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Are India's tariffs too low to sustain a competitive telecom market?
India used the Covid crisis well to bring in long-pending reforms. Agree?
Is the recent festive push enough to pull India out of the Covid grip?
How gamification enhances the virtual workout experience
Gamification incites motivation and amplifies engagement, which are critical to staying committed to the fitness path
Did India make a mistake by not joining the RCEP deal?
Do you think the recovery being seen is because of pent-up demand & festive spending?
Contract farming: A win-win for both farmers and buyers
It brings in efficiencies of scale for marginal farmers, increasing their income and assuring corporations of quality, quantity and on-time delivery of produce
Letters to the editor dated October 29, 2020
Extend the deadlineWith reference to the report Interest waiver: Lenders, credit bureaus race against time to identify borrowers (October 29), thoug
Needed, a new regulator to oversee MFs
Sophistry trumps substance in this case where all parties missed the woods for the trees. SEBIs inaction wasnt traceable till April 14, when the
Letters to the editor dated October 27, 2020
Tears over onionsWith reference to the news report Traders stay away from onion auctions at Lasalgaon (October 27), one fails to comprehend the rati
Bihar elections: Do womens votes count?
Given the rigid social structure, it is likely that women have little political agency in this State
Lockdown: The financial impact on Indias youth
Loss of employment and business opportunities has eroded the financial well-being of the youth
Felling 10,000 trees to expand the Dehradun airport spells disaster
Letters to the editor dated October 26, 2020
US Presidential electionGiven what Donald Trump and Joe Biden represent and their starkly different views and visions, it shouldnt be difficult for t
Letters to the editor dates October 22, 2020
Bonus to Central govt staffThe government declaring productivity-linked bonus to Central Government employees of over 3,700 crore for the ensuing fes
Re-imaging agriculture through the lens of food processing industry
The Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated the criticality of food security and food surplus management in the current policy space. To this end, policy st
A Nobel reward for auction designers
Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have brought path-breaking innovations in the design of auctions
Why agriculture sectors share in rural employment is declining
Insufficient public investment for agrarian development and inadequate access to institutional credit apart, frequent droughts and floods are reasons for the declining tr
True North eyes bio-ethanol investment, acquires Synata Bio in India
This partnership claims to provide much cheaper ethanol production from coal, TNVP's founder Michael Ahearn told ET.
Gold's safe haven status continues
A consensual approach is more durable
How to ensure income security for seniors
The Draft National Policy for Senior Citizens has rightly placed emphasis on promoting the existing pension programmes
Social media to the rescue Social media can be used for good cause too. And here is how. A teary-eyed video of the pandemic-hit owner of a food stall
Farm reforms: Centre must take States on board
A national consensus will not only pre-empt a legal challenge but also help in smooth implementation of the envisaged reforms
Government Ltd: Business-like government or government-like business?
In an electoral democracy, the elected government is akin to a public limited company, supposedly with unlimited liability. Its objectives being the
Rejection, resilience and rebound
A new book that serves as a simple, powerful guide to processing rejection, and bouncing back
Allowing borrowers to hijack the debate on the hardships caused by Covid and to extend one-sided stimulus packages ignore small savers and depositors
Durga Bhabhi, the unsung warrior of India under Raj
If you have not heard of Durga Bhabhi, please do not be ashamedmany great names are lost in the labyrinth of the past as voters and dynasties take charge.
