An increase in support of free food means cutting back on maybe health, education, infrastructure, military or pension benefits. The government cannot escape these difficult fiscal tradeoffs.
India's Strongarm Government Faces its Toughest Challenge From the Street
Protests on the street are continuing, even as the government continues to forcefully suppress them. What happens next is evolving and remains to be seen. However, it is certain that we live in “interesting times” where the word from the streets will perhaps echo louder and louder in the corridors of power.
When the Vote is in Question, Indian Democracy is on Trial
The spirit of democracy cannot be sustained merely because elections are held regularly. Restoring public faith in the institutions and systems that sustain elections is of paramount importance. The true measure of democracy is not whether power can be exercised, but whether it can be challenged peacefully
Southern Storms in Asia and Europe: What Youth Protests Reveal About Governance
Southern Europe shows that mobilisation can reshape political agendas while leaving difficult economic questions unresolved. South Asia shows that a narrow grievance can become a challenge to the legitimacy of a governing system when trust has already been eroded. The real test of governance is whether institutions learn between storms—before the next generation concludes that the street is the only place where its voice can be heard.
Ballot Over Barracks: Why Pakistan's Future Depends on Civilian Power
At independence, Pakistan's economy was competitive with India's. Today India's is more than ten times larger, and Pakistan is on roughly its 25th IMF program. Investors rarely abandon a country simply because it is poor. They leave when they cannot tell who actually decides.
More on Governance, Public Policy, Politics and Law
Gandhi remains as relevant today as in his time
Thus the mantra of development should be spirituality with high technology. Both these things allow us to reduce our greed for resources and live in harmony with nature – something that Gandhi preached intuitively all his life.
A paean to Mahatma Gandhi and his inclusive philosophy
But for Gandhi, India's political destiny would have been vastly different and her moral stature vastly inferior.
The long road to the ‘Right to Health’ in India
Clearer commitments and standards on access and quality, making oversight and redressal mechanisms more participatory, and allocating adequate financial resources alone would make the right to healthcare to all citizens a reality.
How India won the race to Siachen
The book is a must-read for all policymakers, diplomats, academics and civil and military personnel who have an interest in Siachen.
India needs to be more open to free trade
In a world slowing down due to a recession, even if our share of trade goes up from 3 to 4 per cent, that would be a huge boost for the Indian economy. And that is eminently feasible only if we are less afraid of open and free trade.
Recalling a 'black chapter' in Punjab's history: Flawed decision-making that proved costly for India
The book, in many ways, is the last word on the tragic and defining years of Punjab’s turmoil that took a large number of lives.
Unique military-industry cooperation boosting Indian Navy’s warship production
There are currently 41 ships and submarines under construction, 39 are being built in Indian shipyards, while in-principle approval is there from the Defence Ministry for 47 ships to be built in India.
Is war an inevitability? How prepared should India be?
The author’s prognosis of a major contestation in the not-so-distant future is situated in the South China Sea. The compelling logic portends China’s proclivity to fight one or possibly two major wars before 2035, either with Taiwan or India before the major US-China war.
Can a 'self-reliant' India edge out Vietnam as an alternative to China for supply chain manufacturing?
Riding the global strategic shift in manufacturing, India is on the cusp of attractive large-scale domestic and foreign investors by incentivizing supply chain manufacturing
A blueprint for a developed India
It would be appropriate to design a comprehensive plan for India to create 10,000 unicorns in the next 25 years and with a few hundred becoming decacorns - enterprises with a valuation of over $10 billion. These enterprises alone could add over $12 trillion to India’s GDP.
South Asian solidarity and support for flood-devastated Pakistan: Calling South Asian nations to come together for flood relief and rehabilitation in the neighbourhood
It is important to note that India has sufficient food stocks to be able to help the affected people in flood-ridden Pakistan. There is an urgent need to ease border restrictions at least to the levels of 2009 to provide easy access to food and relief materials
Checking anti-India activity in Assam and Northeast India
While the Assam government must sustain its present moves against radicalisation, New Delhi must be firm in ensuring that insidious attempts/activities by anti-Indian elements/groups are neutralised effectively in the Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and some other states
The world's fifth largest economy: A reality check
So, the assessment for the fifth largest economy is that this is a slowing phase, as growth drivers need to pick up along with investor sentiment
Developing unity in diversity: A prescription to unite India culturally
Efforts should be made to translate the literary heritage of each state and union territory into each of the national languages of India. This will create a whole new education, employment and business ecosystem in the publishing and media industries, sensitising each Indian to the national and civilisational heritage they inherited and building a sense of unity and common purpose.
