The govt must fix regulatory hurdles to ensure growth.
Angus Deaton's Nobel Prize should spark off more research on the measurement and usefulness of poverty percentages.
Little attention is being paid to keep roads, bridges and flyovers in good shape
As West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry prepare for new administrations, one is reminded of the disparity that runs through the veins of the Indian states, notes Mihir S Sharma.
A left-leaning centralised socialist model has created a shortage/entitlement economy. In fact one of the reasons for India's limited progress is that post-independent India is at odds with its true nature. It is something that educated right of centre Hindus are trying to correct, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'Kofi Annan will be remembered more for his Nobel Prize and related glory rather than Rwanda and Volcker,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan with whom he worked in the UN.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
'Foreign policy-making cannot be shifted out of Delhi and the regional satraps, who do not have a national perspective, should not be allowed to dominate foreign policy. But regional inputs should be integral to foreign policy-making at every step of the way,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The GST will replace more than a dozen levies central and state levies, including central excise duty, service tax and central sales tax as well as VAT on sale of goods and entry tax, to make movement of goods seamless across 1.3 billion market.
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Monday held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and conveyed the new Indian government's interest in furthering bilateral ties, even as he flagged off India's concerns over border related issues during his parleys with the top leadership in Beijing.
An analysis of the National Housing Bank's Residex shows from 2007 to now, almost all tier-II cities have seen their residential property prices appreciate by 45-120 per cent.
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The ball is now in the Reserve Bank of India's court to lift up demand, says Ajay S Shriram.
'We have a common way of looking at the world, a common way of thinking, and a common set of values that predispose us to be partners. And our interests overlap greatly,' Dr Ashton B Carter, America's next defence secretary, told Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'It all runs on sugar-coated lies. If I like something, I will want to believe it.'
Its quiet, whitewashed elegance and colourful vibrancy make the erstwhile colonial town of Puducherry an ambler's delight.
India and China on Wednesday signed in all nine agreements, including the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement and one on strengthening cooperation on trans-border rivers, after restricted and delegation-level talks that lasted over two hours as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Li Keqiang met for the second time this year for talks which the Indian leader described as "fruitful and productive".
Trump's diatribe against India in his speech on the Paris Agreement is hard to explain, especially when a Modi-Trump meeting is supposedly on the cards, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Pakistan has a big role to play in fomenting trouble, but we need to ask ourselves why ordinary Kashmiris are coming out in large numbers to attend the funerals of terrorists.'
'Modi is likely to make more announcements to win or retain popularity, and put himself at the centre of things even more than now,' says T N Ninan.
The world had almost completely forgotten about Partition, and many never learned about it, says Guneeta Singh Bhalla, the woman who founded the 1947 Partition Archive.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and the United Kingdom are economically made for each other.
India's neglect of villages shows up in many other ways.
A senior official of India Post at Kolkata General Post Office told PTI that since e-commerce is a sunrise industry, it is trying to earn higher revenue in the region by involving local traders and business houses.
This week's collection of stories that prove we live in a truly mad, mad world.
Opt for an affordable house on a metro's periphery, invest and wait it out.
Instead of a consumption stimulus the government must address the NPA issue with a war footing and invest in infrastructure, affordable housing and exports, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Admittedly, EVMs too have a UID number and any convergence of data can make the secret ballot system a party of history, warns Dr Gopal Krishna in the 5th part of his series against Aadhaar.
With just 10 detectives under his leadership and in about three weeks' time, Senior Superintendent of Police of Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force Amit Pathak cracked an online digital racket that swindled 600,000 people and is now worth Rs 3,700 crore and counting.
Sandhya Ravishankar describes the thorny relationship between the two political titans of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa, both now part of the ages.
The Indian Spring represented by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, which has culminated in the Aam Aadmi Party's impressive electoral debut in New Delhi, began around the same time as the Arab Spring in 2011 but they led to different outcomes in India and the Arab world, says Ramesh Ramachandran.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
The state is trying hard to improve ease of doing business by several notches.
'I ask for bail in the name of justice.' 'Give me a chance to stay alive and see the trial till its end.'
The current draft of the Goods and Services Tax could kill any hope of economic revival - and you should blame the Congress if it rolls over and lets it pass, says Mihir S Sharma.
'Today, bankers don't want to take risks as the good decisions taken by them were not protected.' 'There is risk involved in all decisions, like businessmen taking risks in their businesses.' 'A banker must have taken a decision when the economic condition was different, and you cannot question him on the basis of the present situation in hindsight.' 'Naturally, this has affected the morale of bankers.'
On her last day as India's envoy to the United States, Ambassador Nirupama Rao was felicitated by the Barck Obama administration at the State Department on Monday, with US Secretary of State John F Kerry thanking her for her service toward furthering the strategic partnership between the two nations.
It is possible that the final Budget architecture may be at variance with the comments.
Excerpts from a speech on the Supplementary Demands for Grants, December 15.
The days of political elite have ended with the advent of new politics and new media. Today every citizen is a politician, social worker and an intellectual, says Ram Madhav, BJP national general secretary.
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