Read aloud to laugh out loud in this weird age of masked mirth
One could insure oneself against the grimness of news by reading stuff thats guaranteed to tickle
Vaccine Phasebook: The Essence of Trials
Neither the volunteers nor the researchers should know who will receive what treatment
Women should feel free to chase their ambitions
The Ambadi case cant be viewed in isolation. Women seeking business leadership roles find themselves struck down too often. Male attitudes must change and gender policies
Living room walkathons and YouTube fat-to-flat tutorials
Like work-from-home, working-out-at-home has gone viral, and how. It doesnt matter how big or small your house is. People are moving furniture out of the way for their in
Lessons from Bihars abolition of its APMC system for farmers
The retreat of APMCs may not help farmers without a regulatory framework for private markets
China is paying a big price for its Himalayan blunder
Xi Jinping may have seen the worlds preoccupation with covid as an ideal time to make progress on his expansionist agenda but he might have bitten off more than he can ch
B-schools should flourish under Indias revised education policy
The internationalization of higher education will open up space for a range of innovative approaches to business education
The complex matter of TV news regulation in India
Independent, self-regulatory authority that oversees news channels needs statutory rights
These law revisions should improve the ease of doing business in the country, though it seems the authority to lift many of the old strictures that businesses complain of
The case for universal responses to crises of humanity
We must study behavioural traits common to all humans for solutions to problems like our pandemic
A Tata-Mistry divorce deal may prove thorny
Mistrys family selling its stake in Tata Sons to the conglomerate could end a long corporate battle. Divergences over legal rights and the firms valuation, though, might
Fraenkels theory of the dual state may need an update
The ratio of normative and prerogative state authority seems to differ under populist dictatorships
A weaker currency could lend Indian products and services a price edge in export markets. But RBIs mandate is to keep retail prices in control. And, given the rupees conv
The economic case for Joe Biden as Americas president
Donald Trump has weakened the US economy while Biden has shown he cares about peoples prosperity
Data collection could help India tackle its food inflation problem
An app that uses field inputs from farmers to forecast harvest-time prices could help us contain market gluts and shortages
India must fix its banks before time runs out
Viral Acharya and Raghuram Rajan have proposed wide-ranging reforms for a sector thats flashing danger signals. A retreat of the state in favour of private participation
An appropriate way to go about regulating technology
There are heartening signs of inputs being taken from domain experts in tech policy formulation
We should review our approach to curbs placed on free speech
Its about time India clearly laid down what constitutes an expression of hatred or act of blasphemy
Indeed, there is scope for vast improvement on several fronts, as Rajan and Acharya see it, from the performance of state-run banks and the way they handle dud loans to t
Do not let cynicism stall our farm sector reforms
The broad idea is to open up this market to private buyers and let farmers gain from better price realizations. State procurement is set to continue. The changes should n
Our new farm policy seen through Sharad Joshis lens
This leader of farmers would have welcomed Indias reformist spirit but asked for anxieties to be allayed
Prepare for economic life after the demise of Bretton Woods II
The global currency regime is about to collapse and India will have to reset its policies accordingly
An unfounded fear of the fisc will worsen our economy
Arguments against fiscal expansion lack validity and the Centre should borrow the idle funds of banks
The TikTok saga and why the net must run on democratic ideals
India might have a good opportunity to lead the world in ushering in a golden age of a democratically-controlled internet
Are ARCs being reconstructed now?
Restricting ARCs from acquiring control is not rational. If a business has intrinsic value and an ARC wants to hold onto it, regulations shouldnt come in the way. Unlike
How covid-19 is killing good manners
Shaking hands, sitting in close proximity and holding the door might be preserved.., just as theyve retained archaic formalisms in contracts and flowery language in diplo
A revolt of the rich peasants of Punjab, Haryana
The agitation puts the spotlight on the rarely discussed risks underlying farming
Worse, a vaccine riding to our rescue by early 2021 is still a hope rather than a done deal and coronavirus cases still seem to be spiralling up too fast to permit a retu
A covid guide to flying through an exasperating jumble of rules
Fliers must deal with useless documents, possibly fictitious apps and other riddles of babu invention
Covid is worsening inequalities of wealth and income
The pandemics unequal burden could leave us with disparities unseen since before the late 19th century
Let the insights of covidnomics shape our policy interventions
A good grasp of human behaviour is fundamental to framing policies that could contain the virus and its economic effects
Wake-up call for Gilgit-Baltistan
