READING THE BAR CODES

“UPON MY WORD: India’s prisons are stuck in a time warp” STRANGE HOW time’s machine travels back and forth at warp speed. Two hundred and…

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ITC-HAKSAR’S LAST HURRAH

Sentimentality rarely intrudes in­ to shareholders’ meetings, but this one was different. Over 3,000 had gathered in the incongruous setting of a Calcutta cathedral compound…

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MONSOON BLUES

There are times when India looks invincible, bursting with food stocks and blessed with a government that is gungho about its workability. But the rain…

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MIRAGE IN THE DESERT

Within a few years from now, the westernmost and thirstiest fringe of Rajasthan, along the Indo-Pakistani border, is going to be brought to life by…

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GREAT STRESS TEST

Since you all love acronyms for the Good and Simple Tax and the Grand Stupid Thought, the headline is my humble contribution to your lexicon.…

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ENOUGH ALREADY

I wish the government would stop trying to defend demonetisation. Every time there is bad economic news, the government jumps upto proclaim that demonetisation was…

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A FIRST-RATE PROBLEM

India’s economy is lurching like a car with two flat rear tyres. The monsoon has been better than expected: a bumper kharif crop is expected,…

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CLOSE,, BUT NO CIGAR

Finance Ministers take on a certain air when they think things are going swimmingly and nothing can rock the economy when it is cruising along.…

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The Dog’s tail

There is no loophole that has not met an Indian taxpayer. A Hindi proverb says you can never straighten a dog’s tail (kutte ki poonch…).…

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