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Saturday, December 20, 2025
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Standard Deviation

Modi must shift from manufacturing to services. ‘Make in India’ needs course correction

Services' share in India’s GVA increased from 48% to 57% in 8 years without being the primary focus. Imagine what the sector can do if Modi govt sets its eyes on it.

Govt pitching simplified income tax regime but a basic complexity remains

Why is a doctor employed by a hospital and on salary taxed differently than a doctor who has opened their own practice?

Newsrooms, consultancies all abuzz but missing key question: Is Budget important anymore?

When GST was rolled out in India, proposals pertaining to 45-50 per cent of the government’s tax revenue were taken out of the Budget and placed under the GST Council.

Bank harassment, hidden charges undoing gains of Modi’s PMJDY and financial inclusion

The government has merged several public sector banks to improve profitability. But users have not been informed of the complications these mergers have caused.

Tax India’s corporates and super-rich more. They can and will take it

India's attractiveness as an investment destination is not based on its low tax rates. Give the super-rich basic amenities in return for the higher tax and they'll stay and pay.

UPA-2 faced the same economic issues Modi govt does now. But there’s one difference

The Modi govt has to ensure that the 2024 Lok Sabha election doesn’t entice it to throw fiscal prudence out of the window like UPA-2 did.

It’s time to end Budget secrecy, deal final blow to India’s colonial hangover

Budget secrecy isn't needed for a number of reasons, and doing away with it would actually benefit India's policymakers.

Modi told the world India choosing renewable energy over coal but politics playing a drag

If Modi wants to be seen as a true statesman, he must deliver on the promises he has made to the world, even if this doesn’t reap dividends politically at home.

Indian banks are heading into a trap. High inflation and interest rates are a deadly mix

It is increasingly a good time to deposit money and an increasingly costly affair to take a loan. Banks are finding that their avenues for lending are more curtailed.

On Camera

Modi govt’s repeal of MGNREGA is all about extracting money from states, not reform

The claim that VB-GRAMG provides an employment guarantee is incorrect. The only guarantee is to 'empower' the Centre to allow partial implementation in notified areas alone.

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.

India’s top airline just handed sarkar the keys. That’s IndiGo’s real ‘crime’

Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.