Saturday, October 10, 2026
Behind India’s hoopla about GST and GDP is a grim reality By RN Bhaskar Lately, there has been a great deal of excitement over India’s GST (Goods and Services Tax) collections climbing by another 13% on a year-on-year basis. And people...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/gold-smuggling-turn-the-spotlight-from-kerala-to-govt-policies Gold smuggling - I Part II can be found at http://www.asiaconverge.com/2020/10/gold-smuggling-ii-a-cleanup-is-urgently-needed/) A beneficiary of flawed government policies. RN Bhaskar There’s an apocryphal story about a man blinded because he stole the gold that he saw lying unattended on the table in his master’s...
Inflated views and deflated economy RN Bhaskar “When India moves forward, the world moves forward” “Today's India is leaving behind the mentality of slavery and embracing that ancient glory of art.” Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, on 28 May 2023 -- https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1927866   Leaders...
http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/e-payments-dangerous-unaccounted-exceptions/990815 E-payments: unaccounted exceptions lead to corrosion and corruption The phase of ‘demonetisation’ or de-legalising Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes is drawing to a close.  By 31 December, it will be known how much of the Rs.14.21 lakh crore will reach the...
Chest thumping and masks can confuse economic policy analysts By RN Bhaskar Governments, world over, have a habit of setting the narrative to show the prettier side of economic development. In India it should be a bit more worrisome, because they...
Sep 24, 2015 12:19 am Maharashtra is easily the largest consumer of electricity in India. According to estimates posted by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), it is expected to consume 149,773 million units (MU) during 2015-16, the next biggest...
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...
  https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/india-plunder-part-ii-how-finance-commission-weightages-were-tweaked-to-promote-profligacy-and-irresponsibilityhttps://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/india-plunder-part-ii-how-finance-commission-weightages-were-tweaked-to-promote-profligacy-and-irresponsibility India plunder – Part II: Tweaking rules to promote abet plunder through  profligacy and irresponsibility RN Bhaskar  - Sept 10, 2020 ================== The other parts of this series can be found at http://www.asiaconverge.com/2020/09/the-plunder-series/ ========================== Except for brief periods, much of North Indian history has been one...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/policy-watch-invest-in-india-right-message-wrong-approach Invest in India – right message, wrong approach RN Bhaskar Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited global funds and businesses -- which have about $6 trillion of assets under management -- to invest in India. He pitched the nation as...
The government abets cybercrime By RN Bhaskar The image has been generated through https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/text2img On 30 June 2025, news headlines talked about how the digital-gold website of Aditya Birla Capital Digital (ABCD) had been hacked (https://www.livemint.com/news/digital-gold-hackers-struck-aditya-birla-capital-digital-weal-encyption-cyber-criminals-ey-india-data-privacy-11751192030975.html).  The company said that it had...