Hold government accountable for Delhi air pollution but also punish selfish behaviour

If you are among the millions personally suffering from the acute air pollution in Delhi and many other parts of north India, now is not an appropriate time for a deeper reflection on the underlying causes of this human disaster. This is not to absolve the state and union governments involved. Nor is it to absolve businesses, industries and markets. They too have acted irresponsibly, even when they’ve complied with the law. But in the heat and passion of the public discourse, we forget to also point fingers at ourselves.Read more

Unless Lok Sabha elections get shorter, parties like BJP will keep winning

Central to the drama of 2019 is the Election Commission, an institution that India used to be proud of but which, in my view, no longer deserves the praise. I am referring to neither the allegations of tampered Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), nor the Election Commission’s weak-kneed approach towards insisting that the BJP follow the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The Election Commission’s biggest failing is the exceedingly long duration of the election.Read more

Telecom revolution took India to 21st century. The state is taking it backwards

The manner in which the Indian state has treated telecom is indicative of the disdain it has for a sector that has underpinned the country’s rise to an aspiring global power in the last 25 years. If we have to fix the problems we’ve created, it’s important to enumerate the big policy mistakes we have made. Between a rapacious bureaucracy, corrupt politicians, rent-seeking crony businesses and an economics-agnostic judiciary, we have created the conditions for a telecom crisis.Read more

Macaulay’s IPC was radical in 19th century. Now, shift power balance toward Indian citizens

According to a report in The Hindu Sunday, Home Minister Amit Shah has asked the Bureau of Police Research and Development to move ahead on reforming the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. When Macaulay drafted it in the 1830s, it was an exceptional piece of work. In the following decades, the colonial government modified it to serve its interests. While courts and legislatures have made many changes to the IPC over the past century, it now lacks overall coherence and comprehensiveness.Read more 

India’s road to RCEP laden with China-related obstacles

Ten years ago, the question was whether India and China should sign a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). Today, it is whether India should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). There are two different but interconnected issues: the dominance of Chinese manufacturers in the export of goods; and the impenetrability of the Chinese market to Indian and other foreign companies. On the other hand, joining the RCEP might compel New Delhi to launch the second-generation economic reforms.Read more

Indian economy needs structural reforms & behavioural change, not macroeconomic jargon

Okay, the Indian economy is in a slowdown and it is absolutely important for us to quickly get back onto the path of high growth. Economic output is the sum of consumer expenditure, investment, government expenditure and net exports. The best way to increase growth is to increase all four of the above. There is a need for technical discussion among macroeconomists, financial analysts, business journalists and policymakers, but it cannot be the only show in town.Read more

What the Congress party needs is a palace coup

While the government of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has received severe criticism for its policies, the Congress has largely been excused for its failure to effectively hold the end of opposition. The BJP has turned many parts of the Congress legacy into a debilitating political liability. My indictment of the Congress is threefold: most of its leaders do not know what they stand for, its organisation is hopelessly out of date, and it lacks the quality of top leadership that the situation demands.Read more

Howdy Modi and Trump showcase Indian lobby in US. But double loyalties can’t go far

Trump’s presence at Howdy Modi certainly highlights the strength and the comfort of the India-US relationship. The event’s organisers claim that it is the largest-ever turnout for a foreign elected leader on US soil. Apparently, only the Pope attracted a bigger crowd. In the amoral world of international relations, it is par for the course for states to influence the politics and policies of other countries.  A lot depends on how the prevalent nationalist “America First” political sentiment in the United States perceives the Howdy Modi rally.Read more

Slow economic growth is both immoral and anti-national. Don’t ignore falling GDP rate

Having convinced ourselves that the Narendra Modi government’s policies cannot be at fault, we are now debating whether the economic slowdown that began in 2017 is cyclical or structural. More than three million people emerge out of poverty for every percentage rise in GDP. The Indian economy will have to grow at over 10 per cent per annum every year to become a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2024. The RBI now projects a growth rate of 6.9 per cent for the next year.Read more

India’s No First Use is badass enough. Modi govt needn’t change it to be more muscular

A day after India’s 73rd Independence Day, the Narendra Modi government threatened Pakistan with the possibility of a nuclear attack if it scales up cross-border terrorism and militancy against India. The Modi government appears to have calculated that the fear of an Indian nuclear strike will raise Pakistan’s costs of cross-border terrorism, thus deterring its use. The biggest problem with this bold new approach is that it will work only to the extent that the Pakistanis believe India’s threats are credible.Read more

China's syndromes in India's ocean

Bertil Lintner’s book The Costliest Pearl is perhaps the most comprehensive account of the contemporary geopolitics of the maritime Eastern Hemisphere. It covers the ground from Djibouti to Vanuatu and the water from the South China Sea to the Southern Indian Ocean.And although it covers the actions and reactions of the powers from within and without the region, it is China that lies at the heart of the plot.Read more

Can Hong Kong protect its 'freedom'?

"One country, two systems”, the brilliant formulation that allowed Britain to transfer Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, allowed a lot of people to believe that the two systems would converge over time. That while the mainland would adopt free markets and democracy, Hong Kong would become better integrated with its motherland.Read more

80 years before Kerala floods, Mahatma Gandhi blamed caste system for natural disasters

When S. Gurumurthy insinuated that the Kerala flood disaster was somehow related to allowing women into the Sabarimala temple, he revealed a failing that afflicts even mahatmas in India. After the devastating Lisbon earthquake, the Catholic religious establishment put forth the view that the disaster was divine punishment for human sin. This angered the Marquis of Pombal. Pombal was no doubt a ruthless autocrat, but he is relevant to the current flood crisis in Kerala. Today, as we despair about the enormity of the calamity that has struck Kerala, we can take heart to the empirical evidence that shows natural disasters can improve long-term economic growth.Read more