Best of BS Opinion: Big questions of the economy, Hong Kong protests & more

Is the government on the ball as far as the economy is concerned? This is a principal concern on the opinion pages on a day after the Sensex again, Kanika Datta sums up the views

Is the government on the ball as far as the economy is concerned? This is a principal concern on the opinion pages on a day after the Sensex crashed – again – and a government-appointed panel rolled back penal provisions in the Corporate Social Responsibility law. Hong Kong’s protests, Brexit and Zee’s search for a strategic investor are the other topics. Kanika Datta sums up the views.

What exactly did Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long interview to the Economic Times – the first since his re-election – tell us about his government’s plans to revive a flagging economy? There were multiple reassuring messages for bankers and industry leaders all right, but how far these will galvanise the economy only time will tell, says A K Bhattacharya. Read it here

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has met industry representatives, raising expectations of some sort of revival package. But sector-based concessions would be the wrong way to go about it, argues the first edit. Focusing on the macro-economy and addressing the chronic over-valuation of the rupee in discussion with the RBI would be a better route to follow. Read it here

On Hong Kong, the Chinese government is caught in a bind, since a Tiananmen-style crackdown would impact the territory’s status as a global financial hub that underwrites the Chinese economy. Read it here

Britain’s inability to reach an acceptable Brexit deal reflects the shortcomings of UK’s democracy in practice, says Parthasarathi Shome. Read it here 

Zee’s disappointing deal with Invesco could be a precursor to a better strategic foray, says Vanita Kohli- Khandekar here

Quote of the Day

‘The BJP had initially planned to take over these committees but failed. So now they are trying to threaten puja committees with IT notices’

Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee