Category First Post
BJP’s dilemma: Why Modi’s party cannot be all-things-to-all people like Congress
http://m.firstpost.com/politics/bjps-dilemma-why-modis-party-cannot-be-all-things-to-all-people-like-congress-1848115.html by R Vaidyanathan Dec 13, 2014 14:32 IST Throughout the last century, post-independent India witnessed what were popularly called anti-Congress fronts of various hues. Sometimes those who left the Congress formed their own parties (at various points, GK Moopanar, Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar and AK Antony did that); at other times, they also joined […]
How BJP’s rise is changing the entire contours of Regional politics
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/how-bjps-rise-is-changing-the-entire-contours-of-regional-politics-1728475.html By R Vaidyanathan Sep 25, 2014 15:15 IST The victory of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls is likely to pose a major challenge to the Congress way of dealing with regional parties. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Congress encouraged some of them, like the Shiv Sena, to fight the Communists. But […]
Memo to FM: An education bank, easy loans to India Uninc, tax breaks for savers – and my dog
http://www.firstbiz.com/economy/memo-fm-education-bank-easy-loans-india-uninc-tax-breaks-savers-dog-87286.html Since it is customary to give unsolicited advice to the finance minister in the run-up to the budget, here are some. In order to make it easy for the finance minister to quickly get the gist, the suggestions are short, and, in most cases, the operative details are in bullet points. Setting […]
SIT on black money: If there is political will, it should go for gold and a big haul
By Prof R. Vaidyanathan First Post—FirstBiz—31-05-2014 More than six years ago, in February 2008, the German authorities had collected information about illegal money stashed away by citizens of various countries in a Liechtenstein bank. The German Finance Minister offered to share the names of these account-holders with any government interested in them. The UPA-1 government, […]
Voters’ names missing, a two-month election: India deserves a better EC
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/voters-names-missing-a-two-month-election-india-deserves-a-better-ec-1507903.html By Prof R Vaidyanathan On May 4, 2014 The 2014 elections are coming to a close and praise for the world’s largest democracy conducting peaceful elections has been heaped on India, by most of our own media. The Election Commission also pats itself on the back for the massive task undertaken and pretends that […]
Here’s an interesting idea to increase the savings rate of Indians
A professor from a European University was amused, nay fascinated, to see the sump at my house and was very curious to learn all about it. I explained that we stored water in it. He asked why? “To pump it up,” I said. He asked: “Then what happens?” I answered: “We pump it down.” But […]
Gujarat model is antidote to failed Bengal model of Nehru and Mahalanobis
Jawaharlal Nehru’s model of the heavy-handed state had the backing of Bengali intellectuals like PC Mahalanobis. It has failed miserably. Time to take up the freedom oriented Gujarat model. AFP Whenever someone talks of the Gujarat model of development, experts on both sides of the political divide pounce on statistics to appreciate or condemn the […]
India Uninc: Predatory state pauperises families and small business
The absence of superannuation benefits in the household sector and a dramatic rise in educational and healthcare expenses has aggravated the sector’s future uncertainties. Also the joint family system is declining. This gets particularly magnified when coupled with the predatory state’s tax impositions intended at funding its profligacy, which it implements both through the direct […]
Don’t kill the chit fund; Saradha wasn’t a chit anyway
It is very unfortunate that the debate on the Saradha multi-layer marketing scam is again and again being discussed as a chit fund gone bad. The solutions being bandied about call for banning all chit fund activities in the country. This has been suggested by none other than the Parliamentary standing committee on finance headed […]
Don’t kill the chit fund; Saradha wasn’t a chit anyway
It is very unfortunate that the debate on the Saradha multi-layer marketing scam is again and again being discussed as a chit fund gone bad. The solutions being bandied about call for banning all chit fund activities in the country. This has been suggested by none other than the Parliamentary standing committee on finance headed […]
Vaidyanathan 