Swaminomics

RK Pachauri, head of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, is getting nightmares because of the Nano, Tata’s Rs 1 lakh car. Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says that it isn’t the Nano by itself but cars overall that give her nightmares. The villains in my nightmares are neither the More >

Some analysts want to explain away Narendra Modi’s victory in Gujarat by saying Gujaratis are a special breed different from the rest of us Indians: that they have been especially communal since the Muslim destructions of the Somnath Temple; that they have shown unforgivable amnesia in not penalising Modi for the mass killings of Muslims More >

When talking to youngsters, I find some want India to become more like the US, and some less so. However, both groups are under the illusion that the US is a bastion of free enterprise. Alas, the supposed Land of the Free is actually the land of rising red tape. The Wall Street Journal last year More >

Ratan Tata says he is a nice guy who does not believe in hostile takeovers. But this has consequences. It means that a takeover target can spit in your face and say that mere association with you will be demeaning, leaving you looking like an oppressed Harijan. This is the situation Tata faces after being More >

The Gujarat state election has probably been handed over to Narendra Modi’s BJP on a platter. The row kicked up by other parties and the media — with Sonia Gandhi calling the BJP “merchants of death” — is working entirely to Modi’s advantage. The violation of human rights, which worries those outside Gujarat, worries Gujarati More >

Dear Dr Manmohan Singh, Your reputation as a good man is being overtaken by your reputation for lack of spine. You received much applause in the media when you appeared to stand firm in the face of Marxist threats to bring down the government if it proceeded with the nuclear deal with the US. Hence, More >

The skills of Reliance Industries in “managing” the investment climate are legendary. Why, then, has it grossly mismanaged the political economy of its retail foray? Traditional agricultural markets have several layers of intermediaries, who prosper at the expense of the farmer and consumer. Eliminating intermediaries and linking the farmer directly to retail means the farmer More >

Cricket should be for the masses, not the classes. After India’s victory in the first Twenty20 World Cup, this version of cricket looks certain to oust Tests and one-day matches in popularity. A T20 match compresses thrills and spills into just three hours. So, it attracts the biggest possible TV audiences at prime time. Coca More >

Religion and history do not mix well. I shrug my shoulders at those opposing the Sethusamunda-ram canal because it will damage the remains of the bridge that Ram’s army used in the Ramayana. Now, i too oppose the canal, but on economic and environmental grounds. Its rationale is more political than economic. It will become More >

Indian films are going though a revolution. Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag , billed as blockbuster of the year, flopped. So did earlier big-budget films such as Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Salaam-e-Ishq . But high-quality small-budget movies have done well. A single big-budget song sequence costs Rs 2 crore, but Bheja Fry was made for More >

The CPM threatens to bring down the government. Its main objection is not to the Indo-US nuclear deal so much as the proposed strategic partnership with the US, whom it regards as an imperialist threat to India and the whole world. Two issues arise. First, does it make sense to regard the US as imperialist More >

Indian leftists are outraged by the way Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen has defended the nuclear deal with the US. The uproar has focused on Sen’s description of critics of the nuclear deal as ”headless chickens.” Sen has now apologised for his language. But surely this is not the key issue. Prakash Karat, More >