Author: Ram Manohar

Synopsis: India needs Electric Vehicles to protect the environment and acquire a permanent place in the new global order. Introduction Fossil-fuel-based transportation has resulted in pollution around the world. India has nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the world I.e., Greater Noida, Noida, Lucknow, and Delhi, etc. Thus, the government is steadily encouraging… Continue reading Is India ready for a world where electric vehicles will dominate transportation?

Synopsis: Cheap, reliable and clean energy are means to fulfil the energy demand and these will determine the success of the global climate action movement. Introduction The random power cuts that last 5-7 minutes hurt commercial operations more than the long-scheduled cuts. This is especially true for small-scale industrial outfits with basic operational setups (like… Continue reading People may now be ready for a renewable revolution

Synopsis: India must protect its interests in WTO on fishery subsidies Introduction The issue on fishery subsidies was first raised during the WTO’s Doha ministerial meet in 2001. The basic objective of the global pact on fisheries subsidies, was to discipline or eliminate subsidies that encouraged illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The provision of special… Continue reading Differential treatment: On fisheries subsidies issue at WTO

Synopsis: India’s start-up ecosystem is radically breaking from its past in company valuations, unicorn numbers, funding round sizes, foreign interest, and growth. Introduction The three acts of entrepreneurship from five years ago — Jio, UPI, and GST have converged to accelerate startup ecosystem. This triad of private, nonprofit, and government courage demonstrates the economic upsides… Continue reading The New Economic Scrabble

Synopsis: RBI’s recent actions against auditors highlight the need for role clarity as well as coordination among regulators Introduction Recently, the RBI had issued an order debarring a firm of chartered accountants from undertaking any type of audit assignment in any RBI regulated entity for a period of two years. This action has been taken,… Continue reading Who is my regulator?: On RBI’s recent actions against auditors

Synopsis: New revelations underline how the Facebook company is sheltering hate speech in India. Introduction In September 2021, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee had submitted eight complaints to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. This is the regulatory body that exercises oversight over the capital markets and companies like Facebook Inc which are listed… Continue reading 5 Questions On Facebook

Synopsis: The Quarterly Employment Survey is based on an outdated frame and will result in incorrect estimates. Introduction Recently, the Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, released the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) results for April-June 2021 for non-farm industries in the organised sector. However, the findings of QES met with muted scepticism… Continue reading It’s time for a new QES

Synopsis: The post-pandemic fiscal future would depend on the way government expenditure is directed. Introduction Tax collection in the current fiscal year is likely to exceed the Budget estimate by a significant margin. This would enable the government to increase growth-enhancing capital expenditure and also help reduce the fiscal deficit to some extent. What is… Continue reading India’s post-pandemic fiscal future

Synopsis: This article elucidates why patents cannot be granted to artificial intelligence (AI) programs. Introduction In April 2020, the South African patent office granted a patent to an artificial intelligence (AI) program called DABUS (‘Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience). DABUS used fractal geometry to come up with a better design for food… Continue reading The awkward grant of patents to artificial intelligence

Synopsis: Adjusted for land holding, the Punjab farmer is doing poorly, and the culprit is paddy. By shifting from rice to maize and diversifying to fruits and vegetables, farmers in Punjab and Haryana can earn more, while practicing sustainable farming. What are key findings of the latest Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of agri households? As… Continue reading How Punjab can shine again with nutritional security and climate-friendly agriculture