Essays for IIM

This 10 minute video succinctly covers the basics of Indian Economy from 1947 to 1991. Listen to each word carefully. You can ignore some jargon but try to understand the basics  and philosophy behind the Indian Economic Model.

On Sunday, Crimea voted to split away from Ukraine and return to the Russian fold. For a vast majority of Crimea’s Russian-speaking population this is an act of redressing a monumental injustice that happened in 1991 when Crimea, which geographically, ethnically and historically is more Russian than many regions of Russia itself, became part of a foreign state as the Soviet Union broke up along arbitrarily drawn administrative borders. However, reuniting a divided people may not have been the prime motive that forced President Vladimir Putin’s hand in Crimea. The Ukraine crisis is viewed in Moscow as a continuation of the Western plan to encircle Russia militarily and torpedo its reintegration efforts in the former Soviet Union. The new leaders in Kiev installed with the West’s support are the same people who staged the “orange revolution” in Ukraine in 2004 and set Ukraine on the path of NATO membership. Strategic catastrophe Ukraine’s induction into NATO would be a strategi

•         Russian forces in Crimea urged Ukrainian forces to give up their weapons and stand down, as the number of Russian troops and boats on the peninsula continued to grow. Russia built up forces on both sides of the ferry connecting it to Crimea and sent troops across. •         “The facts on the ground in Crimea are deeply troubling,” US president Barack Obama said. “Russia is on the wrong side of history.” •         The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN said 16,000 Russian troops have arrived in Crimea since 26 February. The Russian ambassador retorted that treaties allow 25,000. The Ukrainian envoy argued that the legal cap was 11,000. •         In a feisty meeting at the UN, the Russian ambassador said that Moscow does not consider it its responsibility to return deposed president Viktor Yanukovich to power. •         Pro-Russia demonstrators surrounded government buildings in at least three Ukrainian cities, hoisting Russian flags and chanting against the governmen

China is at a crossroads. After experiencing three decades of unprecedentedly rapid GDP growth, the country weathered the global economic crisis exceptionally well. But it sustains considerable economic imbalances, which are undermining its ability to achieve high-income status. The question is whether China’s leaders—preoccupied with challenges like financial instability stemming from risky shadow-banking activities and a heavy burden of local government debt—have the policy space to put the economy on a sounder footing. In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, China appeared to be on track to complete such a rebalancing. Its current account surplus fell from more than 10% of GDP in 2007 to 2.6% in 2012, and it ran a large capital account deficit for the first time since 1998. Moreover, China added only $98.7 billion to its foreign exchange reserves in 2012, compared with an average annual increase of more than $435 billion from 2007 to 2011. That meant diminishi

The 2G spectrum auction concluded on Thursday after 68 rounds of bidding. Apart from the telecom operators that bagged rights to spectrum, the government also emerged a big winner as the auction will bring in higher-than-expected revenues. The government will get Rs. 61,162 crore from the spectrum auction. This is much higher than the government's estimates of nearly Rs. 41,000 crore. The licence would be valid for a period of nearly 20 years . The telecom minister hoped that despite the aggressive bidding by the telecom operators, there would be no affect on call rates.  Vodafone and Airtel bagged the crucial 900 MHz band in important markets like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. For these two operators, winning this band in these places had become crucial as the Supreme Court had refused to extend their licences. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone bought telecommunications airwaves worth nearly Rs. 18,600 crore each in an auction. Idea also managed to bag the crucial 900 MHz band in Delhi

1) What is KG D6 basin? Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin is spread across 50,000 sq km in the Krishna River and Godavari river basins near the coast of Andhra Pradesh. The site Dhirubhai-6 (D6) is where Reliance Industries discovered the biggest gas reserves in India. In government records, the 7,645 sq km block is known as KG-DWN-98/1. The KG basin is considered to be the largest natural gas basin in India. 2) How did Reliance Industries get into KG basin? Government of India opened up hydrocarbon exploration and production (E&P) in the country to private and foreign players in 1991. Small and medium sized blocks were opened up in this round which was followed up by giving out bigger blocks in 1999 as per the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP). Through NELP, Reliance bagged the rights to explore the D6 block. 3) Did government have a role after the block was handed over? Since all mining resources belong to the people of India, government monitors the exploration an

I ndia’s trade deficit shrank in January, helped by a sharp decline in imports of precious metals, improving the country’s current account outlook. The trade deficit was $9.92 billion last month compared with $10.14 billion in December and $18.9 billion in January 2013, according to data released on Tuesday. Merchandise exports rose 3.79% year-on-year to $26.75 billion, compared with a 3.5% increase in December. Imports fell 18.07% year-on-year to $36.57 billion, led by a 77% drop in gold and silver imports. India expects to keep the current account deficit under $50 billion in the fiscal year to March. The shortfall was a record $87.8 billion, or 4.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), in the previous 12-month period, which had precipitated a record fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar last summer. The rupee touched a record low of  Rs. 68.85 per dollar in August. It has since risen, closing at 62.22 per dollar on Tuesday. The narrowing of the trade deficit make

