The Times of India

Unlucky finance minister Chida-mbaram: he had to present his budget one day after his Congress Party was thras-hed in state elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand. Partymen in both states blamed the defeat on inflation, and hence (indirectly) on Chidambaram. The […]

Ten years ago, I was among those congratulating Palaniappan Chidambaram on presenting a dream budget. Here’s what I wrote in 1997. “Chidambaram’s budget has vision. Most budgets make niggling tax changes to meet the limited challenges of the coming year.

Education is a mess because politicians refuse to discipline teachers who sabotage primary education. Surveys show that government teacher absenteeism ranges from 20% to 57% in different states, yet they earn thrice or more than private sector teachers, Some teachers

Finance Minister Chidambaram is feeling the political heat. Inflation at the wholesale level crossed 6.58% last week, the highest for over two years. The consumer price index for rural labour has risen by over 10% in three North Indian states

Millions of Indians cheered when Tata Steel won the auction for Britain’s Corus, and became the world’s fifth biggest steel producer. The shares of Tata Steel fell over 10%, since investors felt that Ratan Tata had paid far too much.

As a libertarian, I instinctively dislike forced acquisition of the property of citizens by governments. So I support the farmer agitations in Singur and Nandigram against land acquisition by the West Bengal government for the Tata and Salim groups. I

Brilliant scientists like CNR Rao, Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister, can be dead wrong. They say that Indian science and technology are in crisis. Nonsense, technology has never been in better shape. Rao complains that scientists and engineers are

When India opened its economy in 1991, leftists warned that uncompetitive Indian companies would be killed or swallowed up by multinationals. Fifteen years later, the shoe is on the other foot: Indian companies are taking over giant multinationals. In 2006,

Cynical Indians who have long thought that the rich and powerful can get away with murder are suddenly cheering. In the Jessica Lal case, the High Court has reversed last year’s acquittal of Manu Sharma, son of a prominent politician,

The world over, politicians and the media are saying—often in dismay– that India has got a fabulous deal from the US on the resumption of civil nuclear supplies. Many Americans and Europeans accuse President Bush of a sell-out to India,