[Ed] [Eco] Lost opportunity

The RBI should have surprised us, yet again

Having cut the key repo rate by 25 bps to 7.75 per cent barely three weeks earlier, the RBI Governor has fallen back on the wait-and-watch game that characterised monetary policymaking in 2014. Although this may be in keeping with market expectations, the Governor ought to have moved ahead. The situation remains bleak in industry and infrastructure — the latest core sector output

[Ed] Dispossession, development and democracy

While liberalisation’s backers are not squeamish in admitting that democracy is an impediment to the free market economic model, farmers who are dispossessed of land argue that they are undercompensated and that the profit of private companies is not a public purpose

Since it was passed by Parliament in September 2013, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR) has been criticised from all sides. Farmers and social movements argued that LARR failed to adequately compensate land losers, contained large loopholes such as

[Ed] Leaving people out of development

In the urgency to grant industry its due with promises of ‘Make in India,’ the marginalised cannot continue to be victims of grave policy neglect and continuing alienation
For some years now, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)has been perceived as a roadblock to development or a facilitator for the industry depending on which side you are on. Former Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s recent letter

[Ed] [Eco] On expected lines

A fortnight after surprising the markets with a 0.25 percentage point cut in benchmark interest rates, the Reserve Bank of India has opted for a standstill policy on rates in its bimonthly monetary policy review, which is along expected lines. When it cut rates on January 15, the RBI had clearly said that any further easing would be contingent upon data confirming the disinflationary trend and sustained high-quality fiscal consolidation. Given that there has been

[Ed] Importance of underenforcement

Given the secure institutional position of courts, we should err on the side of underenforcement rather than overenforcement
On January 30, 2015, the Supreme Court sent M.V. Jayarajan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to four weeks in prison for criminal contempt of court. In a public speech delivered in 2010, Mr. Jayarajan, who is an ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly for

PIB - 4 Feb 2015

Government Settled Pension Related Complaints: Dr. Jitendra Singh
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh has said that the government has been prompt in disposal of grievances received from pensioners from across the country. The Minister was addressing a meeting of All India Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies of Pensioners (SCOVA), here today. As many as 11,390 pension related

The Hindu News - 4 Feb 2015

RBI raises forex limit

The central bank on Tuesday doubled the amount of foreign exchange that an individual can remit in a year under a scheme that allows asset purchase outside India.

An individual can now remit up to $250,000 a year under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which