Those who are left behind
As long as Sardar Patel lived, he did not forgive the fanatics who killed Mahatma Gandhi (as Home Minister he had banned the RSS for 17 months), but both the RSS and the BJP have found it expedient to forget that chapter of history.
India has the tallest statue in the world. It is 182 metres high, sculpted by an Indian and erected with the help of Chinese manufacturers and workers. Its estimated cost is Rs 3,000 crore and, contrary to the myth of State funding, it was paid for, almost entirely, by central public sector enterprises. I am […]
Things fall apart; the Centre cannot hold
There is an old saying ‘Misfortunes don’t come singly’. It seems that the gods are not smiling on the Indian economy.
There is an old saying ‘Misfortunes don’t come singly’. It seems that the gods are not smiling on the Indian economy. Look at the bad news that is raining on the economy: * Stock prices have dropped so much that the indices are trading at levels where they were 15 months ago. * Foreign Portfolio […]
In J&K, the road to disaster
J&K is polarised as never before. Jammu is at odds with the Kashmir Valley, Leh leans towards Jammu and Kargil leans towards the Valley, but both Leh and Kargil also assert their identities.
We have a new governor of Jammu and Kashmir, a new chief secretary, a new director general of police and a new adviser on security. The best outreach to the people of J&K (especially the Kashmir Valley) that they could come up with was to hold elections to the local bodies (panchayats and municipalities) in […]
She wanted reasons, here are 10
Was the Defence Minister telling the truth when she said that she was not aware if Dassault had chosen a private sector company as the offset partner?
The Defence Minister is an innocent person. She does not know many things that happened concerning the Rafale deal before she took over on September 3, 2017. She appears to have even overlooked her own schedule of daily engagements. The Rafale aircraft deal between the governments of India and France was announced by the Prime […]
Five steps to Nirvana
External events are impacting the Indian economy. The government is unwilling to alter or calibrate its positions on the projected growth rate, government expenditure, NPA resolution, and tax enforcement. The government seems to believe that it can tide over the crisis by further muddying the muddied waters!
The government has tacitly acknowledged that the economy faces a crisis. The ‘crisis managers’ met with the Prime Minister on September 14, 2018. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was summoned to attend the late evening meeting. Two things were wrong about his attendance: the publicity surrounding the event and the post-meeting […]
A big ask in election year
The consequence is that the government revenue has become oil-dependent, government is loath to give up easy revenues, and there is mounting anger among the people as prices of petrol, diesel and LPG soar every day.
Numbers yo-yo up and down from month to month. Hence, economists and analysts always look for a trend, over a quarter or half year, before reaching any conclusion. After looking at data over the medium term, it appears that the foundations of macroeconomic stability of the Indian economy are becoming weaker. The trend may still […]
Emulate, do not envy
The first year was promising and the second year too started well. The first major blunder was demonetisation on November 8, 2016. This was followed by other blunders — flawed and hurried implementation of GST and tax terrorism.
A few days ago, a cheerleader for the BJP writing on the editorial page of a newspaper thanked Mr ArunJaitley and me for engaging in a “high quality debate on economic growth”. He reluctantly conceded that I had won the growth debate but charged that the Congress party had “mismanaged the economy”. Thank you, but […]
Engaging with Mr Imran Khan
Mr Imran Khan has said that if India will take one step forward, he will be prepared to take two steps forward. That may simply be posturing on the eve of being sworn in as Prime Minister, but nothing will be lost if we take Mr Khan at his word and appeal to him to deliver on his words
Mr Imran Khan, former captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, will take guard as the next Prime Minister of Pakistan on August 11, 2018. His victory was not foretold, though there were strong and persistent rumours that he was the favourite candidate of the army and therefore his win was assured. Mr Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan […]
Debate, questions, but no answers
The no-confidence motion was lost, so was an opportunity to answer the questions of the people.
On Friday, July 20, the government reluctantly agreed to a debate on a motion of no-confidence, the first such motion in the four years and two months of the Narendra Modi government. Numerous questions were raised by the members. Like you, I waited for the answers, especially on questions concerning the economy. What the country […]
Su-raj (good governance) and Ms Swaraj
During the last four years, mobs of both kinds — the one, on the ground, and the other, in the virtual world, have grown in number and size.
There are two kinds of mobs — one, on the ground, and the other, in the virtual world. Both share the same characteristics. The members of the crowd take cover under anonymity. They pretend to be offended or injured. They singularly lack the courage to own their actions or words. They believe they are citizens […]
