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

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