Policy Watch

How North India suddenly became richer, and paid more taxes despite profligacy By RN Bhaskar Image generated by http://deepai.org/ Go through the budget papers and you discover some strange numbers.  North India has become the largest taxpayer.  Hitherto, it was south and...

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/financial-realities-stare-india-in-the-face Financial realities stare India in the face. FDI sorely needed RN Bhaskar On July 6 this year,  a news item in a leading daily (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/nod-for-80-fdi-proposals-from-china-entities/articleshow/92685606.cms) talked about 80 Chinese FDI proposals being cleared by the Indian government.  At around the same...

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-supreme-court-continues-to-search-for-ways-to-deal-with-illegal-mining-will-it-take-the-right-one-1985027 Orissa and illegal mining - Supreme Court seeks solutions Supreme Court continues to search for ways to deal with illegal mining, will it take the right one? The Supreme Court (SC) is much in the news again – to find out...

http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/slums-show-disrespect-of-politicians-for-democracy-r-n-bhaskar/1358963 India’s slums reveal politicians' contempt for democracy — By RN Bhaskar | Sep 20, 2018 Legislators are supposed to uphold the Constitution.  That includes a commitment to democracy, to free and fair elections.  Unfortunately, India’s slums are testimony to the fact that politicians...

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/debt-under-control-good-now-for-economic-growth/1387659 Debt and economic growth RN Bhaskar November 1, 2018 Talk of debt is in the air.  Everybody is talking about it.  In fact there is a CARE Ratings study which looks at state and central government debt (Debt Profile of Centre...

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/a-shrinking-middle-class-could-roil-india-badly Shrinking middle class, warped policies, could hurt India badly RN Bhaskar The writing was on the wall.  Poverty is on the march.  All the slogans about a resurgent India, self-reliance had begun to sound a bit stale, irrelevant, even distasteful. Poverty triumphs...

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-policy-watch-india-needs-a-national-policy-on-waste-management-2011519 India needs a national policy on waste management True, there are other municipalities that have also blundered, but without either a concrete plan, or even a transparent tendering process. A case in point is the way the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)...

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/indias-deceptive-economic-performance India's  economic performance may be worse than is being claimed RN Bhaskar Last week government sources were proud to showcase India’s GDP growth during the current fiscal at 13.5 %.  It was left to analysts to point out that this was...

http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/demonetisation-short-term-brilliance-long-term-pain/973092 Policy Watch Will demonetisation work? Or will it erode the rupee? Rn bhaskar On the night of 8 November, Prime minister Modi dropped a bombshell. He announced through a national TV address that the government was demonetising Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes from...

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...