24: Why the Idea of a Cracker Ban Was a Flight of Fancy
In the run-up to Diwali this year the Delhi government banned sale and bursting of firecrackers. But nothing really changed. Begging the lar...
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Mint Capital Calculus
It is fair to conclude that in a democracy all policy is politics. Ergo, all policy interventions should also be seen through the prism of politics. In this podcast, Anil Padmanabhan will ex...
Episodes
20 of 24 episodes23: Myth and Reality of Fighting India’s Air Pollution
This week the Air Quality Index in Delhi and its vicinity began to rapidly deteriorate. Setting in motion the annual blame game. In this epi...
22: COVID-19 Widens India's Inequality Divide
The covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the Indian economy. Less discussed is the economic scarring this has caused to those at the bottom of the...
21: 2020: A gap year for the world economy and India
The world economy is projected to contract by 4.4%. This recession is unprecedented and risks reversing the hard-won gains against poverty b...
20: India is facing a syndemic, not a pandemic
India may be winning the battle against the covid-19 pandemic. It needs to worry about the cure: tackling the prevailing NCD epidemic. If no...
19: RBI, Finance Ministry team up to jumpstart the Indian economy
Over the weekend, first the Reserve Bank of India and later the finance ministry swung into action. The big bet is that together they stand...
18: The September Surprise from the Indian Economy
After a long time, the Indian economy had a run of good news. Suggesting things are on the mend. But it begs the obvious question: Does one...
17: Karma of a Widening Centre, States Trust Deficit
The relationship between the centre and states is plumbing new lows. Testing India’s federal polity as it were. Will it derail the much need...
16: A REVOLT OF THE RICH PEASANTS OF PUNJAB, HARYANA
The union government’s decision to legislate second-generation reforms of the farm sector has run into a political storm. This episode looks...
15: Will the Truce Between India and China Hold Up
India’s problem with China along the Line of Actual Control is not going away. Despite the recent move to declare a truce, both sides are ye...
14: Like It or Not, India’s Babudom Is Poised for a Makeover
Last week the union government did the unthinkable. It rolled out a plan to reform the Indian bureaucracy. Dubbed as Mission Karmayogi, it p...
13: The Idea of One Nation, One Tax Is Under Siege
The Good and Service Tax or GST was developed on the idea of a new federal polity. Defined by the ideology of cooperative federalism. Three...
12: India's Next Big Bet: Internal Globalization
Almost everyone believes in India’s potential. But its inability to eliminate the myriad social and economic barriers has been its undoing....
11: PM Modi’s Independence Day Message: Yes We Can, Yes We Will
Next year India will celebrate its 75th year of Independence. A significant moment. The big question is what will India look like 75 years l...
10: It's Time for India to Walk the Talk on a Second Economic Stimulus
The Indian economy too has been devastated by the economic crisis induced by the COVID pandemic. Initially, the priority was on saving. Now...
9: NEP 2020: PERFECTION CAN BE THE ENEMY OF GOOD
The Union government unveiled the long-awaited National Education Policy last week. Very unlike a normal government policy document, it lays...
8: A Glimmer Of Hope For India's Growth Story
Most indicators suggest that the Indian economy may have just overcome its worst moments. More importantly it is drawing the right kind of a...
7: India's Second Tryst with Destiny: Birth of the Data Democracy
Increasingly tough questions are being posed to the tech majors on their exploitation of personal data of millions of users. India is unique...
6: Ease of doing business: It’s time to walk the talk
The big picture is that India is doing great on ease of doing business. None other than the World Bank says so. But the ground reality is th...
5: Time to look at a pandemic budget
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing a mindset reset. Maybe it's time to do the same with public policy spending to align it with the new priori...