Monday, May 18, 2026
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/policy-watch-the-droning-government-and-its-wake-up-call-for-drones The government wakes up to the urgent need to open u0p the market for drones RN Bhaskar You can always count on the Indian government to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else. (With apologies to Winston Churchill) Roll...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-folly-of-banning-futures-trading-in-commodities A primer for policymakers on commodities trading RN Bhaskar The government never tires of telling people that it wants to empower farmers.  It says it wants to empower commodities trading in futures, and commodity exchanges. This was the claim made by earlier...
The brittleness of impatience crackles. There is the familiar irritable fretfulness of politicians and industry captains as they chafe against the RBI’s reluctance to ease interest rates a bit more.  Unspoken, yet unmistakably implied, is the accusation that the...
R N Bhaskar 27 April 2015 Prime Minister Modi has just returned from a successful trip to three countries. Each of these trips is aimed at achieving two objectives. First, to improve India’s relations with some of the most advanced and...
09 February 2026 US trade deal -- a sellout? By RN Bhaskar and Sakeena Bari Sayyed Image: Bloomberg A month ago, before the US trade deal with India -- we actually believed that India had rediscovered its spine.  This was because India had...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/is-india-headed-for-further-currency-depreciation/1470652 Unproductive spending could easily lead to further currency depreciation RN Bhaskar February 28, 2019 Turning and turning in a widening gyre//The falcon cannot hear the falconer.//Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold . . . . . WB Yeats, The Second Coming The...
Health issues smothered by wealth concerns - medical education is the casualty RN Bhaskar On 22 September the country’s leading publications stated that the National Medical Commission (NMC) had barred Tamil Nadu from adding any new medical seats (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/nmcs-new-guidelines-may-have-adverse-impact-on-tamil-nadu-experts-101695756143484.html). The result was...
You cannot become a superpower with a weak currency By RN Bhaskar India analysts have watched with amazement as they see the rupee continue to slip. It has lately been hovering around Rs.82 for each US Dollar, and is threatening to...
Has India eliminated poverty? RN Bhaskar Last week, the government proudly declared that it had reduced Multidimensional poverty during the past five years (https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1940125). It claimed that. 13.5 crore Indians escape Multidimensional Poverty in 5 years. Steep decline in number of...
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,...