The Times of India

On August 15, India celebrated independence from the British Raj. But Kashmiris staged a bandh demanding independence from India. A day symbolising the end of colonialism in India became a day symbolising Indian colonialism in the Valley. As a liberal, i dislike ruling people against their will. True, nation-building is a difficult and complex exercise, More >

The next general election looks certain to produce another hung Parliament. This will give many politicians a chance to cobble together coalitions and become prime minister. At a recent office discussion, I opined that Mayawati, head of the BSP, had the best chance. Some youngsters in my office found this disturbing. One said, “If Mayawati More >

High inflation means that the Congress-led UPA government is in serious danger of losing the next general election. Voters tend to revolt when inflation exceeds their tolerance level, which today is probably no more than 5%. Wholesale price inflation is currently a whopping 12%. Consumer price data are not available for recent weeks, but are More >

For nearly two decades, Swaminomics has argued that India must stop treating the outside world as a threat – as in the old socialist days – and view it as an opportunity. Historically, India was and can once again become a great trading power. So, I was gratified to find Rahul Gandhi taking this very More >

How important is nuclear power going to be in India’s future? Nobody knows for sure, since the future is full of uncertainties. But the nuclear option is a must for providing energy security. Manmohan Singh thinks nuclear energy will be absolutely vital for India’s energy future, and he might be right. His critics say nuclear More >

Having won over the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Manmohan Singh government can push ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal, and hope to complete its full five-year term. If the government survives the trust vote, Congressmen will be delighted, since they are terrified of an early election, given that inflation is running at 12%. Their delight More >

Politicians in India and abroad have lambasted traders who buy oil contracts for future delivery as speculators that have driven oil to $145/barrel. In fact, India itself should start buying oil futures and options. This will be a sensible risk management, not villainous speculation. Futures are contracts for oil delivery at a specified price on More >

From ancient times, Indian rulers have always blamed inflation on the perfidious bania. That is happening globally today. Politicians everywhere are blaming speculators for high inflation. Actually, inflation occurs when too much money chases too few goods. Today, no great shortfall in goods is evident. World oil production is rising, though slowly. Mineral and metal More >

Predicting oil prices is a mug’s game. Yet I will stick my neck out and forecast that oil will fall from today’s $135/barrel to under $100/barrel by the end of 2008. Usually, when prices go up, demand falls. But world demand for oil has kept rising for five years even though the price of oil More >

India has a world-class elite sitting on top of hundreds of millions with low skills and literacy. This accounts for the title of a new study on India’s educational tragedy — ‘India Shining and Bharat Drowning’ — by Jishnu Das of the World Bank and Tristan Zajonc of Harvard University. What does this imply for More >

Crude oil costs $135/barrel globally, but Indian prices of petroleum products have long been linked to barely $60/barrel. This has meant under-recoveries — explicit and implicit subsidies to consumers — of a whopping Rs 2,45,000 crore. So, the government has reluctantly increased the price of petrol by Rs 5/litre, diesel by Rs 3/litre and cooking More >

The report of the Commission on Growth and Economic Development, headed by Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, gleans lessons from 13 countries that averaged 7% economic growth for more than 25 years. India crossed 7% only recently, but most people assume it will keep growing fast for 25 years. After reading the Spence Commission report, i More >

Oil hit a record $135/barrel last week, up from $51/barrel in January 2007. Taking a longer four-year perspective, the price of the crude is up 230%, but Indian petrol is up only 35%, diesel 46%, and kerosene not at all! Why not? Because government diktat obliges oil marketing companies to provide massive implicit subsidies to More >

Indians are outraged by President Bush’s claim that rising food consumption in India and China have sent world food prices skyrocketing. When incomes rise, people eat more meat, so more grain is fed to animals. Seven tonnes of grain produce only one tonne of beef. The conversion ratio is 4 to 1 for pork, 2 More >

Last week, I showed that spending $50 billion on dams and canals in the 11th Plan would be a waste. Surface irrigation provides water in quantities and at times fixed by the irrigation authorities. This is useless for farmers growing different crops needing different amounts of water at different times. Farmers need just-in-time water on More >