It has not amended its own party constitution to disavow secularism and create a Hindu state. Will BJP change the Constitution to abandon secularism if it wins a massive Lok Sabha victory? Very unlikely. It already has what many call a de facto Hindu state, while formally sticking to secularism. Why abandon a formula that has succeeded in practical politics […]
BJP very unlikely to amend Constitution Read More »
Synopsis The new Congress election manifesto makes no mention of OPS. Answering questions, P Chidambaram said OPS was very much on the party’s mind, but it was waiting to react to the report of an official committee on the issue. Does that suggest second thoughts? One of the worst ideas of Congress has been abolition of the National
Congress’ Strategy: OPS… they did it again! Read More »
The impact of free rural electricity in Punjab is severe, leading to fiscal deficits. Climate change will drive electrification, impacting budgetary concerns with the rise of electric vehicles and potential revenue losses from petrol. Political parties compete in offering freebies at election time. Some are affordable. But free rural electricity is not. Punjab, once the
Time to slam the brakes on free rural electricity Read More »
The storming of the presidential palace and ignominious flight of President Gotabay Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka was so dramatic that numerous theories were spun to explain away a routine economic bankruptcy. This arose from years of high fiscal deficits (government overspending) translating into high current account deficits (national overspending), empty foreign exchange reserves, and hence
The lesson from Lanka: Tighten your fiscal belt Read More »
Two months ago, I wrote in these columns of how commodity prices had shot up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but then receded considerably by mid-May. I said the good news was that inflation had probably peaked, while the bad news was that a recession was causing this. It is time for an
Crashing food prices ease fears of starvation but not of a market crisis Read More »
In India, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have escaped attention because MNCs do not publish separate balance sheets for offshore operations. However, Nasscom projects that by 2025 India could have 2,000 GCCs employing 2 million and generating $60 billion. De-globalisation has become a common theme after global value chains were severely disrupted by Covid and geopolitical
India’s rise as GCC hub shows way forward Read More »
If there was a Supreme Court judgment that cried out for reversal, it would be the one on arresting human rights activist Teesta Setalvad and former police officer RB Sreekumar. The verdict has been castigated by hundreds of eminent persons for turning the tables on petitioners for justice and treating them as the accused, not
Teesta case: When did courts start demanding arrests? Read More »
Paul Samuelson once said wryly that economists had predicted nine of the last five recessions. In other words, they over-predicted at least half the time. Cynics will say that, in truth, economists would kill for even this level of accuracy. The problem is not just the prediction of recessions that do not happen. It is
Why US is no longer heading for a recession but is actually in a recession Read More »
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