The Kirit Parikh Committee is the third such committee to suggest decontrolling petroleum product prices. Probably politicians will again refuse to do so, and instead decree a modest increase in petrol and diesel prices. Yet the key issue is not […]

A recent news report highlighted the fact that only 48.3% of Indian children in Class 1 could read the English alphabet, even in big capital letters. The annual education audit by the NGO Pratham showed that Gujarat had the worst

The biggest outcry against inflation relates to the 40-50% price rise of some pulses — arhar, masoor, moong — to almost Rs 100/kilo. Pulses — dals and other protein-rich crops like gram, chickpeas (chhole) and red beans (rajma) — have

I was both enthused and disappointed when i visited the Ajanta and Ellora caves last week. I was enthused by the scale of the caves across entire mountain sides; the high quality of sculpture and painting; and the co-existence of

India achieved record annual GDP growth, averaging 8.45%, in the five years, 2004-05 to 2008-09. But was this inclusive, and did it benefit the poor masses? We have no data on poverty beyond 2004-05. But the CSO has current data

The Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline has been discussed for almost a decade, with its proponents arguing that it will promote our energy security. After 26/11, the project is dead. No Indian government can proceed with a deal that will give

It has been the best of decades, the worst of decades. In the 2000s, India became an economic growth champion (especially in services), and was recognized as a potential super-power through admission to the world’s nuclear club. But the same

Should India be broken up into smaller states? After the decision to give statehood to Telangana, many analysts want a new States Reorganization Commission. India today has 28 states. Assuming 20% population growth since the last census, Uttar Pradesh has

You might think from the media coverage that the Copenhagen summit on climate change is epochal. Wrong. Copenhagen hardly matters. If it doesn\’t produce an agreement, it clearly won\’t matter. But even if it yields an agreement, that will matter