What has been the social impact of the economic reforms? What have they done for education, health, employment, poverty alleviation? Many observers look at the data before and after 1991 and make comparisons, some of which are favourable to the […]

Does India really have a foreign investment policy? This, I believe is the question we need to ask, rather than worry whether the outburst against multinationals from Mr Tarun Das, director-general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, is a protectionist

WE, who sell fish to the public, must protest against the slur cast on us by Justice S N Dhingra during his remarks on TADA detainee Kalpnath Rai. He compared the functioning of Parliament to a fish market. This is

Cricket was at one time an upper class sport of the British. Today it looks the most egalitarian of games. Three of the last four World Cups in cricket have been won by low-income countries-India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The

The annual publication of the World Debt Tables has, for many years, been an occasion for moaning and groaning that India is the third largest debtor in the developing world, after Brazil and Mexico. But the latest edition of World

In the coming election campaign, politicians will promise a thousand new subsidies. Will these really alleviate poverty? In a recent seminar, Mr Deepak Lal argued that there are three sorts of poverty. One is destitution, caused by disease and other

The shock victory of Mr Patrick Buchanan in Republican primaries in the USA shows two things. First, Mr Buchanan is a caricature of the BJP-his campaign, like that of the BJP, rests on the twin pillars of swadeshi and religion.

It is impossible to fight elections without lots of black money. Every politician needs access to black money, either directly or through his party. Maybe this leads to corruption, but it is politically necessary a democracy’. This sums up the

When the World Trade Organisation was formed as a successor to GATT, many Indian critics claimed it would be a neo-colonial instrument of domination. They said cross-conditionalities would be used by rich countries to bring cases against and impose trade

Many critics say economic liberalisation has led to an increase in kickbacks. Haven’t there been scandals relating to power and telecom after liberalisation? Dosen’t this shows that corruption has worsened? In fact, kickbacks have disappeared in deli censed areas. They