scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Sunday, December 21, 2025
HomeOpinionStandard Deviation

Standard Deviation

Why Red Sea crisis could cost India—Modi govt sets energy goals but doesn’t follow through

Just because India's increased oil imports proved beneficial after Russia-Ukraine war doesn't mean Modi govt should continue with it. Israel-Hamas conflict could hurt us now.

RBI must regulate risky loan apps, cooperative banks. They are plaguing the banking sector

The act of banking involves a social responsibility that the banks must honour on their own, without the RBI forcing them to.

RBI must see crypto as assets, not currencies. No one’s using it to buy grocery

India is seeing the second-highest levels of crypto transaction volumes after the US. A missing regulatory environment would leave Indians to the sharks.

Something worrying is happening in economy. Modi govt must shift focus to commerce ministry

Europe's share in Indian exports has gone up while Asia’s share is declining. The problem for India is: Europe’s economy is expected to struggle while Asia is set to drive global growth.

Make-in-India iPhone story shows govt isn’t really reducing imports or helping produce cheap

Can India subsidise its industry to the same level as China? No. We just don’t have the resources.

Indians spending beyond their means. Don’t just fix it with freebies, bring policy changes

Most Indians are spending more on essential items than last year while earning either less or the same amount. No wonder they turn to 'buy now, pay later' schemes.

Stable economy, unstable deals—How Modi govt’s well-intended sudden bans hurt India globally

Modi govt needs to own its globally disruptive policies taken in India's interest. The suddenness of export bans hurt India's friends and go against its vishwa guru ambitions.

Modi can’t prove India is 5th largest economy. Data will fail him

The Economic Census is nine years old, the employment survey is 12 years old, as is the Index of Industrial Production.

Modi govt wants to hurt China with laptop import curb, but it will end up hurting India

Unless India lines up a ‘Plan B’ before Modi govt can nix the model it has come to depend on, the unimpactful attempts to hurt China economically will continue.

Indian freebies are working. But it’s not reducing poverty, only making people spend less

Subsidies are here to stay. Worryingly, subsidy expenditure will likely increase as Indian politicians try to meet a wider set of aspirations through more diverse freebies.

On Camera

Henry George’s Single Tax offers a democratic alternative to communist remedies: DM Kulkarni

The immediate benefit of Single Tax would be to reduce the sale prices of land to nominal ones. Landowners would no longer find it profitable to keep idle lands, wrote DM Kulkarni in 1960.

China is taking India to WTO over subsidies, again. Here’s what it’s arguing before trade body

Dispute will now move to consultative process, which allows the two sides to come to an amicable agreement within 60 days.

Israel has ‘realised who its real friend is’, eyes defence expansion in India amid arms curbs by others

It is argued that India-Israel ties are moving from buyer–seller dynamic to one focused on joint development & manufacturing partnership, a shift 'more durable' than traditional arms sales.

Dhurandhar shows hard cinema is soft power and Pakistan is unapologetically the target

If Pathaan gave both conservatives and liberals room to hide, Dhurandhar extends no such courtesy. Aditya Dhar ripped open that tent of hypocrisy and turned the knife.