opinion

Emperor Xi reinvents Chinese Checkers: Only CPC wins

For too long, Delhi has been hesitant to impose costs for Beijing’s military adventurism, preferring instead to settle matters diplomatically. In doing so, India has failed to realise that while Xi Jinping’s China is irrational, it is not an entirely unpredictable actor

India has an opportunity as EU’s suspicions about China are growing

India must strengthen ties with EU as Europe is shifting its approach towards an assertive China

Legal Matters | Decriminalise economic offences, but with uniformity

The recent proposal to remove jail-term for certain economic offences contains inherent contradictions

The other side of fiscal deficits

A continued and substantial general fiscal deficit is required to satisfy the domestic private sector’s desire for financial security

Rebranding of fairness creams is a tiny step against colourism

More than renaming or withdrawing fairness products, what is urgently needed is a people’s movement against racism and colourism in India, which would necessarily be against casteism as well

Monsoon watch: Rainfall moderates, sowing soars

Cumulative rainfall is still well above normal levels but sowing sets a scorching space

Before boycotting China, India needs to build better economic ties with other countries

Boosting trade and investment opportunities with countries such as Taiwan could help in weaning India from its economic dependency on China

Chart of the Day | Whatever happened to Digital India?

Cash usage has gone up by leaps and bounds during the pandemic

Chart of the Day | India’s fiscal deficit this year much higher than during Global Financial Crisis

The scope for a bigger fiscal stimulus is limited

Trade becomes a hostage to Galwan stand-off

The sudden and surprise move to stall clearance of Chinese consignments at ports could boomerang on India’s economic rebuilding process

Farm sector holds promise amid coronavirus gloom

Contrary to manufacturing and services, the prospects for the agricultural sector are now looking distinctly bright

Rama Bijapurkar: Fair & Lovely’s rebranding brings new opportunities for HUL and competitors

This forced churning, like all forced churning, might even do the brand franchise good, and enable it to compete in a more mainstream manner and appeal to a wider audience. The loser in this is a whole lot of consumers who really wanted fairness

Venugopal Dhoot’s fall is entirely of his own making

Dhoot’s fortunes went downhill after debt of the Videocon group started to spiral out of control

Cycling in cities | The distance between aspiration and reality

There are several changes that need to occur before Mumbai — or any metro in India — can visualise being an Amsterdam-like biking haven. Besides better infrastructure, there would be a need for awareness, empathy on the streets and shedding of social stigma

An intransigent China is a clear and present threat to India’s territorial integrity

It is unclear how India will reorient its China policy in the long term. Independent of specific policy components, it must resolve the crisis of credibility that has long plagued India’s strategy towards China

Politics | Kerala’s political leaders make a mockery of gender sensitivity

Misogynist statements and sexist comments are disturbingly commonplace in Kerala, especially in politics and popular culture. All these point towards a larger malaise in societal Kerala with its high human development indices

Chart of the Day: HUL’s cost of equity hits a 15-year low, what that means for India Inc

HUL’s cost of equity fell sharply in FY20 taking its cost of capital down. Why is this important for investors?

MSME Day | With right policies, 2021 can see an MSME boom in India

Cut the regulatory cholesterol of complex laws and cumbersome paperwork — this will help small businesses focus their resources and energies towards efficiency and higher productivity

A hawkish opposition to Chinese imports is ill-founded

The impact of an India boycott on the Chinese economy is insignificant; while for India, such a boycott means a losing game

Will the India-China stand-off drive India’s auto industry to Atmanirbharta?

Although there has been no formal announcement by the government to ban imports from China, the industry’s concerns are not unfounded

The case for a unique business identifier for Indian MSMEs

Solving the identity problem is necessary to enable a shift away from a survival mindset and towards a growth mindset

A warning about high asset prices from the IMF

IMF: A number of triggers could result in a repricing of risk assets, a development that could add financial stress on top of an already unprecedented economic recession

For ‘Boycott China’ to work, think like the Chinese

The government will need to bring down the cost structure and improve the way businesses operate in India

Bringing cooperative banks under RBI supervision is a good move, but it is not enough

Government should introduce bankruptcy law for financial corporations and the central bank should beef up supervisory capability