opinion

Politics | Wuhan Spirit or Chennai Connect, New Delhi must prepare to secure its interests

As India becomes a more proactive player in the international order and China’s troubles with the rest of the world continue to grow, Beijing will target New Delhi even more pointedly.

Disinvestment is not a bad word, all it needs is a rethink

The government should seriously think of selling its stake in loss-making entities operating in the non-strategic sector

Legal Matters: Two Acts and the fight for primacy

To pit the IBC against the PMLA in order to determine which legislation overrides the other is an overly simplistic one.

Machine learning in economics: Should economists worry?

It is a good time for those with a computer science background to think of a career in economics!

Macro Matters | Six points and a story about the slowdown

The slowdown may force the government to raise resources by fulfilling its promise of ‘minimum government’

US-China trade truce: what is the market counting on?

There is great disorder under heaven; the situation is excellent

5 lessons to shield yourselves from future debt fund mishaps

 Investors, financial advisors and fund houses have much to learn from the debt fund fiasco of the past year 

Opinion | Neither capitalism nor socialism, RSS shows the ‘Third Way’ for economy

The organisation, which is now watched keenly, is going to pursue the cause of ‘Bharatiya’ thought even more vigorously than before

Policy | On deposit insurance, the system went to sleep for a quarter century

Deposit insurance in India protects up to Rs 1 lakh of a depositor’s money — an incredibly low figure by whichever way you seek to measure it. This level was fixed over a quarter century ago in 1993.

Two charts that show the India-China trade relationship

You can make out that the real problem is the lack of competitiveness of Indian exports.

Macro Matters | IMF and Moody’s say India will likely miss its government debt reduction targets

Moody’s estimates corporate tax cuts will add 0.1 percentage point to India’s GDP growth.

Politics | Modi-Xi Chennai Summit: A surprise is still possible

Though there are constraints in the bilateral ties, through limited strategic and balance of power considerations, the India-China story could be much bigger than perceived.

Politics | Informal dialogues cannot resolve structural problems between India and China

The most charitable explanation for the informal summits between India and China is that these are merely holding exercise for the two sides — to maintain the impression that all is well in the relationship while each concentrates on other priorities.

RBI has rejected Indiabulls Housing–Lakshmi Vilas Bank merger. What next?

RBI’s rejection of the deal basically indicates that it does not trust the books of non-bank companies, particularly, those with links to the real estate sector. That would have ripple effect across the sector and increases the risk of contagion as fear and a trust deficit spreads throughout the financial system.

Opinion | Not scrapping IUC is anti-consumer. It is a deterrent to making India a digital society

The IUC regime is an incentive for incumbents to keep providing outdated 2G services and avoid shifting to full VoLTE 4G networks

Policy | Private sector salaries should be linked to the same inflation metric as govt employees

The DA hike for government employees comes at a time when their private counterparts find it tough to convince their employers for a parity of treatment.

Policy | Deferring zero IUC is a lose-lose situation for all telecom stakeholders

The underlying basis of scrapping interconnect usage charges (IUC) was the maximisation of consumer welfare in a sustained manner and adoption of more efficient technologies that are vital for orderly growth of the telecom services sector in India.

Politics | Pakistan’s shadow will loom large over Mamallapuram

Chinese President Xi Jinping comes to India after having met with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing for the China-Pakistan Business Forum. Therefore, Kashmir, CPEC and terrorism could be tricky subjects at the summit.

Politics | Decoding Mohan Bhagwat’s Vijayadashami address

From the RSS chief’s speech it is more than evident that he is satisfied with the performance of the Narendra Modi government — but the cautionary signals are also clear.

Consumption tracker | What early company updates say about what to expect in Q2

Early company updates show that the consumer economy remains under stress but there’s a way out of slow growth

Macro Matters | How does India score on structural reforms?

Countries with a large informal sector benefit the most from reform

Opinion | IUC backpedaling another instance of regulatory instability

It is time India’s telecom regulator takes a stand to stick to its decisions, deferring it only raises doubts

Opinion | IUC is a subsidy for those resisting progress

If Digital India must be more than just a slogan, the telecom regulator and the government should keep their word. By doing so they will be sending the message that they are pro-consumer, pro-technology and anti-subsidy for those who don’t deserve it.