In a desperate attempt to guarantee a victory in the forthcoming elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is leaving no stone unturned
Opinion | Deciphering the new margin rules
As per the new system, a client can individually pledge securities directly to the clearing corporation, and the securities will continue to remain in the client's accoun
Deck the clouds with the phosphine gas
If theres phosphine in clouds of Venus, there may be possibility of life on the planet
Investor happiness can inspire a startup boom
The success of Ashok Sootas Happiest Minds IPO speaks of his entrepreneurial reputation. Its also a signal that investors are raring to bet on new ventures. Thats good fo
A slew of crime shows has drawn out the sleuth within us
The binge watching of crime shows afforded by the lockdown seems to have immersed many of us so deeply in their storylines that their characters are part of our social me
A Web 3.0 revolution that could relieve us of our social dilemmas
Platforms are emerging that promise to decentralize the internet again and respect user privacy
A wall crawl to spot when Facebook stopped being fun
As scandals swirl around the social media platform and cryptic notifications arrive on new terms of service, one could scroll back to the time it served us well as an int
Honour Jaitleys grand bargain on GST compensation for states
The Centre should uphold its end of the deal with states as it would not only be more efficient but also help foster federalism
Interest rate cuts are dead. Long live rate cuts
Asias central banks are moving away from reductions in borrowing costs as the primary tool of monetary easing
Online furniture brands gain from work-from-home regimen
As personal space collided with office work, people scrambled to redesign homes
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das wants banks in India to care more for depositors than borrowers. Its their money, after all, that is being handed out to do
Why Reliance Retail isnt quite the sure bet its seen to be
Economic and market realities suggest that the groups retail prospects are largely being overestimated
The reckless brinksmanship of Boris Johnson as Brexit nears
The problem goes beyond the British prime ministers move to violate an international agreement
The value of letting observers into Indian boardrooms
Done with clear rules, it could overcome a scarcity of board seats and also aid a firms governance
Rationalize regulatory overlaps to unleash our digital economy
Policy coherence will prevent confusion and provide the soft-touch regulation necessary for the growth of digital markets
Opinion | Saudi-India partnership a key in addressing covid-19 crisis
As India prepares itself for G20 Presidency in 2022, it is important for the country to articulate its position based on research and consultations and its needs and requ
Taxpayers whove lost their jobs need relief
As India has no safety net for those who cant subsist on MGNREGA wages, the government should let the laid-off have a years worth of their income tax back as a zero-inter
Monetary policy in the absence of a divine coincidence
An economy susceptible to supply shocks might need an escape clause in its policy framework
A neglected X-factor that lies at the core of our economic stasis
The aggressive pursuit of black money has hurt animal spirits but it can yet be used for a recovery
America is yet to suffer the most treacherous part of its pandemic
Sustained fatalities, tapering economic relief, political recklessness and vaccine scepticism bode ill for the US this fall season
Opinion | Toyota needs a revisit of its business model
To claim that India has a we dont want you taxation policy after Indias historic corporate tax cut is extremely unfair to the government
India must reset its priorities amid multiple crises
Elections are not fought on issues of public interest, but on issues coined by political leaders
Anxiety levels are high and consumers are seen conserving cash. This is understandable, given the income uncertainty triggered by pandemic-driven layoffs effected by comp
The policy conundrum that stagflation poses
RBI has seen inflation hover above its tolerance limit for three successive months now. Even if its able to quell its imported component, India may not be able to escape
The best way to vaccinate most Indians in the least time
We need both a government subsidy and a free market for vaccines to fight the covid pandemic
India needs a new strategy for an era of a weakening US dollar
Our forex management needs revision in response to the US Feds new monetary policy framework
A coalition that could help secure our Afghan interests
New Delhi, Tehran and Moscow could coordinate their efforts on Afghanistan as the US exits
We must renew our commitment to enhancing Indias forest cover
Californias wildfires remind us that climate change is real and the quest to increase our green cover needs a fresh impetus
How to fight back against coronavirus vaccine phobia
Its possible to debunk misinformation, above all by emphasizing facts, and not drawing a lot of attention to falsehoods
Will China hold up its side of the truce bargain?
India needs to assume that it will be at the receiving end of more Chinese aggression
While its true that multi-cap funds are supposed to vary their stock selection, making fund managers adhere to a stiff ratio of stock categories would force them to manag