Articles

This was arguably the least populist election budget for decades, and that is an achievement. Most budgets are notable for what they do. This one is notable for what it did not. It did not decree a farm loan waiver […]

At a time when the US, dominator of the 20th century, has switched from globalisation and free trade to ‘America First’, Narendra Modi emphasised the very opposite at the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum. “Many countries are becoming

I welcome the abolition of the government subsidy for Haj pilgrims. The Constitution says the Indian state is secular, and forbids discrimination on religious grounds. So, the state should keep its distance from all religious groups, and not subsidise any.

Last month, Thomas Piketty released the World Inequality Report, revealing worsening income inequality in virtually every country and region. Most readers groaned: they typically view income equality as an unqualified good. The shortcomings of this view hit me when last

The shut-down of Mumbai and other Maharashtra cities last week was a bizarre re-enactment of a battle between a British Mahar regiment and Peshwa troops 200 years ago. An obscure battle of no strategic importance catalysed Dalit mobs into paralyzing

India has many crimes but no criminals. That one-liner is only a slight exaggeration of the outcome so far in the 2G case, and other cases against politicians. In 2012, the Supreme Court held in a public interest suit that

What are the political prospects of Rahul Gandhi, elected Congress president last week? His electoral track record is dismal. Congress has been thrashed repeatedly in recent years. Among major states, it rules only in Punjab and Karnataka, and could lose