Page 10 - T N Ninan

Heralding a digital future for India: Aadhaar, Jio, Jan Dhan and GST

The rules for a new digital world will have to be framed carefully to prevent business capture as well as political misuse, and to protect citizens from predatory action, writes T N Ninan

Down the primrose path: BJP, Congress and a coarsening public discourse

BJP is not the only one to blame, but, being the new pole party in Indian politics, it should have sought to improve political conduct rather than setting the unfortunate tone, writes T N Ninan

The BJP election manifesto: High on output, short on outcome

If an election promise has to be credible, silence on practical questions or key policy issues doesn't help matters, writes T N Ninan

Promise, reality: Cong manifesto backs freedom, but spending plan worrying

Party unequivocally backs individual freedoms, but its commitment to increase government expenditure on key areas will be hard to implement, writes T N Ninan

Is sluggishness in investment demand a price we pay for efficiency?

Greater efficiencies in infra sectors and saturation of under-served markets have reduced the need for capital investment; national accounts should capture these in GDP calculations, writes T N Ninan

Why no bankruptcy procedure for bleeding govt-owned enterprises?

Subjecting public sector companies to a process similar to the kind private ones faced would force the govt to explain why it continues to pour money into these bottomless pits, writes T N Ninan

Defence acquisitions: A choice between tweedledum and tweedledee

Are the elaborate processes and procedures for buying weapons sub-optimal precisely because they are so elaborate, questions T N Ninan

Why the focus has shifted back from 'aspirational' to 'aam aadmi'

Lurking hidden in the new bout of welfarism seems to be an admission that the state can't deliver for the poor anything other than cash, writes T N Ninan

Interim Budget 2019: Here are high points and flip sides of Jaitley Budgets

Despite subsidies being controlled, revenue expenditure has risen nearly as fast as capex; pressure lies ahead in provisioning for relief to farmers and some kind of basic income, writes T N Ninan

East-South divergence: The glaring skew in the revenues of Indian states

While equalisation of state finances and of Lok Sabha representation can't be addressed simultaneously, persisting with inequalities is no one's prescription for national unity, writes T N Ninan

Still a Fudget: Why the Union Budget remains someone's version of the facts

One way to present a truer picture of the country's fiscal health is to switch to a system that recognises and reports off-the-books liabilities, writes T N Ninan

Why Mr Modi regrets not being able to woo the 'real' Lutyens Delhi

Perhaps his angst stems from the fact that the BJP is still cast as the subaltern and does not yet constitute the establishment, or what passes for it, writes T N Ninan

The push-back against Beijing: Will China still have the last laugh?

Mr Trump's tariffs will hurt the US as much as China, and businessmen in most countries are fearing losses in the Chinese market, should their governments become hostile to Beijing, writes T N Ninan

The DNA of growth: Much noise about the environment, very little action

Setting aside escapist solutions, we should at least understand why corrective action has not followed better understanding of the problem and its growing urgency, writes T N Ninan

Why Opposition unity may not work as well in 2019 as it did in 1977

Back then, people weren't voting for an alliance, but against Congress and Indira Gandhi. This time, while BJP has taken a beating, its leader still stands tall, writes T N Ninan

Sustained corporate turnaround will steer broader economic uptick

While the 1,000 largest listed companies have seen performance bottoming out, observers see full corporate recovery only in 2019-20, writes T N Ninan

Budget beyond taxes--it's time to focus on non-tax part of revenue

Much more money is being collected as tax but, relative to the growing economy, the govt is shrinking. Milking poorly performing or easily marketable assets will deliver more money for key schemes

Starving defence even as military edge erodes, and the enemy flexes muscles

As a share of GDP, defence expenditure is down to 1.5 per cent in the fifth Budget of the Modi government, from 1.8 per cent in the terminal year of the last government

T N Ninan: Jio Mukesh! And hope his competitors will 'Jio' too

Jio has turned profitable within 18 months of its 'launch' but that's no reason to ignore the competitors' plight who have been incurring losses

TN Ninan: Choosing one's facts

Does the bulk of the media have a political bias? Perhaps it doesn't matter so long as one can speak truth to power. But as in the case of the now-famous death of a judge, was it truth at all?