The Census is needed urgently post elections
By RN Bhaskar
The Bing-generated image about elections suggests many things – the watchful eyes of the lion looms over the election booth. The peaceful wait of citizens outside polling booths. The Ashoka lion...
The ogre of debt dwarfs many countries
By RN Bhaskar
Last week UNCTAD brought out a brilliant document titled A World of debt – 2024 (https://unctad.org/publication/world-of-debt). It pointed out how “Global public debt continues to increase rapidly, driven by cascading crises...
RBI’s unwise dividend payout to the government
By RN Bhaskar
On 22 May 2024, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it would be paying to the government a whopping sum of Rs.2.11 lakh crore rupees by way of dividend. ...
New trade blocs form, India remains on the fringes
RN Bhaskar
Suddenly, gold has become important. It always does, when there is economic uncertainty, and high inflation. While it is early days to talk about inflation, everyone knows how uncertain the...
India must find new ways to cope with global fragmentation
RN Bhaskar
There is global fragmentation all around. And India has already begun reconsidering many of the policies it had introduced and was quite smug about. Two developments of last week...
Be careful! Spouting hopeful figures about the economy is not enough.
RN Bhaskar
If one listens to the euphoric outpourings of India’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran, the country’s economy is in great shape. Just last week he exuded...
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...
Yarns government spokespersons spin about jobs and growth
By RN Bhaskar
The government may say that the economy is looking good, and that India is on the rise.
But some key indicators are flashing red. Few jobs, little growth and a bleak...
NINJAs on hire with no education, no income
By RN Bhaskar
Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.
― Heinrich Heine
The crazed public lynchings and burnings have begun. The depressing part is that they, like many other...
A huge educational crisis confronts India – can it be saved?
By RN Bhaskar
In October 2004, IITD (Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi) ranked 13th in the first edition of the QS University Rankings (https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/brics-rankings/top-universities-india). By 2024, its ranking had...