The Indian economy was on an impressive growth path through the first decade of this century till it was brought to an abrupt halt by the policy inertia during UPA2 and the Modi government's inability to restore economic and financial momentum. Fascinating glimpses of what went wrong from Puja Mehra's must-read book The Lost Decade: How India's Growth Story Devolved Into Growth Without A Story.
'In the hands of a majoritarian government, with utter contempt for the cultural plurality and diversity of our great nation, the pipe dream of making Hindi the sole official language takes on nightmarish proportions.'
The company said it needed time to restructure the organisation and significantly reduce its liabilities.
'We eat first, they later; we sit on chairs and they on the floor; we call them by their names and they address us by titles,' writes Tripti Lahiri, author of Maid in India.
'What we are going to see is a large number of white collar jobs getting lost.' 'Job loss can drive people to depression, drugs, alcoholism and even suicide as there is no one to turn to when they are down.' 'There is no in-between now -- things go from a luxurious lifestyle to no lifestyle.'
'Our first great challenge is to create 12 million new jobs each year, to make the demographic dividend an economic dividend.' 'We are nowhere near that,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
The passage of the Bankruptcy Code could set the stage for other important legislation that may see India undergo more economic change than all governments combined since the reforms implemented by P V Narasimha Rao in 1991-93, says Ben Merton.
Combining affordable IT with native Indian ingenuity and entrepreneurship F C Kohli believed would enable Indian small businesses match anyone and thrive.
'You need to polish your skills and be prepared to be an asset in the 'new normal' work environment.' 'Access MOOCs (massive open online courses) and keep your brain razor sharp, despite not having a job offer or having your job offer rescinded.'
'How many people have been skilled up and thus able to escape from needing to be in NREGA? The true success of NREGA would lie in its irrelevance -- that is, people no longer need it as a crutch.' 'NREGA should enable them to climb out of poverty and stand on their feet.' 'But this is expressly forbidden by NREGA rules. Skill development, which is what India needs more than anything else, appears to be outside the purview of NREGA,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
He recalled that democracy-lovers had fought a big battle against the Emergency.
Shaktikanta Das said in Washington, DC, that there was nothing sacrosanct about the 25 bps rate cut and that monetary policy could be well served by calibrating the size of the policy rate to the dynamics of the situation, and the size of the change itself could convey the stance of policy.
Is it time to take a relook at our economic theories? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
This was India's time; with a strong central bank governor and a new decisive government, anything was possible.
Heavy rains lashing Mumbai since Sunday have thrown rail, air and road traffic out of gear, with several trains and flights being cancelled. With IMD forecast of heavy rains for Tuesday, the authorities declared a holiday in the city and adjoining regions, asking people to avoid stepping out of their houses.
'If Myanmar falls to China, let it.' 'Sooner or later the rulers of the country will have to call New Delhi.'
Egypt launched air strikes in Libya, in an escalation of Egypt's battle against IS' growing militancy
The CM will either force Tejashwi to resign, or tender a resignation himself to put pressure on the RJD.
The rupee has not depreciated enough against other currencies.
In commercial real estate, leasing of office space was higher although the activities were subdued in retail segment.
By region, Thiruvananthapuram leads with 247 defaulters, followed by Kolkata with 173 and Bhubaneswar with 115
'Pakistan has employed force to curb Baloch aspirations and rights. There have been charades of giving rights and concessions and packages, but all of them are hollow and meaningless and not even worth the paper these are written on.' 'Pakistan is appeasing China for the investments which will benefit them. The economic corridor with China will not only deprive the Baloch of their land and resources, but will turn them into a minority because of the influx of outsiders.' 'The Balochs want to be masters, not slaves and hired labour in their own land.'
Rahul Gandhi has the potential to grow into a good, effective, leader of the Opposition provided he puts his heart and soul into it, with a willingness to learn, says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant who worked closely with India's first three prime ministers.
Substantial gains can still be made with good policies and initiatives.
Just when stocks are seen as invincible, we should worry, warns Akash Prakash.
The disturbing aspect about the fall is that it comes as the US and European economies are relatively more stable and improving
Amit Shah's sustained campaigning against slaughterhouses has unnerved UP's leather and meat export industry.
Nothing, according to Deepak Lal. He argues that the contemporary attempts to control immigration in the US and UK are not nativist.
In 2015-16, reforms will take hold, growth in GDP, will accelerate, and government processes and statutory clearances will speed up
Newcastle United's Papiss Cisse struck twice in a 2-1 victory against English Premier League leaders Chelsea.
At least a dozen officers from Gujarat are handling key assignments in various important central positions
Narendra Modi and his government should look at the emerging geo-politics realistically and not get sucked into having to make a choice between China and Japan. India has enough economic space for both, says Mohan Guruswamy.
Hitting the streets against the controversial land bill, Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of being "anti-farmer" and "pro-corporate" and vowed to take the battle across the country but both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were conspicuous by their absence.
'We used to say two things are found everywhere: A potato and a Sikh. I think you can substitute Gujarati for the Sikh because Gujaratis are everywhere.'
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday ordered an urgent investigation into a decision by Margaret Thatcher's government to send an SAS officer to India in 1984 to advise Indira Gandhi in planning Operation Bluestar to flush out militants holed up in the Golden Temple.
"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions," he said.
'The previous (Congress) government at least did not veto provisions of the cattle laws.' 'The BJP is actively weakening the provisions.' 'The BJP government tried to export goats from Nagpur for slaughter to the Middle East.' 'The whole country was aghast and offended. We are a country of Ahimsa.' 'The BJP has incentivised the butcher industry so meat export has gone up, live animal export has gone up, leather export is on the rise, smuggling has gone up.'
The top court made it clear that there was a need for holistic hearing and it is neither going to be swayed by the arguments of senior lawyer Fali S Nariman, who is representing the petitioners, nor by any other senior counsel and the submissions have to go by the letter of the law.
Kolkata Gives brings together the city's philanthropists and deserving NGOs in a structured interface. Subir Roy walks away with fascinating stories from this year's do.
The government had committed to increasing spending in infrastructure
