Page 280 - Editorial Comment

Comfort and concern

Questions about the growth and investment revival

Govt can fix slowdown in IT industry

A govt wanting to make governance 'smart' by spending on technology can give a leg-up to vendors in this sector

A regulatory frontier

Regulation of domestic work needs careful design

Govt is throttling spectrum supply

Making 700 MHz almost twice as expensive as 800 MHz will put huge burden on the debt-laden telecom industry

Govt should make MGNREGA irrelevant

Instead, NDA is fighting with Congress to exert ownership over the scheme

Negative interest rates to make RBI's work harder

There will be more currency volatility and it could spark competitive depreciation

Good intent, bad effect

Need to build govt capacity to supplement consultants' role

RBI waits for structural reform in Budget

Central bank says govt needs to show commitment to low inflation and fiscal rectitude

Zika could have catastrophic effects

Fighting Zika is tough also because those infected may not show any visible symptoms

Beyond textbook solutions

Crisis brewing in school and college education

Long-delayed right

Women's rights within Hindu Undivided Families strengthened

Alienation of Dalit students is worrying

A fractured polity in which Dalits feel more and more estranged helps nobody

Tweaking TDS norms will be counterproductive

Govt is considering raising the threshold levels for earnings on which taxes are to be deducted at source

Litfests, the pros and cons

How literary festivals can become priceless

Pulse production needs to be ramped up

One way to resolve lingering pulses crisis is to ensure farmers are assured of remunerative prices

Raising EPFO interest rates makes no sense

High rates of such schemes deter banks from dropping borrowing rates - and thus lending rates

Rafale deal: An expensive buy

The purchase eats up defence acquisition budget

Herbal-ayurvedic category back in demand

Patanjali's success shows there is money to be made from health-conscious consumers

Ignore proposals for more tax exemptions

Indian entrepreneurship will get a boost if there is a stable and straightforward tax regime

The Republic at 66

Social discrimination flourishes despite Constitutional guarantees