Tag: business standard

Context: India’s goal should be to be in the top 50 nations of the world by 2047 in human development and at least a rank below 100 by 2030. These need a prime minister-led human development council under the NITI Aayog. The governing council/ National Development Council itself can be that body with exclusive meetings… Continue reading Needed: A PM’s council for human development

News: Recently the Union Power Min­ister has asked states to set up steering committees at the level of chief secretaries to plan for the energy transition. Why there is a need for power sector reforms? No money spent on capital expenditure: Capital expenditure among states is rising fast, but it is not rising in the… Continue reading Red marks in green power plans amid lack of reform in electricity pricing

News: According to the recent Abridged Life Tables report for the period of 2015-19, the average Indian can expect to live about 69.7 years, around two years more than the life expectancy 10 years ago. Contents1 What are the findings of the report?2 What are the challenges highlighted by the report?3 What are the steps… Continue reading Regarding the Abridged Life Tables report: The longevity puzzle

News: The government has the duty to protect the rights of its citizens. These include the rights to free expression and property also. The right to free expression includes the right to protest. But, the recent UP government decision to demolish property without a full public investigation is a violation of the Right to property.… Continue reading Rights violations – Right to speech and property must be protected

News: The Russia-Ukraine conflict has the potential of creating macroeconomic/financial crises in many countries. Contents1 What is the vulnerability of dependence on Russian oil and gas?2 What is the present status of the Russian oil and gas?3 What is the economic impact at the global level due to higher oil prices?4 What is the critical… Continue reading Economic impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict: Global macro in 2022/2023

News: ‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’ have been notified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). These guidelines have been long overdue. Contents1 What are the key provisions under the new rules?2 Why the new guidelines were necessary?3 What are the challenges involved?4 What is the way forward?… Continue reading Controlling the hard sell

Misery index is a simple sum of a nation’s annual inflation rate and its unemployment rate. The higher the index, the more the misery felt by average citizens. The first Misery Index was constructed by economist Art Okun in the 1960s. The Index has been modified several times, first by Robert Barro of Harvard and… Continue reading Misery Index

News: The government has recently announced eligibility conditions for the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). There is a noticeable difference between the CDS the government wanted in 2019 and what it seems to want today. It is disconcerting that the government has modified the eligibility criteria for appointment as CDS so early in… Continue reading CDS: Unsettled questions

News: The government is poised to launch 75 digital banks soon. What will be launched are Digital Banking Units (DBUs). These are a new way of making available digital products of existing banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). If one thinks that a sleek set of new banks is going to challenge traditional banks, one… Continue reading Fintech challenge is a fantasy

News: In 2022, international trade is being impacted by a continuing global pandemic, a European war, widespread economic sanctions, supply chains disruptions and sudden national bans and caps on exports of essential commodities. Global Trade The World Trade Organization (WTO) estimates that global goods trade has expanded by about 40 times (in terms of volume)… Continue reading International trade remains important