India’s current account deficit (CAD) hitting a record high of 4.8% in July and the continuous simultaneous steady plunging of the rupee, which has not bottomed out yet, has become a major source of worry for the country. The depreciation of the rupee (15% against the dollar since January) will result in the cost of future import of goods such as petroleum, coal, and non-essential
At the Times of India, where I began my career in business journalism in early 1992, we were called “commerce desk”. The description emanated from the obsolete pre-liberalisation context when even a top newspaper would have only two-three semi-retired folks tracking India’s economic story; one dedicated to reprinting stock quotes from a list telexed by Bombay S
Janmashtami heralds the start of the unrelenting festive season—from now until the end of the year, the spate of festivals includes Ganesh Chaturthi and the multiple Visarjan days, the Navratris, Dusshera, Diwali, Eid, Christmas and New Years (and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few). Though I look upon the impending traffic snarls, deafening cacophony of music and crackers, and bur
The real estate sector is in choppy waters and the RBI’s move is being seen as an attempt to shield the country’s banking structure from grave risks such schemes pose to the financial health of banks. At present, a large number of real estate companies use such schemes to lure buyers. In the 80:20 scheme, for instance, a buyer pays 20 percent of the value of t
All public services are paid for by individual citizens, either directly or indirectly, through taxes. Therefore, they have every right to expect high quality service. That’s why citizen’s charter is important. We have seen nearly two decades of struggle towards implementation of the citizen’s charter. Till 1996, the citizen’s charter was unknown to government de
If any of you woke up this morning to book train tickets for Diwali for a vacation back home, this blog might be catharsis. You logged in to irctc.co.in at 8 am to book your tickets – not for anything but lack of choice – and waited till 8.30 am to see the face of the `plan my travel` page, only to realise that all tickets have been booked and your favourite train is showing the sta
As the rupee continues to hit new lows, economists and corporate honchos continue to predict deteriorating economic performance and politicians continue to fight over reforms like there is no tomorrow, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended revamping the banking structure to further strengthen the backbone of our economy. The apex bank has reiterated the need to seriously and u
The way the political administrations in multiple states are treating Asaram ‘Bapu’, the self-claimed godman/spiritual guru who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a teenager, has given rise to several questions. About not only law enforcement but also law implementation. We live in a democracy that believes in the rule of law. So why is Asaram being treated above law?
Public Money, Private Agenda: The Use And Abuse Of MPLADS By A Surya Prakash Rupa, Rs 395 In the 1970s, corporators of the then Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) gave themselves Rs 50,000 a year. Their idea was that each one of them must have these monies over and above their collective control over the BMC budgets. This they could spend on works that caug
The union government is reportedly contemplating changes to the provisions of suspension and transfers of members of all-India services created under Article 312 of the constitution so as to make prior consent of the union government mandatory. In the context of the recent controversy about the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal and half a dozen instances of harassment of well-meaning, young and
We talk of social accountability and inclusive democracy through well informed participation; we vouch for facilitating the ideals of transparency and inclusiveness. And yet we don’t pass the Jan Lok Pal bill, instead we make provisions for curtailing the scope of an existing Act by putting across the Right to Information (Amendment) bill with a pace rarely seen otherwise, despite innumer
With the economy on a downswing, entrepreneurial opportunities for young and seasoned innovators alike have got further squeezed. Not that the situation was very rosy to begin with, for there was hardly any fund even earlier to invest in creative ideas of students, self-employed people or professionals who had the big ideas, and sometime even the proof of concept that could make a difference.&n
In a matter before the central information commission (CIC), six political parties were declared as public authorities and were thus expected to appoint information officers by July 15 to reply to RTI queries. Neither did they obey the order nor have they challenged it in a court. They flouted statutory orders. Is this an example the parties should be setting for the nation? They say CI
At the time of its inception in 2005, the Right to Information Act generated high hopes and was rightly called the second independence of sorts for the people. Now that this powerful weapon is aimed at the political parties, to make them accountable and transparent, our self-centred politicians, cutting across party lines, have united to undo the historic verdict of the central information comm
Sarkaari damaad (official/government’s son-in-law) or not, Robert Vadra has officially started hurting her mother- and brother-in-law’s party. Despite the bluster kept by the Congress – party leader Jagdambika Pal on Tuesday (Aug 13) said Vadra is “Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, not the raashtriya damaad. The issue they are raising has no relevance to the government, i
Someone asked me many years ago whether there is discrimination in India. While my first reaction was to say no, I realised that, in fact, I would not really know – because, for all intents and purposes, I am the privileged majority. Apart from being a woman, which hasn’t been debilitating in my socio-cultural environment, on paper I’m Hindu, and upper caste to boot. I’m
Perhaps more than any government in recent history, the UPA has sought to project Indian power beyond its own shores. Banking on a wave of feel-good coverage of India, at home and abroad, the image of a burgeoning middle class, a large and well-armed military and a surging economy, with all its trappings, has been peddled across the globe by every diplomat, party leader and CEO. From Davos to D
Cricket can explain almost anything in life. For close to three decades the intricacies of reverse swing remained a mystery and a Pakistani dark art. Phlegmatic fast bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz is credited for bringing it on to the world stage. He passed on his secrets to Imran Khan who then gave it to his protégés Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. The mystery of reverse swing reached
The soaring Mercury of the sub-continental summers is crucial for Indo-Pak relations. As the winter ice melts near the border in the north, the Jehadi infiltrators from Pakistan get the opportunity sneak into Indian territory, very often with the blessings of the Pakistani army. Firing from both sides takes place. In one such firing, five Indian army personnel were killed by Pkaistani troops in
This column was first published on August 29, 2012: after Raghuram Rajan was appointed the chief economic adviser. Now that he has been named the next RBI governor, there are two things in this piece worth a note: he did go with the pro bono advice of staying away from TV, and the penultimate paragraph did foresee the possiblity of him succeding D Subba Rao... For dummi
