Best of BS Opinion: Disinvestment blues, sorry state of policing, and more

From how India could become the world's second largest e-bus market after China to police reform and the purchase of BPCL by IOC, here's a selection of Business Standard Opinion pieces for the day

If people are less poor than before, should we be concerned about high or rising inequality, about how much better-off the rich are, and, if so, why? Does the government's plan to sell its stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd make sense? Why do policy changes become more likely during crises? All of this and more in our opinion section today. Alokananda Chakraborty sums up.

It is claimed that the government is interested in making public-sector units run efficiently, but it appears that it sees them as little more than giant cash cows to fund its spending programmes, argues our top edit.

Poor infrastructure and inadequate training and social sensitisation have all served to accentuate the foundational defects of India’s police force, argues our second edit.

Does inequality matter when poverty is falling? Pranab Bardhan, professor of Graduate School at University of California, Berkeley, offers some answers in the first part of a series.

It may be time to set up a Centre-state council for expenditure, and to re-anchor bond markets, writes Neelkanth Mishra, co-head of Asia Pacific Strategy and India Strategist for Credit Suisse.

E-buses could become cheaper than conventional ones by 2025 on a total-cost-of-ownership basis. That would pave the way for India to become the world’s second largest e-bus market, after China, writes Vandana Gombar, editor, Global Policy for BloombergNEF.

Quote

 

"Dressing room is calm when Hanuma Vihari bats"

- Virat Kohli on Vihari, who emerged as the top run-scorer with 289 runs in the two-match Test series against West Indies which India won 2-0.