Opinion

By B Yerram Raju The Draft National MSME Policy, targeting V-shaped recovery after the Covid pandemic and the $5-trillion economy by 2025 (since extended by two years to 2027), seems to have seen the world more than India. There is a virtue in looking at the policies of other countries during the pandemic. However, the […]

By Arun Sinha Regardless of how the government negotiates with the farmers on the issue of legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 23 crops, there seems to be no way it can abandon them. The state has been a foster father to the farmers, encouraging them to grow wheat and rice, pushing them to […]

By Nayakara Veeresha The union Budget 2022-23 has been hailed as growth-oriented in terms of physical and digital infrastructure development owing to increased capital expenditure. Most of the entrepreneurs, industrialists and corporate entities have welcomed it. No doubt these are necessities for an emerging economy like ours. However, the big missing link is the direction […]

By Tej Singh Kardam “Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence has the potential of helping civilization flourish like never before — as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial” Artificial intelligence (AI) is based on the notion that human thought processes have the ability, […]

Hijab is a matter of choice. The BJP must realise that by barring hijab-wearing girls, it would be driving them deeper into the clutches of the forces of orthodoxy

By Yashobanta Parida, Joyita Roy Chowdhury, Prakash Kumar Sahoo The current budgetary allocation for disaster management under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs is Rs 493 crore in 2022-23, which is only 2% higher than the last fiscal year. This fund is available for specific natural disasters for financing immediate relief measures and emergency […]

By Seela Subba Rao The government of India enacted the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Act in 2016 to address the resolution of stressed assets. The most important requirement was a speedy recovery process. The IBC Act, 2016, consolidated, revised and re-established the insolvency-related laws under one umbrella. It superseded all other laws and deals […]

By Mahitha Lingala A country with a magnitude as much as that of India thrives only when both levels of governments, in the States as well as the Centre, work in tandem towards prosperity. Cooperative federalism is a work in progress in India. Despite powers being divided asymmetrically in the Constitution, India is a Union […]

By JR Janumpalli Prime Minister Narendra Modi again said in Parliament that Telangana State was not formed properly. It is over seven years since the State was formed. The AP Reorganisation Act (APRA), 2014, was passed in Parliament unanimously. His own party, the BJP, was a willing party to the passing of the Act on […]

By Dr Vanishree Joseph, Dr N V Madhuri The union Budget 2022-23 focuses on enhancement of productivity and investment; infrastructure development; financing of investments and all-inclusive welfare. In its inclusive welfare and development, women and children have also been given a prominent place. The Ministry of Women and Child Development schemes are completely revamped and […]

By Moitrayee Das  The current times have witnessed an increase in mental health policies and programmes as well as mental health being as an integral part of the sustainable development goals. But is India doing enough to deal with the mental health crisis of its people? There is no doubt that the pandemic has taken […]

By Arun Sinha Which way will the farmers vote in the elections in UP and Punjab? That is a serious worry for the BJP. The signs are not good for it, and the Budget has not made them any better. The fire of farmers’ anger is still not extinguished. They recently observed a Vishwasghat Diwas (Betrayal Day) […]

BJP is not sure whether religion as a card will be able to deliver the State for it

By Prof Devi Prasad Juvvadi India liberalised its economy and opened up its markets in 1991 but the agricultural sector remained a deterrent as it was largely unorganised and at the same time protected and insulated. Thus in the years post-liberalisation, it became apparent that while industry and services prospered under the reformed system, agriculture […]

By Arun Sinha Midway through the election battle Mamata Banerjee has realised she cannot defeat the BJP alone. She wants the Congress to come along with her. That was not the case in the beginning. She came on a high horse from Bengal, gung ho, adventuresome and cocksure she could vanquish the BJP in Goa […]

By Professor Madabhushi Sridhar It is absolutely constitutional for any, more so for a Chief Minister to ask for a new Constitution or changes in it. A ruling party MP wanted the Chief Minister to be charged with sedition for seeking an amendment to the Constitution. The Constitution of India has given the power to […]

Soon after presenting her shortest Budget speech yet that lasted for some 92 minutes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the media, directly. There were no opening statements. Sitharaman’s fourth Budget in a row neither tinkered with tax slabs nor raised the standard deduction, which was widely expected in view of elevated inflation levels and the […]

By Ratan Mani Lal Defections prior to any election are not uncommon in Uttar Pradesh. In the Assembly elections in 2012 and 2017 too several leaders had quit one party and joined another, with varying results. But the defections this year have been remarkable in the sense that the many defectors are not only high-profile, […]

By Dr Saswat Kishore Mishra Covid-19 has thoroughly exposed our shambolic state of healthcare infrastructure and human capital. After the brutal onslaught of the Delta variant, India showed terrific resilience and it seemed that our economy was limping back to normalcy. But suddenly we find ourselves amid the third wave, once again plunging us into […]

By Krishank Manne The union Budget 2022 is yet another moment of expectations for the corporates, salaried classes, and huge statements of targets such as doubling the income of farmers, $5 trillion economy, tax rebates, price decrease, etc. There are also requisites from the State, be it long-pending demands or contributory permissions in infrastructure building. […]

By Dr N V Madhuri, Dr Vanishree Joseph Restrictive social and economic norms, fear of infection, isolated family life, school closures, lack of support networks, loss of loved ones, difficulty of combining working from home with full-time childcare, financial challenges, increased exposure to domestic violence, drug use and mental illness in family members due to […]

By Dr T Prabhakar Reddy  According to the International Labour Organisation, “social protection or social security is a human right and is defined as the set of policies and programmes designed to reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability throughout the lifecycle”. Social protection and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intricately related insofar as the former […]

By B Yerram Raju Omicron is unsympathetic to the small man and farmers are no exception. In the wake of the withdrawal of the three farm laws, the Finance Minister has challenges to provide resources to the farm sector. Investment of Rs 1 lakh crore was unlocked for agriculture in 2021, although the extent of, […]

By Dr Sarbapriya Ray, Dr Ishita Aditya A man willing to work and unable to find work is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune’s inequality exhibits under the Sun — Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian and philosopher. The transformation brought about by the pandemic has had an enduring impact on our social and economic lives. Economic […]