RESEARCH

F ar better than the Congress, much less than liberal economics, but an urge to push it within the confines of political realism — that is how the Modi government’s performance can be summarised. Liberals who supported the Bharatiya janata Party’s campaign in the hope of a revival of the national economy, but who are not in touch with functionaries of the government, have had occasions of despair. Why so many foreign trips? Why has one minister been entrusted with two of the most important portfolios, both of which demand full-time involvement? Why no thrust on Hindutva? These are some of the FAQs the government must live with. After meeting some economists the prime minister trusts, I sought to allay concerns of the Right-of-Centre supporters of the party on Facebook. In the group Youth for democracy, I wrote, “… the new dispensation is severely short of intellectuals, one of whom can replace him (Arun Jaitley) in the Finance Ministry. It is not politically feasible to bring som...

The prime minister spoke like a leader with a large heart, sharing the plight of the marginalised classes across the world. He transcended his Indian nationality in doing so when he counted the people without basic amenities in billions, and urged all nations, especially the developed economies, to fight deprivation together. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September Q uite expectedly, Prime Minister of India Narendra Damodardas Modi held the well-attended house of United Nations General Assembly captive to his world vision this early New York morning when the attendance has otherwise been historically low. Beginning his speech with invocation of the Indian/Hindu philosophy of vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family), he soon moved on to mentions of developing societies as well as troubled spots around the globe. And for every problem, he urged the UN to come up with a concerted effort of solution-finding. The appeal f...

W hen you get into something but end up not getting what you wanted from it, you use a euphemism to describe your stint: Experience. An optimist, I wouldn’t say I have wasted the last three years of my life chasing a chimera of vyawastha parivartan (systemic change). First Baba Ramdev and then KN Govindacharya promised India would change under their pressure, sharing with me kind of revised versions of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s prescriptions for change. Then a senior journalist and close associate literally dragged me into the Aam Aadmi Party, forcing me to dump my ideological reservations against socialists Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. The virtual, non-committal and vocal socialists I have dealt with I came out of each of the three groups, following experiences of serious discomfiture in the company of those who dream of bringing back the glory of Gupta-Maurya epochs to India and those who are simply control freaks, trying to impose the state on...

What the permission given to farmers to sell their produce outside APMC markets of Delhi means, and how much farther the capital and the rest of India must travel to ensure fair competition in the market and, thus, higher prices for the farmer but reduced prices for the consumer O n Tuesday, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung, in consultation with the Centre, approved the proposal to cease regulation of marketing of fruits and vegetables in the market area beyond the principal yard and sub-yard at three vegetable mandi s — aka APMC markets — in the city. That is, the selling has to be conducted outside the confines of the three established dalal markets at Azadpur, Keshopur and Shahdara. Azadpur mandi traders during a strike in February 2014 The amendment in the rules would also lift the bar on establishment of new markets by other players like co-operative societies, Kisan Mandi s, NAFED, Mother Dairy, Safal etc. bringing competition in the marketing of fruits and ...

Surajit Dasgupta , a former journalist, was Aam Aadmi Party’s founding member and was also part of its National Council. However, he quit AAP much before the Delhi Assembly polls that were held in December 2013 due to certain differences over the working of the party. In an interview with  Manisha Singh  of  Zee Media Corp , he spoke about the contradictions within the AAP, the reasons why he resigned from the party and also what he thinks of Arvind Kejriwal. Here are excerpts from the interview. The full interview: Why did you join Aam Aadmi Party in the first place? And what were some of the pertinent issues over which you disagreed with the party and due to which you subsequently left AAP?   As an individual since 2010 and as a part of the organisation Youth for Democracy (Y4D) since early 2011, I had been fighting for the cause of vyawastha parivartan (systemic change). One of the patrons of Y4D was KN Govindacharya who had come out of his RSS shell and B...