governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Indian gentrified types living in London or visiting to shop, eat and enjoy a stroll along orderly pavements without dodging cars or scooters – but on high alert nevertheless for mobile and handbag snatchers and other such con artists- were horrified that an Indian man chose to wash his feet in the River Thames recently. […]
Read More the West and desisThe big question is does Budget 2025 help India step onto the path to Viksit Bharat by 2047? If high, inclusive growth is the surest way to reach that goal, the Finance Minister’s proposals for 2025-26 generally point in the right direction. But that is not saying much. Has reform by stealth reached the end […]
Read More Budget 2025: Slow turn towards Viksit BharatTarmac to Towers: The India Infrastructure Story Pratap Padode 2024 Westland Business 373 pages Rs 799/- Pratap Rodode is a financial journalist and publisher of Construction Update, a magazine launched in 1996, followed by Infrastructure Today, Power Today and Project Reporter. This book comes favorably pre-reviewed by industry veterans Nandan Nilekani, founder Chairman, UIDAI, S.N. […]
Read More Book Review: India’s infra journey: Growth & GapsWill India get rich before it turns 100? A reality check Author: Prosenjit Datta Publisher: Aleph Pages: 138 Price: Rs 499 Economic treatises, says Prosenjit Datta, a distinguished Indian editor and business journalist, can be frustratingly obtuse and reader unfriendly. This attractively written book is anything but. It packs a punch despite being deceptively slim, […]
Read More Book Review: Can India be Rich at 100?Debt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India Author: Hari Krishna Dwivedi Publisher: OUP Pages: 256 Price: Rs 1,162 Worrying about the debt sustainability of subnational governments (SNGs or state governments in India) is an acquired taste even amongst financial analysts. In the hands of an experienced professional, like the author — a distinguished civil servant, […]
Read More BOOK Review: Making debt SustainableDr Manmohan Singh breathed his last on December 26, 2024. Finance Minister of India 1991-1996 and Prime Minister of India from 2004-2014 he was cremated on December 28. Four attributes distinguish Dr Manmohan Singh (India’s thirteenth Prime Minister (2004 to 2014) from his predecessors and his sole successor- Narendra Modi. A bureaucrat and a politician […]
Read More Doctor Sahib: An uncommon PMSpace spectrum is in the news and not just because of Boeing’s woes – first a faulty Starliner launch, abandoning NASA astronauts at the International Space Station and now, a satellite exploding in orbit, outing services globally. Nearer home, India takes tentative steps to complement terrestrial spectrum services with direct to phone satellite services while […]
Read More Space Spectrum Tussle and consumer BenefitsInstitutions in India are characterized by “short termism”- privileging near term results over long term trends and objectives. In Haryana, the transitory distancing of the electorate from the BJP, after two terms, was interpreted by pollsters to mean victory for the Congress, wrongly, giving more weight to sentiment than to the potential for gaming a […]
Read More Look beyond the fog of “short- term” results.Social roles evolve over the long term. Today’s “mother” need not be a female and a “father” not necessarily male. In the context of increasingly degenderized institutional roles, recent social policy reversals in Russia, China and the United States come as surprises- not least because equality is a central tenet of both Socialism and Liberalism. […]
Read More Global Illiberalism is rolling back gender equalityXmas day, December 25, is also Good Governance Day (GG Day) in India, since 2014, to coincide with the birthday of the late Atal Behari Vajpayee, India’s hugely loved and respected Prime Minister. On GG Day, last year, the Government notified the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to replace the Indian Penal Code 1860 (IPC). A […]
Read More Harsh laws alone cannot stop “hit and run” accidents
Opinion India 