Various world leaders have given their somewhat tepid reactions to US President Obama\’s proposal to increase US troops in Afghanistan by 30,000 and then start withdrawing all troops by July 2011. No formal reaction has come from Mullah Omar, head […]

Cynics will call Manmohan Singh’s US visit a non-event. Yet it was a breakthrough in one respect: it was a major media event. Historically, visits of Indian Prime Ministers were virtually ignored by the US media. What changed this time?

It\’s hard to remember the gloom and doom in India nine months ago. The Sensex had crashed along with real estate and commodities. The IMF spoke of a negative feedback loop, whereby a credit shortage caused a production shortage, which

The 20th anniversary of communism’s fall is a good time to estimate the costs borne by countries like India that did not become communist but drew heavily on the Soviet model. For three decades after independence, India levied sky-high taxes,

The government seeks inclusive growth and access to credit. The Sachar Committee is dismayed by the relatively low access of Muslims to bank credit. Yet neither the government, Sachar Committee members not intellectuals are raising an outcry against a massive

We should measure Gross National Happiness, not Gross National Product (GDP), said Bhutan in 1972. Ever since, it has been a poster child for happiness. Its pursuit of happiness has influenced many people including Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya

We should measure Gross National Happiness, not Gross National Product (GDP), said Bhutan in 1972. Ever since, it has been a poster child for happiness. Its pursuit of happiness has influenced many people including Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya

We are approaching the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism. This comprehensively refuted the communist claim to represent the people. Yet the claim continues, sometimes dazzling a new generation of youngsters with no inkling of why the Berlin Wall

For most Indian politicians — and socialists — the word ‘school voucher’ is a red rag. They think education must be delivered by government schools, not private schools. So, the Right to Education (RTE) Act has no provision for school