The Union Budget 2011-12: Do we expect too much from the Finance Minister?

Last week, I was at a conference where one of the speakers was a Commissioner of Customs. Inevitably, given that the Finance Minister’s budget speech was a few days away, many questions were focused on the budget. One of these was about how the budget was kept secret.

His response >>read more…

Union Budget 2010: Much ado about nothing

Another budget come and gone. Now we can all get back to business!

If ever there was a financial or economic equivalent of an IPL final or a Femina Miss India, it would probably be the Indian budget.

First, for weeks, the media “builds” up interest, >>read more…

Ingenious Word-smiths

We often criticize our journalists for a variety of real or imagined ills – but surely, no one can accuse them of a lack of imagination. When the Twitter-Tharoor fiasco occurred, all of them were fed the same information by the Congress party. So how do you spice up the >>read more…

Have we Indians lost our sense of humour?

Mr. Shashi Tharoor is the latest hapless victim of the “Indian sensibility”. A spate of newspapers delightedly reported how the Minister had been castigated by his bosses for his insensitive comments. Quoting the Indian Express …..’the party told him bluntly to “desist from any comment or action, even >>read more…