conditions We boast of great scientific feats. We have sent a space mission to orbit Mars. Our submarines can hit any target in the world with nuclear weapons. Yet, our scientific …
Oxfam’s annual Global Inequality Report once again bemoans growing inequality, and has again been criticised for methodological flaws. Forget the technicalities and see Oxfam’s India Equality Report, 2018. This says inequality fell sharply in the socialist era between 1950 and …
Oxfam is wrong. Inequality plus growth is better Read More »
Ten years ago, India was seen as a potential superpower, capable of combating the rise of China. Today China has risen so fast that it challenges the techno-military might of the US. India is too far behind to matter. The …
China’s aiming for college excellence, India for quotas Read More »
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