Abheek Barman VOICES
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Is India as fiscally fit as it is shown to be?
July 26, 2019, 3:10 PM IST
In 1995, when the US’ growth dipped from the previous year’s supercharged 4% to 2.7%, one of the finest macroeconomists of our time was the vice-chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve….
July 26, 2019, 3:10 PM IST
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Beyond the facade of feel-good numbers lies a picture of gloom
July 21, 2019, 2:40 AM IST
On June 11, the former chief economic advisor to the finance ministry, Arvind Subramanian, released a paper called ‘India’s Growth Mis-estimation.’ The paper’s title was enough to ensure it never hit bestseller lists, or become…
July 21, 2019, 2:40 AM IST
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Beyond Hand Gestures
July 11, 2019, 11:02 PM IST
Two days after Lok Sabha 2019 results were declared, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met on May 25. There, Rahul Gandhi took responsibility for the defeat and said he’d step down as party president. Many,…
July 11, 2019, 11:02 PM IST
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Going to the Bahamas? Take the Survey with you
July 4, 2019, 6:08 PM IST
Christopher Columbus started off from Spain to discover India, but ended up in the Bahamas. In similar fashion the Economic Survey, 2018-19, probably started out as a policy document but ended up as a sort…
July 4, 2019, 6:08 PM IST
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A Deluded, Delusional Bengal
June 13, 2019, 11:01 PM IST
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was one of India’s greatest reformers. A polymath, he rationalised Bengali grammar and script, educated thousands as a teacher, and though Brahmin, he fought conservative Brahminism. Most importantly, he won the battle to…
June 13, 2019, 11:01 PM IST
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The real consequences of Harry Potter numbers
June 11, 2019, 4:12 PM IST
In a paper published this month, Indian-born, US-based economist, now faculty of the Centre for International Development at Harvard, Arvind Subramanian drops a bombshell – well, for folks who care about things like measuring growth…
June 11, 2019, 4:12 PM IST
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More Votes, Less Earned
May 27, 2019, 11:06 PM IST
At 10.30am, Thursday, May 23, Nifty 50, the blue-chip index hit 11,994 points. This is its historical high. This means the overwhelming victory of Narendra Modi, and the general rubbing in the dirt of the…
May 27, 2019, 11:06 PM IST
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AAP’s ally with Congress: Nests for migratory birds
May 2, 2019, 11:14 PM IST
Will they, won’t they? The question of whether the Aam Admi Party (AAP) will ally with Congress in Delhi’s Lok Sabha contest, has become as protracted as one of those endless saas-bahu serials. Nothing really…
May 2, 2019, 11:14 PM IST
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Money Where Their Mouths Are
April 24, 2019, 11:27 PM IST
On April 18, two of India’s wealthiest people — Mukesh Ambani, the controller of Reliance Industries (RIL), and Uday Kotak, who runs India’s second-highest valued private bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank — announced their support for…
April 24, 2019, 11:27 PM IST
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FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
When political fortunes change dramatically in many states across India, why are incumbents so sticky in Bengal?
April 11, 2019, 2:07 AM IST
Kolkata’s media, run by and addressed to, bhadralok consumers, has its pyjama strings in knots. Will a saffron wave sweep Bengal? Or will Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) dominate Lok Sabha seats, like the Left…
April 11, 2019, 2:07 AM IST
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Our Shrinking Shrimp Industry
April 8, 2019, 12:02 AM IST
On March 28, ICICI Securities, a brokerage, published a report, which if widely disseminated, would send temblors from Kolkata to Kochi. It has the innocuous title, ‘Agriculture and Aquaculture: Revival on the Cards’. The bombshell…
April 8, 2019, 12:02 AM IST
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There’s one way to stop those ‘TV warlords’ from shooting their mouths off
March 8, 2019, 10:48 AM IST
Early February 25-26, there was a skirmish above the India-Pakistan border. One of our planes went down, its pilot captured and released a few days later by Pakistan. Ambiguity shrouds all else. Claims about Pakistan’s…
March 8, 2019, 10:48 AM IST
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Phish, phootball, prices: How politics will play out
February 22, 2019, 3:14 PM IST
Abheek Barman Around 40 years ago, Bengali writer Tarapada Roy wrote an essay called ‘Football.’ It was based on his boyhood memories of playing the game, in Tangail, now part of Bangladesh. Unlike the standard…
February 22, 2019, 3:14 PM IST
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A bit of nonsense poetry
February 7, 2019, 11:01 PM IST
The king of Bombagor framed dried mango slices to decorate his court. We know this from Sukumar Ray’s 1923 poem ‘Abol Tabol’ (Utter Nonsense). Nearly 100 years ago, the king of Bombagor was a figment…
February 7, 2019, 11:01 PM IST
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Mamata Banerjee and the politics of West Bengal
February 4, 2019, 10:49 PM IST
Trust Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of Bengal and leader of Trinamool Congress (TMC), to deliver a bloody nose to prime minister Narendra Modi weeks before general elections, 2019. This happened in spectacular fashion Sunday afternoon,…
February 4, 2019, 10:49 PM IST
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Looking deeper into the report on jobless growth
January 31, 2019, 10:33 PM IST
A report in Business Standard, published today, says India’s joblessness was 6.1% of the labour force between the summers of 2017 and 2018. The newspaper claims it has access to papers of the state-run National…
January 31, 2019, 10:33 PM IST
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FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
Does India need a minimum income guarantee? Can we afford it? Will the poor actually receive the benefits? Yes, yes and maybe
January 31, 2019, 2:00 AM IST
In Chhattisgarh, January 28, Rahul Gandhi said if elected to power in May, Congress would roll out a minimum income guarantee (MIG) for every poor Indian. He didn’t spell out details, but if implemented, this…
January 31, 2019, 2:00 AM IST
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Dynasty? Look into the mirror
January 24, 2019, 11:32 PM IST
Priyanka Gandhi, 47, formally entered politics on Wednesday, January 23, while I was writing my 122nd Happy Birthday card for Netaji, a.k.a. Subhas Bose (and not Mulayam Singh Yadav). As a general secretary of Congress,…
January 24, 2019, 11:32 PM IST
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This is Rahul’s chance to take a stand where Rajiv once faltered
January 20, 2019, 2:25 AM IST
It started innocuously, then cascaded into confusion and tragedy. One day in 1986, 41-year-old Wajahat Habibullah, entered the office of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and found him with acolyte M J Akbar. India was debating…
January 20, 2019, 2:25 AM IST
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With the Citizenship Bill, India just took a turn to becoming a religion-based State
January 10, 2019, 11:20 PM IST
On Tuesday, January 8, GoI shoved a Bill to amend India’s 1955 citizenship law through the Lok Sabha. It’s a small step downhill from the world’s largest democracy to a possible ‘Hindutva-Pakistan’. The tweak makes…
January 10, 2019, 11:20 PM IST
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