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...
http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/expect-2018-to-be-more-unsettling-than-2017/1178960
An unsettling 2018
— By RN Bhaskar | Nov 30, 2017 07:52 am
Most marketmen are a bit confused about what the markets and the leading economies have in store for 2018. The first of such reports is already out. Credit Suisse...
A water policy is crucial for India’s survival
RN Bhaskar
The Bing generated image above could be prophetic. India – and the world – could soon be in desperate search of water. India will feel the pain much more than the...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/npci-upi-credit-cards-and-customer-safety
NPCI, UPI, digital payments and customer protection
RN Bhaskar
[Clarificatory Note: On 17 June 2022, five days after the article appeared on our website, and seven days after we sent out queries to NPCI before writing the story, NPCI came forth...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-governments-myopia-will-blight-both-it-and-digital-payments-writes-rn-bhaskar
Slowdown in IT, discomfort with digital payments
RN Bhaskar
The government loves thumping its chest when digital payments soar. This was, after all, one of the stated objectives of the much-touted JAM Trinity - Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (https://pib.gov.in/FeaturesDeatils.aspx?NoteId=151163&ModuleId%20=%202). As...
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,...
Desalination is a cover-up for inefficiency even corruption in India
By RN Bhaskar and Sakeena Bari Sayyed
Increasingly, India is pushing for more desalination projects. That is a mistake because a) India does not need desalination plants except for a very...
China could rebound faster than many imagine
RN Bhaskar
Not a week passes without Western media trying to put out one story or the other about what is wrong with China. But such sneers are not a new development.
They were evident...
Can the government be wiser than the markets when it comes to capital allocation?
By RN Bhaskar
Economists are generally agreed that governments can be terribly poor in allocation of resources for economic development.
Yes, there are exceptions. When a nation is...
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...
