Bite the bullet on banks

Recent amendments to the RBI Act have drawn expected flak. The criticism that a central bank is only a regulator, and not responsible for handling a crisis, is patently misplaced. Central banks have led the way for addressing banking sector crisis over time and across countries. The plausible fear is that these measures may draw…

Gold Monetisation – Are we there yet?

There are few countries that are as entranced by gold as India. China recently overtook India as the largest consumer of gold. Turkey, like India, has been a gold consuming country with great success in monetising gold. In India, the introduction of the three gold monetisation schemes was the first step towards gold monetisation and…

Kashmir on the Edge

The game plan of terrorists in Kashmir is crystal clear. They will terrorise the population into submission to their reprehensible programme of creating a Wahhabi society in the state. This should not be allowed at any cost. It will sound the death knell of Kashmiryat as we have known it and also perhaps of Jamhooriyat in the state for…

Why India needs a bullion bank

India’s affinity for gold is a well-known fact, so is India’s dependence on gold imports to meet domestic demand. More than 98 percent of the gold consumed in the country is met through import while the rest is met through recycleddomestic gold. In 2015-16, India imported 926 tonnes of gold. Ironically, despite this huge appetite…

Demonetisation and its outcomes

0N APRIL 11, finance minister Arun Jaitley informed the Rajya Sabha that ₹5,400 crore of undisclosed income had been detected since the November 8 announcement that demonetised 86 per cent of the currency in circulation. Critics will surely latch on to this rather measly figure to declare that demonetisation has palpably failed in expropriating owners…

Yogi and the Road Ahead

Distance lends charm. I can vouch for this having spent a week away from Delhi, its alarming morning headlines and hyper competitive television anchors.India with its growing economy, social pluralism and thriving democracy appears far more attractive in Cardiff than from Delhi. I have not been accosted about our failing democracy or the rise of…

India’s Gold Monetisation Story

Back in 2014, realising the potential of domestic stock of gold in the country, the Government of India decided to introduce gold related schemes that would unlock the idle yellow metal lying in private lockers. With the dual objective of reducing import and recycling domestic gold, the Hon’ble Finance Minister of India introduced the gold-troika…

Jobs are crying need of the hour

LARGE-SCALEemployment generation is critical for both Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s electoralprospects in 2019 and rejuvenation of the economy. Continued addition to the ranks of unemployed or underemployed will fuel resentment among the youth who had voted overwhelmingly for Modi in 2014. The PM’s charisma, integrity and current high popularity may not suffice for overcoming widespread…

Designing a new defence economic strategy

Reforms like private sector involvement and optionality approach can make defence procurement and indigenisation viable and ensure India’s military superiority in the subcontinent. over the past three years, there has been a marked focus on implementing defence procurement reforms. Many are of the opinion that India’s focus on defence procurement reforms is unique. However, this…