The Times of India

Yashwant Sinha was expected to present a hard Budget, but has come out with one that is both hard and soft in spots, like an overripe banana. He has shown courage enough to slash food and fertiliser subsidies, tax exports […]

HIGH fiscal deficits do not automatically mean bankruptcy, but they do constitute an ominous road sign. The Economic Survey ’99-00 implies, without quite saying so, that India may be closer to the brink than optimists in stock markets and chambers

Much heat has been generated by the proposal of the BJP to tinker with Indian history as written by Professors Sumit Sarkar and KN Pannikar. Yet this pales beside the attempt of Mamta Bannerjee to rewrite the history of the

THE NATIONAL Sample Survey carries out a full poverty survey once in 5-6 years. In between, it also carries out mini-surveys with a thin sample. The value of mini-surveys is disputed by economists, but these are the only sources of

THE NATIONAL Sample Survey carries out a full poverty survey once in 5-6 years. In between, it also carries out mini-surveys with a thin sample. The value of mini-surveys is disputed by economists, but these are the only sources of

I was brought up to believe that democracy means representation of the people. Our politicians seem to believe it means representation of condoms. This is the implication of the Union Cabinet\’s decision to freeze the allocation of Lok Sabha seats

Ideological rhetoric may suggest that socialism is caring and capitalism is hard-hearted. Yet on Republic Day, the Indian President agonised over the stone-hearted society which socialist India had created. A few days later president Clinton in his state of the

In this last Swaminomics of the millennium, I would like to sum up our performance in the 20th century in one sentence. Indians have succeeded in countries ruled by whites, but failed in their own. This outcome would have astonished

Many Indians believe that the USA is determined to support Pakistan and undermine India. I keep telling them that in fact the US cares little about either country, has little interest in the quarrels of India and Pakistan, and is

When economic reforms began in 1991, optimists hoped India would soon become the next Asian tiger. The original tigers were Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. Then came the tiger cubs, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. And finally came the spectacular