'On Tuesday, the Union government appointed S Gurumurthy as part-time, non-official director on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. Gurumurthy is co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, an economic pressure group affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological parent – but has few other credentials that would call for association with the country’s central bank.
'...According to the 2017 International Migration Report, India tops the world in the number of migrants sent abroad with 16.59 million while Mexico stands second with 13 million. The number of Indian migrants living outside the country has more than doubled over the past 25 years, growing about twice as fast as the world’s total migrant population. India also receives more remittances from its own legal and illegal immigrants than any other country in the world, amounting to roughly 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.
'While the negative impact of demonetisation can still be felt, the gains have been minor and could have been achieved even without the disruptive move... Hundreds of millions of Indians went through toil and trouble for months after the announcement of demonetisation on November 8, 2016. It has got etched in their memory since they lost jobs, their businesses declined and incomes plummeted.
'Demonetisation crippled an economy that ran on cash; it destroyed the livelihoods of millions of farmers, workers, traders, women and the elderly; and it violated the dignity and liberty of law-abiding citizens... ‘Demonetisation’ – the withdrawal of legal tender status of notes of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 – announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a televised address on 8 November 2016 will go down in history as one of the most reactionary and illogical economic policies ever attempted in independent India.
'A case was registered at the Kotwali police station here on Thursday against Bihar minister Abdul Jalil Mastan for allegedly asking a crowd at a public rally to hit the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with shoes. The rally was organised against the Prime Minister’s demonetisation move at Mastan’s Amour assembly constituency in Purnia district, 370 km from state capital Patna, on February 22. Bankipore (Patna) MLA Nitin Navin, who lodged the case, accused Mastan of spreading hatred and disturbing social harmony and peace.
'Incredibly, the government of India will spend more on this one line than it does on rail safety, Swachh Bharat, schools, highways or health... In every which way, Narendra Modi’s 2014 campaign was spectacular. From communication to ground management, the Bharatiya Janata Party electoral machine, it is widely acknowledged, got it right. However, a year and a half after Modi took office, one aspect of his campaign seems to have been a bit too spectacular altogether.
'This week we once again heard the prime minister and finance minister speak, at a recent media house event in the capital, about how well the economy is doing. The truth is nothing can improve our economic fundamentals till public investment is sharply increased. Manipulating statistics may help manage global headlines for a while, but cannot strengthen our economic fundamentals.
'The BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha election of 2014 was the result of a strategy that concentrated single-mindedly on building up Narendra Modi as a national leader who could salvage India from what the media projected as the mess created by the Congress Party during the previous three or four years. That regime was marred by corruption scandals and a pervasive sense that Manmohan Singh had failed to rein in corrupt ministers and allies.
'Relations between Nepal and India have frozen over what continues to be an impasse over the Himalayan nation’s Constitution. The blockade continues with the anti-India sentiment in Nepal soaring as the country faces an acute shortage of cooking gas, fuel, and life saving medicines. China has come to the rescue and signed agreements with Nepal for the supply of cooking gas and fuel.
'The fears are coming true. Earlier this year, activists had warned the Modi government that its decision to slash funds for India’s oldest supplementary nutrition scheme for vulnerable women and children would prove a disaster. But the government paid little heed. Now the ripples are being felt on the ground. Children aren’t getting their hot meals regularly, nor are grassroots workers receiving their wages on time.
