The temptation to get into businesses that are hot is perhaps too great for any politician, no matter what his public slogans are. Nehru plunged into hot sectors of his time -- engineering and iron and steel. Modi has plunged into digital payments -- the hot sector of his time, notes Debashis Basu.
Poverty figures for 2011-2012 have shown a steep decline since 2004-2005.
Your promise to protect bankers for their commercial decisions is a huge confidence booster, but how does one define a commercial decision? Are our investigative agencies well equipped to dissect lending decisions of bankers?
Seven years is a long time for any of Modi's promised actions to show up. If voters are angry and cynical today, it is because the rhetoric stings, argues Ramesh Menon.
'If the epidemic is sharply contained in a month or two, we have a huge buying opportunity. 'If not, we are staring at a serious economic crisis, the contours of which we are totally unaware of,' warns Debashis Basu.
"In the next five years both India and China will continue to grow very fast. Both will struggle to gain influence in global decision making that is commensurate with the size of their economies," says Arthur Kroeber.
Although the services sector is a huge success, the biggest challenge for the Indian government is to build public support for the sector.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah will need him if they want to win UP again in 2022 and India in 2024. This signals a Yogi Adityanath-sized change in BJP politics, even under Mr Modi, Shekhar Gupta.
Ambani is also the year's biggest gainer, adding USD 9.3 billion to his wealth amid the continuing success of his Reliance Jio broadband telco service.
With his strong views on Bharatiya economics, his appointment to the RBI board may well presage interesting times, says Archis Mohan.
'India is a founding and permanent member of this 'club of shame': Journalists are murdered on account of what they write or intend to write, but nobody is finally brought to justice in such cases.'
India's economic growth does not match its intellectual prowess, but now the government and the private sector are waking up, says Hong Kong tycoon Ronnie Chan.
An official announcement to this effect would be made next week. The vice-chairman would be of Cabinet rank.
'Outside investors don't want to get tangled up in a religious war.'
'Section 153A is not meant to protect fragile sentiments of the majority Hindu community who choose to get offended by slogans celebrating the success of the Pakistani cricket team.'
Although the first woman to hold the position of chief economist at IMF, it would be wrong to see her appointment through the lens of gender
A report published in British journal The Lancet reckons India's working population will surpass China's in the mid-2020s.
I tried to reason in my mind that wouldn't beating Pakistan again and again -- in the league matches and in the knockouts if they made it -- be a better tribute to our martyred soldiers? A revealing excerpt from Vinod Rai's Not Just A Nightwatchman: My Innings In The BCCI.
Debroy worked as a consultant in the Department of Economic Affairs in Finance Ministry.
'The assumed linear correlation between forced lower yields, higher bank borrowing from the RBI, higher lending, and higher growth involves leaps of faith, each a step on the quicksand of false beliefs,' warns Debashis Basu.
China's growth model is based on the oldest rapid economic growth hormone available: debt.
Human memory about policy issues is short. That alone can explain why many are deliriously happy with his latest slogans and ignore seven years of poor 'doing business' climate, taxtortion, extortionate oil prices, and high dependence on babus and the big State that has kept the enterprise system stifled, observes Debashis Basu.
'Those who worked with him or came to know him rated him as one of our best, with a sharp intellect, unfailing courtesy and ready wit.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan fondly remembers Ambassador B S Prakash, wonderful human being, unusual diplomat and long-time Rediff.com columnist, who passed away into the ages on Monday, October 4, 2021.
'When growth drops precipitously from 7% to 4.5% in four quarters, it is for all practical purposes a recession' notes T N Ninan.
Prime Minister Modi made a strategic blunder of Nehruvian proportions -- presuming no war can happen now, and the Chinese won't be a military threat and risk their economic interests, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Penalty must act as a deterrent. If it is too low, it could encourage the regulated entities to lap up penalty instead of complying with the norms, suggests Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The annual earnings of a non-executive chairman of a PSB is capped at Rs 10 lakh, inclusive of fees for attending board meetings. This is way below the compensation of the chairman of any private bank, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'We can only hope that the government has finally 'got it' and will stay focused on improving productivity, demand, and governance,' says Debashis Basu.
Karzai said Afghanistan wanted India and Pakistan to sort out their problems.
The correlation between withdrawal of deposits and the Covid death rate is stark, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Cannot solve problems by perpetuating poverty in the name of environment, the prime minister said.
In the final segment of a four-part interview, Communist Party of India-Maoist general secretary Ganapathy says the Maoists are prepared to come to the table for talks provided the government agrees to their main demands.
Ravi Shankar, a senior Indian journalist working with a leading state-run English newspaper, was presented with 'Friendship Award', China's highest honour for foreign experts for their contribution to the country's economic and social development.
TIME also named freedom fighter Amrit Kaur as 'Women of the Year' for 1947
Ajit Jain, rediff India Abroad's Managing Editor, Canada, who is traveling with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on his first-ever visit to India, reports on the opening of the Asia Pacifiv Economic Cooperation conference in Singapore.
If the earnings in the first quarter of the current financial year are an indication, most banks, particularly those majority-owned by the government, have fared well, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Biden and Harris are the leaders we need at this time to do the painful but necessary work of creating a more inclusive -- and united -- nation, points out Murali Kamma.
In Part III of the interview, the CPI-Maoist general secretary says that the party is building its cadre base to wage a protracted war with 'enemy' forces.
In the first of a 5-part series, Ganapathy talks about the birth of revolutionary movement, its struggles and the way it has learnt its lessons with passing time.
