Dear Yashwant Sinha, When you were finance minister, you played an important role in attracting foreign direct investment. Pessimists earlier thought that FDI would dry up if the BJP ever came to power. But you were among those who understood […]
There is a case for wooing Taiwan Read More »
Darks clouds are gathering on the financial horizon. The world economy is slowing, and may suffer a double-dip recession. Stock markets are plunging in India and the world over. Privatisation of HPCL and BPCL looks off the agenda. Standard and
How to revive the stock market Read More »
For most of history, an agricultural crisis in India has meant scarcity. Today it means excess. We have a foodgrain mountain of over 60 million tones, as well as a mountain of unsold sugar. And unsold cotton stocks are so
Why Indian farmers need WTO Read More »
Green fundamentalists are killers. Their opposition to genetically modified foods is killing people in famine-hit Africa today, and could threaten Indians in the future too. The USA has rushed food aid to southern Africa in the form of maize, the
Green killers and pseudo-science Read More »
When Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, decided to launch a Gaurav Yatra (journey of pride for Hindus), it reminded me of another incident which I could not put my finger on. When before, I wondered, had somebody declared that
General Dyer’s Gaurav Yatra Read More »
Before the Johannesburg summit on the environment, I was asked what I thought it would achieve. I replied that the amount of hot air generated would surely contribute to rather than solve the problem of global warming. The millions of
Clean water or hot air? Read More »
Even cynics were shaken when Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray ordered Power Minister Suresh Prabhu to resign on the ground that he was too honest. We are used to the notion that politicians should resign if caught extorting bribes. Never
Suresh Prabhu and Simple Simon Read More »
Readers are familiar with the concept of jobless growth. But India is now demonstrating a less familiar phenomenon, which, for want of a better phrase, can be called industryless growth. This was unsurprising last year, when the global recession forced
Is industryless growth here to stay? Read More »
The government’s proposal to issue identity cards with machine-readable numbers to all citizens has, predictably, raised angry questions. Do you really want to be known as Citizen 1004762548 ? The Economic Times had a cartoon showing Home Minister Advani stamping
The case for Citizen 1004762548 Read More »
Whether the rains revive or not, India faces the worst drought since 1987. If it rains steadily for the next two weeks in drought-hit states, something can be retrieved from the wreckage of the monsoon. Even so rural India will
Combat the drought with jobs Read More »
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