News: Govt earlier this year allowed the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (ISPRL), which runs the SPRs, to lease 30% of capacity and trade another 20%. The decision to commercialise half of India’s paltry SPRs is ill-conceived. What is a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)? SPR initiative was launched in 1998 as India to bolster energy security… Continue reading Trading on a buffer-Can India afford to commercialize its fuel reserves
Category: 9 PM Daily Articles
The efficiency myth of Aadhaar linking
News: Recently, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021. One of the key provisions of the Bill is linking Aadhaar with the electoral rolls. Cash transfers in many welfare programmes, such as payment of MGNREGA wages, are done using the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS). Read more: Linking Aadhaar with electoral rolls… Continue reading The efficiency myth of Aadhaar linking
Questions still on how far labour codes will change gig workers’ lot
News: Although companies claim that they take care of the social security needs of their workforce, but the various surveys suggest a different trend. For example – Uber, incidentally, has scored a zero in the Fairwork India Ratings 2021 on the working conditions of app-based gig workers, as have Ola and Porter. Covid-19 disrupted earnings,… Continue reading Questions still on how far labour codes will change gig workers’ lot
A whiff of trouble in the Nord Stream pipeline
News: The Ukrainian authority has called the Nord Stream 2 project a ‘dangerous geopolitical weapon’. There is also strong opposition from the United States and most of the European countries (except for Austria, Germany, Hungary, and the Netherlands). What was meant to be an ordinary energy project has transformed itself into a powerful geopolitical tool,… Continue reading A whiff of trouble in the Nord Stream pipeline
Joint development of oil tank farm by India, Lanka could alter dynamic of Delhi-Beijing rivalry
News: Sri Lanka’s energy minister has said the India-Lanka development of the strategic Trincomalee oil tank farm will be finalised in January. What are the reasons for the recent economic crisis in Srilanka? The Easter killings of 2019: it dealt a hammer blow to the country’s tourism industry, its main economic activity and source of… Continue reading Joint development of oil tank farm by India, Lanka could alter dynamic of Delhi-Beijing rivalry
Great Power Politics is back with a twist
News: Great power politics between US and China is shaping every dimension of the global order China’s rise has shaken the status quo in the global political order. As a rising power, it is challenging the foundation of the US-led global order. This has led to the US-China strategic competition. Covid-19 has merely accelerated the… Continue reading Great Power Politics is back with a twist
How to protect India’s film heritage
News: The Govt has decided to merge four publicly-funded institutions with National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). Scholars are questioning this treatment, which is based on a misconception that cinema is either an object of information or broadcasting. These cultural institutions have been known to perform better without the shackles of centralised power or unnecessary bureaucratic… Continue reading How to protect India’s film heritage
The value and vulnerability of centralized data storage
News: Data-sharing infrastructure projects in India are accelerating. The most visible developments in Data-sharing infrastructure projects are seen in the financial sector. For instance, the recently-launched account aggregator framework made it possible for over 300 million users to share their data with different financial entities across the credit ecosystem. Similar activity is also underway in… Continue reading The value and vulnerability of centralized data storage
The capital market: Then and now
News: Public issues in capital markets are the route for corporate finance. How the trends of capital markets in India are changing post-liberalisation? Firstly, the share of the private corporate sector in Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) has increased sharply. Secondly, the share of the public sector in GFCF has fallen. Further, the public sector,… Continue reading The capital market: Then and now
Medical postgraduates: Omicron’s Here, Doctors Aren’t
News: Omicron is spreading faster than any virus in history. Latest reports from the UK show that patients with Omicron are 50-70% less likely to be admitted to hospital for treatment. However, observations in Europe and the US show that this milder virus could still put pressure on hospitals because of the speed of spread,… Continue reading Medical postgraduates: Omicron’s Here, Doctors Aren’t