US has dragged India to WTO on country's solar mission plan that allows only local equipment, a development to which New Delhi said it will adequately respond to. US Trade Representative Michael Froman said America has sought WTO dispute consultations with India over the domestic content requirement in phase II of India's solar programme. "These domestic content requirements discriminate against US exports by requiring solar power developers to use India- manufactured equipment instead of US equipment. These unfair requirements are against WTO rules, and we are standing up today for the rights of American workers and businesses," he told reporters. Dismissing the allegations, India said its national solar mission programme is WTO-compliant and it would defend its stand in the Geneva-based multilateral body. "India will respond adequately at the WTO...We are also very clear that India has to create domestic manufacturing capacities. India must have those ca

Yet another book withdrawn and pulped by the publisher under pressure. The “pulping” of Wendy Doniger’s book, The Hindus: An Alternative History, is the pulping of liberal India. The agreement by the publisher to withdraw it is like putting a contract out on free expression. In India you publish at your peril. It is in a shockingly long line of books and art withdrawn from free circulation one way or the other, sometimes against the law, sometimes in the garb of law. India is a democracy, but its reputation as a bastion of liberal values is dimming by the day. The argumentative Indian is being replaced by the offended Indian, the tolerant Indian by the intolerant mob, the reflective citizen by the hurt communal mobiliser, the courageous Indian by the cowardly thug who needs the state to protect it against every argument, the pious Indian by the ultimate blasphemer who thinks he needs to protect the gods rather than the gods being there to protect him. Whether this is a tiny minorit

Nido Taniam’s death was deep tragedy. But there is some consolation that political attention to this incident is ensuring that it does not become a mere statistic. Yet in India, a single violent incident bears the weight of complex histories and tangled sociologies. It has highlighted the casual but consequential racism prevalent in our cities. It has reopened the delicate question of the place of the Northeast in India’s imagination. It has also reminded us of the subtle transitions the idea of India still needs to make for the Indian project to be complete. The first transition it needs to make is the move from territoriality to people . The idea of India is tied to an emphasis on territoriality. While this is inevitable in any modern nation state, the monumental privileging of territoriality has often led to making concrete peoples invisible. The Northeast has often been imagined in Delhi in largely territorial terms; even the name suggests that. Defending territory trumps

A fervent desire for change is sweeping the nation. That is what pitch-forked Arvind Kejriwal to power in Delhi. It also accounts for Narendra Modi's huge popularity. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Reddy, attempting a Kejriwal encore, sat on dharna in New Delhi, bringing to sharp focus the Telangana issue. While prima facie Reddy demonstrated an anti-establishment stance, he is really not fighting for change. On the contrary, he is in favour of status quo. His remonstration that this was the first time a state was being partitioned against the wish of the legislative assembly implied that division of Andhra Pradesh was against the collective will of the people. Reddy's assertions are at best rhetorical. Sonia Gandhi's desire to divide AP is undoubtedly based on anticipated political gains for Congress, but the rationale for bifurcating the state is deeper. The creation of AP after Independence was based on the prevailing idea that language was the basis of homogen

In the next 100 days, a fierce contest will take place to determine who forms the next government. The contest will take place at many levels, including in the world of ideas. The country has a massive stake in good ideas winning over bad ones. It would help if political parties declared their adherence to some principles and methods for serving core economic objectives, as in what follows: The government's role in the economy will be to provide public goods and essential infrastructure, and set rules for private players. We will ensure economic stability by following well-recognised fiscal and monetary policies that facilitate this. We will introduce a tax system that minimises distortions in incentive structures, through a combination of moderate rates and broad coverage that together facilitate revenue buoyancy. We will restructure the government to separate policy from programme implementation ; the latter will be done by autonomous agencies specially mandated, and judged

The International Cricket Council (ICC) approved a wide-ranging and controversial resolution to change its governance, competition and financial models. The main points are as follows: - New executive committee: A five-man executive committee with permanent seats for India, England and Australia will be introduced. The committee will make recommendations to the ICC board, which remains the decision-making body. - India's Srinivasan to chair ICC board: N. Srinivasan, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, will become the ICC board chairman from July 2014. - New financial model: Full members gain greater financial recognition based on their contributions in terms of finance, their ICC history and on-field performances. - Test Cricket Fund: A Test Cricket Fund will be introduced to guarantee all 10 Test-playing nations will be in position to host a home series through to 2023. - Future Tours Program: Members will strike binding, bilateral agreements "as a matter