Policy watch
India excelled in the art of earning its wealth, not plundering it
By RN Bhaskar
This is a story not just for historians, but for India’s policymakers. It tells of how Indian entrepreneurship can be truly unlocked if they are...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/policy-watch-agenda-4-stop-fiddling-with-agri-edible-oil-prices
Agenda #4 – Edible oil prices soar when demand is down
RN Bhaskar
(The entire series can be found at http://www.asiaconverge.com/2021/05/agenda-for-the-government-2021-series/)
“April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.”
-- TS Eliot,...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/editorspick/is-the-telecommunications-sector-being-skewered
The decimation of the Indian telecom sector?
RN Bhaskar -- October 31, 2019
Do policymakers in India secretly harbor a death-wish? The question was uppermost in the minds of most people immediately after the Supreme Court’s ruling last week (https://clpr.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Cellular-Operators-v.-TRAI.pdf) that...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/distressed-times-just-watch-what-is-happening-to-gold
When people stop buying gold in India, there is cause to worry
RN Bhaskar
At one level, this should be cause for celebration. Gold imports into India crashed during 2020 (see chart). Lower import of this yellow metal means a smaller...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/education-matters-thats-why-kejri-matters
Education lessons from Kejriwal
RN Bhaskar -- 5 March 2020
The recent Delhi elections confirmed one thing – that the formidable election machine Modi and the BJP had built was no match for the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Like all...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/why-no-transparency-in-funding-by-insurance-cos/1506508
Why is there no disclosure of investments by insurance companies?
RN Bhaskar April 18, 2019
On 11 April, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (or SEBI) issued a circular (No. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2019/57). It is addressed to all Mutual Funds...
http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/indian-railways-a-painful-chugging-aheadr-n-bhaskar/1016016
The crisis confronting Indian Railways
By R N Bhaskar | Feb 09, 2017 10:00 am
The recent Budget 2017 has made some key provisions for Indian Railways – as well as for other infrastructure projects.
The Finance Minister hopes to spend as much...
Great plans for an India-ME-Europe corridor to mimic China’s BRI
By RN Bhaskar
On 9 September, the US While House put out a notification (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/09/fact-sheet-world-leaders-launch-a-landmark-india-middle-east-europe-economic-corridor/). It informed the world the following: “Today, we the leaders of the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the...
http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/india-begins-transforming-itself-but-r-n-bhaskar/958267
India transforms, but . . .
"The king is extremely cultured but....
The courtiers were charming, my stay as a guest of honour immensely comfortable, but...
The music in the king's court was exquisite, but...
The ladies were most beautiful, but...
The country was...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/policy-watch-a-colonial-outlook-has-stunted-indias-gold-mining-sector
Gold mining – part III
India sabotages its own gold mining interests
RN Bhaskar -- 31 December, 2020
Basically, there are two types of corruption. There can be good corruption and bad corruption. In China, the state controls all resources. But the...









































