governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
The annual address from the ramparts of the Red Fort is Prime Minister Modi’s prime vehicle for mass outreach, other than via his Twitter handle. His style—discursive, evocative, and expansive—suits the occasion where substance must needs take a back seat to rhetoric. All these are good reasons for not looking too deeply into the substance […]
Read More Independence day 2022: Looking AheadGlobal population growth decelerated since 1965, even before “The Population Bomb”, a 1968 best-seller by Paul and Anne Ehrlich, advocated population control if the world were not to starve to death. In 1972, the Club of Rome published “The Limits to Growth”, which similarly predicted that the world would run out of its natural resources. […]
Read More Population growth- Ticking bomb or blessingIn the noticeably short term, say less than five years, decision paths and trade-offs are clearer than in the long term, say more than ten years. This is why governments make sensible short-term bets but like most individuals, flounder whilst taking decisions from the long-term perspective. Covid-19 management – a triumph of short-term decision making […]
Read More Bridging The Public Policy gapsFlexible supply arrangements are replacing permanence and rigidity — as in the “gig” economy — to align with an uncertain world. The Union government is experimenting with applying these “start-up” human resources management principles to the military. The scheme titled “Agnipath” (trial by fire) requires those keen to become soldiers /sepoys to go through an […]
Read More Agnipath-The Gig-Economy comes to the Indian MilitaryFor all the brouhaha around the hydrogen economy at Davos and the competition amongst the Indian ministries to garner a piece of the regulatory action around this future energy business, it is hard to find any authentic, consistent information on the state of play in green hydrogen (GH) from government websites of the concerned ministries. […]
Read More Green Hydrogen -Pie in the sky or Game changerIndia has changed. Gone is the earlier hesitation about being coldly pragmatic while keeping the public interest in mind. Foggy Post-Colonial and Cold-War ideological baggage is being stowed away, appropriately. The clear guard rails developed for dealing with the Ukrainian crisis do the country proud—extending principled support for the continuation of the international mediation effort, […]
Read More Being optimistic on IndiaSummer used to be a languid period, of taking time off from the hectic activity of the fiscal year closing, schools shutting down for long vacations, job relocations and new beginnings. No longer. And it is not just because the BJP works all year around at remaining the number one political entity. Annual ministerial jaunts […]
Read More Summer blues: Working Through the headwindsRegulating the retail business in India is messy. State governments directly regulate trade and commerce within a state, whereas the Union government can intervene by legislating for specific products in public interest. The Union law prevails over commercial and industrial monopolies, combines, and trusts. The politics of retail Inter-governmental turf issues have dominated, since 2011, […]
Read More Unshackle Indian retail e-commerceThe Ukraine crisis brings home the fragility of the passive equilibrium, based on the absence of war rather than the absence of a need for war. Equitable and empowered global rule-making, which inspires trust and respect amongst all nations is still some way-off. Till it becomes a reality, there will always be the temptation to […]
Read More US sanctions on Russia impose global collateral damageThere is a great deal of unnecessary melancholy around the low real growth outturns for the October to December quarter (Q3) FY 2021-22. The gripe, if any, is that Q3 confirms a downward trend in quarter-on-quarter growth rates, down from 20.1 percent in Q1, 8.4 percent in Q2, and now 5.4 percent in Q3. It […]
Read More Ukraine and slowing growth in India- Back to basics
Opinion India 