Columns

In the lead up to the presentation of the interim budget for 2019-20 by a ‘substitute’ finance minister, there were enough indications that it wouldn’t be a dull ‘vote-on-account’ show. Some even expected that the government would come up with a kind of full budget, which caused a last-minute... read more

The Finance Minister while presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 has categorically mentioned that this is not an interim budget but a medium of the country’s developmental journey. In saying so, he has broken the convention, sanctity and integrity of an interim budget and stretched the boundaries... read more

The Interim Budget presented on Feb 01, 2019 was not expected to be a reform-oriented budget in any way. All the 12 interim budgets presented in India since Independence had avoided making any big bang structural reforms, as the government in power is a custodian for a few months.Yet, the Interim... read more

The Parliament of India passed a constitutional amendment which modifies articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. This is to provide reservation for economically weaker sections for admission to institutes of higher education, and jobs in the government and possibly in the private sector. Article 15... read more

The Union Budget 2019-20 to be unveiled on Friday will carry all the features of a regular budget without any fresh tax and expenditure proposals. As an interim budget looking to a medium term perspective, its broad goals and direction should typically be growth enhancing along with qualitative... read more

Every year there is a hype when the Finance Minister presents the Government’s budget. Though the principal purpose of the budget is to deal with the accounts of the Government, people look to it to gauge which way the country will be heading. In an election year, the Government is expected to... read more

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is almost half a century old now. It describes itself as “the international organisation for public-private cooperation” and says it is “committed to improving the state of the world”. Early on in its journey, the Forum introduced a system of membership for “the 1,000... read more

A star at WEF this year was David Attenborough, the legendary advocate of care for our planet. He fears it may already be too late to stop climate change. The backdrop to the TV reports from Davos is the banner: ‘WEF: Defining the Business Landscape’. In a few days, on January 30, the people of... read more

The burning issue of the so-called illegal migrants in Assam and some other States in the North East has assumed disturbing proportions, particularly in the light of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 that has just been passed by the Lok Sabha and is awaiting its passage through the Rajya Sabha.... read more

It turned out to be a discussion on the city of Mumbai. The venue was the Taj Mahal hotel and the occasion was the launch of a big fat book called ‘CoastLine’ that tells the tale of Mumbai and the larger Indian coastline in caricatures and charming stories by the uniquely talented Paul Fernandes,... read more

This may be the information age but the lure of brick and mortar is not diminished. Donald Trump and his idea of a “beautiful” wall on the United States border with Mexico brings alive the idea that nothing is as concrete as concrete. As Republicans push for funding and Democrats hold out, the... read more

It is evident that the ruling party is on uncertain ground as it prepares for the coming general election later this year. This is the message from the 10 per cent reservation announced for the economically backward upper castes, in addition to the present quota for SCs, STs and OBCs. The proposed... read more

Nitin Gadkari is in the news. The former BJP President and the minister (Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation) in the Narendra Modi government has used his hometown and the headquarters city of the RSS to make the point that the... read more

The immanence of Industry 4.0, a new economic paradigm, in which machines with artificial intelligence will be able to do almost everything that humans can, is ringing alarm-bells. Socialists are concerned about how human beings will support themselves if they do not have jobs. Capitalists are... read more

Antyodaya is one of the key principles that animates India’s constitution. It means uplift of the last. It was M. K. Gandhi who said to leaders of independent India, that when you formulate a policy, think about how it benefits the person worst off in society. All public policy must keep in mind... read more

There was a time when 2020 was far away, and the nation could write a grand vision statement of the new and liberalised India, with no risk of seeing that day come any time soon. Well, we now welcome 2019. In Mumbai, the bars were allowed to be open till 5 a.m. Party hotspots, homes and street... read more

The ministry of Home Affairs issued an order that authorised security and intelligence agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Procedure... read more

The chapter on smart cities says, “Smart cities is an approach to urban development characterised by area-based development, efficient delivery of basic services in an equitable manner, and citizen’s participation.” The chapter on governance says transformation of cities will require “opportunities... read more

The year began with great optimism about economic growth. The previous year i.e. 2017 had concluded with actual growth beating earlier estimates of the International Monetary Fund. In the previous six years, the IMF’s usual optimistic forecasts given out at the beginning of the year had to be... read more

Just when lakhs of farmers marched to the nation’s capital demanding relief for their distress, another smaller set had assembled in Shirdi, Maharashtra. This was for the annual national conference of the Shetkari Sanghatana, founded by the late Sharad Joshi. The three-day conference coincided with... read more