All stories by Mihir S Sharma
UP Win May Make Yogi Modi's Heir
Rediff.com22 Feb 2022A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Will India Repeat Same Covid Mistakes?
Rediff.com12 Jan 2022We are entering 2022, facing another infectious variant, with much the same baseless confidence, notes Mihir S Sharma.
Farm laws repeal: Who Won, Who Lost
Rediff.com30 Nov 2021Prime Minister Modi has certainly pulled back, and his political capital -- dependent as it is on an image that he knows best and never retreats -- may have taken a bit of a beating. But, equally, it is hard to say that the protesters have 'won', argues Mihir S Sharma.
India's Approaching Democratic Crisis
Rediff.com22 Nov 2021India will either have to create a system in which certain geographical areas will wind up being permanent political outsiders at the Union level or it will have to create a system in which certain votes are weighted more heavily than others, observes Mihir S Sharma.
What India needs to do at COP26, Glasgow
Rediff.com1 Nov 2021Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
Does Modi have an Economic Road Map?
Rediff.com17 Sep 2021Pragmatism and flexibility is a virtue. An untethered and short-term approach to policymaking is a flaw, argues Mihir S Sharma.
India's Cairn and Unable Moment
Rediff.com28 Jul 2021The Indian State does not believe in the rule of law. It does not even recognise the need to follow treaties that it itself signed. And so it is refusing to shell out to Cairn; and, as a consequence, has brought on the Paris humiliation, notes Mihir S Sharma.
COVID-19: India has learnt NOTHING!
Rediff.com17 Jul 2021Weeks after the second wave peaked in many parts of the country, we are rapidly forgetting what happened to our hospitals, cautions Mihir S Sharma.
Stopping a Third Wave
Rediff.com19 Jun 2021Unless public health is prioritised over swift re-opening, the chances are that a third wave will hit India sooner than we would like.
COVID-19: 5 points about the second wave
Rediff.com20 May 2021What do we know about India's devastating second wave, and can we assign responsibility for it?
Govt is to blame for vaccine crisis
Rediff.com4 May 2021If the government had paid enough to begin with, or if it had made serious advance purchase commitments that allowed the vaccine producers to mobilise necessary investment, then it is possible to imagine more free or subsidised vaccines such as are available in developed economies, asserts Mihir S Sharma.
Time to return to localised lockdowns!
Rediff.com3 Apr 2021'The Union government has discouraged state and local governments from imposing restrictions on their own.' 'That advice should be withdrawn,' asserts Mihir S Sharma.
Visionary Budget or worse than Pranab Mukherjee's?
Rediff.com3 Mar 2021The sad truth is that the debt-to-GDP ratio will shoot up close to 90 per cent in the coming year, and the fiscal deficit glide path does not promise to reduce it substantially any time soon, predicts Mihir S Sharma.
2021 will be under 2020's shadow
Rediff.com12 Jan 2021'In the real economy, the scars of the pandemic will continue to define 2021.' 'It is still hard to tell the effect on unemployment, migrant workers, poverty, and the informal sector of the lockdown and of the pandemic,' observes Mihir S Sharma.
COVID-19: Has the first wave peaked in India?
Rediff.com19 Oct 2020We knew from the moment the pandemic took hold that this would be a long haul -- at least 12 to 18 months. Nothing should have changed that assessment, says Mihir S Sharma.
Why is RBI copying US Fed?
Rediff.com14 Oct 2020'India is not so distant from years of high and entrenched inflationary expectations that it should start trying to play games with the economy the way the West's central bankers think they are entitled to,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
Is there anything for India to celebrate?
Rediff.com23 Aug 2020'India resembles not just the more turbulent bits of its own past, but other 'managed' democracies, where all institutional strength and independence have been hollowed out to serve political power,' notes Mihir S Sharma.
Lockdown: Definitely not a 'success'
Rediff.com27 Jun 2020The lockdown should have been used to drum into Indians' head the reasons for social distancing and the necessity for it, and the costs of not applying it in our daily lives and it should have been used to set up the systems that would manage large numbers of infected, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Work from home forever
Rediff.com3 Jun 2020'Employees may well be expected to be on call at almost all times -- much like the standard Indian approach to the workday,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
Humble leaders, please
Rediff.com21 May 2020This is one of those crises where it does not only matter that you do something, but how you do it, suggests Mihir S Sharma.