Tag Archives | Prime Minister Narendra Modi

It was the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, later to be renamed Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act that was enacted by the UPA-I government under Left pressure (since the government depended on Left support).

The Indo-U.S. Trade Agreement as it had been negotiated earlier, before its basis was knocked out by a court ruling on Trump tariffs, had been an “unequal treaty”, allowing the U.S. to charge much higher tariffs on Indian exports than the other way round, and stipulating amounts of American goods that India had to buy, but not the other way around.

India’s citizens are witnessing a remarkable inversion of democracy: a government choosing its voters rather than the other way around.

The Indian economy at present is in the grip of a serious crisis, manifested above all in a sharp fall of the rupee and an acceleration of inflation.

What if detailed visuals of your worst fears about “the other” appeared on your feed daily?

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on social media that this was a “deliberately short-term measure” and would not be of “significant financial benefit” to Russia.

A democratic and balanced development strategy that is also non-invidious towards other countries of the global south, is one where “exports” from industry are directed not towards other countries but towards the domestic agricultural sector.

The two most obvious implications of this Unequal Treaty are, first, with regard to the purchase of Russian oil, and second, with regard to the agricultural sector.

The BJP-led government has just got parliament to pass a legislation permitting up to 100 percent foreign equity-ownership in India’s insurance sector.

The point here is not to criticise the GST rate cut as such; but to underscore the fact that any such rate cut, must be accompanied by an equivalent increase in resource mobilization at the expense of the rich, a matter that is squarely within the domain of the central government.

This week, India and China have taken a great leap of faith in their mutual efforts to incrementally advance the normalization process in their bilateral relationship.

Calling this concession a Diwali “gift” of course betrays a repugnant feudal mindset.

India needs to shed the comfort of diplomacy and not concede the space it has fought so hard to occupy, in response to Trump’s message to U.S. tech giants “to stop hiring in India”.

To a person unfamiliar with India’s history and political economy, the Indian government’s response to Trump’s actions must be puzzling.

DONALD Trump has put off his proposed tariffs by ninety days; but countries like India have to respond to Trump’s measures whether now or after ninety days.

The primary cause of the rupee’s depreciation is the preference of the Indian rich to hold their wealth in the form of U.S. dollars rather than in Indian rupees.

The aim of all fascistic governments is to disempower the people; and the Modi government is no exception.

It is common for governments these days to provide fiscal transfers to capitalists, whether through reduced corporate tax rates, or by providing direct cash subsidies, to encourage greater investment by them and thereby stimulate the economy. During Donald Trump’s first presidency there had been a cut in corporate tax rate with this objective in mind. In India the Modi government, as is well-known, has given massive tax concessions with the same objective.

DURING Modi’s visit to Ukraine (why he visited Ukraine at all at the present time remains a mystery), Zelensky asked India not to purchase fuel from Russia in violation of western sanctions, that is, to fall in line with the “unilateral” western sanctions.

There is an expectation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would prioritise a historic turnaround in India’s relations with China as a legacy of his 15 years in power. Things are indeed moving in such a direction.