https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/policy-watch-slums-2-how-slums-distort-normal-economics-in-india
Slums 2
Great scheme for politicians and graft-seekers
RN Bhaskar
Anyone who has seen pictures of the large-scale deaths in slums caused in the Bhopal gas tragedy (https://www.indiatoday.in/india/photo/bhopal-gas-tragedy-in-pics-363786-2010-06-08) knows what an irresponsible approach towards human settlements can do. On the night of...
Wrecking is easier than creating
RN Bhaskar
The Bing generated image shows a Samson-like figure wrecking buildings. Some people can be seen clapping in adulation. Others are fearful. The recent move by the venerable State Bank of India (SBI) seeking more...
India’s numbers only tell a fragmented story
RN Bhaskar
In January 2024. Fitch affirmed a BBB- rating for India (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/fitch-maintains-bbb-sovereign-rating-for-india-with-a-stable-outlook-amid-strong-growth/articleshow/106904607.cms?from=mdr). So did almost every other major ratings agency in the world. Many in the government, and a few outside it as...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/editorspick/solar-pumps-nddb-and-the-birth-of-pm-kusum-2
Solar pumps and water mismanagement -- NDDB and KUSUM
RN Bhaskar – 29 August, 2019
The introduction of solar pumps in the Indian market was thought to be the perfect solution for aiding farmers in arid regions with neither electricity nor...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/policy-watch-us-russia-ukraine-will-cause-inflation-to-soar-and-currencies-to-tumble
The US gambit with Ukraine and Russia will scorch the entire world
RN Bhaskar
Almost two months have transpired since the Ukraine-Russia-NATO-USA spat began. As mentioned in these columns, this was a war that the US wanted, and got (https://asiaconverge.com/2022/02/ukraine-the-war-that-usa-wants/). It...
Linking Aadhaar with Voter IDs without cleaning the bogus ones
RN Bhaskar
Image generated by https://deepai.org/
On March 15, 2025, media headlines talked about the Election Commission planning to meet the law and home ministries to work out ways to link the...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/policy-watch-india-loses-focus-on-human-capital
Human capital is what India ignores to its peril
RN Bhaskar
Quite often, it is what the government does not want to talk about that defines a nation than what the government trumpets. This is true about the Pegasus affair. About...
R N Bhaskar
27 July 2015
Cut through the hype that governments like to spin out. You then realise that India’s growth story is quite shaky. Its education related numbers (see chart) tell a very bleak story.
Of 100 students who went...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/policy-watch-here-are-five-reasons-why-indias-qs-scores-should-worry-every-indian
Five reasons why India’s QS Scores should worry every Indian
RN Bhaskar -- June 18, 2020
The terrible performance of Indian educational institutions on the QS score ranking (see chart) was to have been expected. And was it just coincidental that...
The growing irrelevance of India on the global stage
RN Bhaskar
Image generated by https://deepai.org
On 6 April, full four days after US President Trump announced sweeping tariffs for all countries exporting goods to the US, Piyush Goyal and his team were...
