Currency Crackdown: Why I Feel Good About It
14/11/2016There are a few times when the collective hypocrisy of the so-called left and self-proclaimed “secular” parties in India comes out in full play. The recent move by the Reserve Bank of India to demonetize 500- and 1,000-rupee notes was one such moment.
Sure, the move has led to…
Why Does Pinarayi Vijayan Need This Harvard Economist?
29/07/2016Barely a week ago only a handful of Malayalees had probably heard about Gita Gopinath, the Harvard economist who was already a star in the global macroeconomic scene. Despite her roots in Kannur, even the mainstream Malayalam dailies that regularly dish out profiles of people with even a slender…
Kerala Budget: Dr. Isaac’s Tight Rope Walk
08/07/2016Dr. Thomas Isaac has set an ambitious goal in the first budget of the Pinarayi Vijayan government: mobilize as much as one trillion rupees outside the state budget over five years and invest that money in Kerala. Isaac is betting that boosting capital investment would help tide over the state’s…
The People's Economist
07/07/2016A state of about 33 million people running up a debt of 1.5 trillion rupees makes you suspect there is something fishy about its spending habits. And talking about habits, Kerala happens to have a habit of doubling its public debt every five years.
Therefore, when you meet with the state’s…
Kerala Tourism: Time to Chase Top Dollars
23/06/2016Last month, I took a break from work and went on a trip to Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. As we were exploring the park, once the hunting ground of Jaipur Maharajas, I came across an American photographer, who comes to India every year. This lady was staying at Ranthambore for almost a month,…
The Patrons of Technopark & Some Lessons for Tomorrow’s Leaders
12/05/2016We've often seen political parties indulging in muckraking during election campaigns. However, I was pleasantly surprised that both the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front vied with each other to take credit for setting up Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram. It's heartening to see…
Why Vizhinjam Port won’t Go the Vallarpadam Way
23/04/2016Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to visit the site of the Vizhinjam port project, along with Planning Board Vice Chairman K.M. Chandrasekhar and Chief Secretary P.K. Mohanty. It was heartening to see that Kerala’s most ambitious infrastructure project is not only on track, but making…
Commodities: A Lost Game for Kerala
04/03/2016If Vasco Da Gama had landed in Kerala now, he would have been disappointed. Even if he scoured the entire stretch of the state, Gama would find it hard to garner enough spices to fill his ship.
The God’s Own Country no longer holds sway in spices, once its biggest selling point. Other…
Dubai Is Outsourcing: Can Kerala Be its Back Office?
22/02/2016The United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, has been on a scorching pace of growth over the past 30 years. Much of that growth has come through the sweat and toil of the 2.5 million Malayalees living there. At the Arab Strategy Forum held recently in Dubai, Fareed Zakaria, the distinguished…
Woes of Vallarpadam: Why India’s First Transhipment Terminal Is Struggling
28/01/2016It was hailed as a game changer in India’s logistics infrastructure, supposed to give a run for Colombo Port’s money and boost Kochi’s fortunes as a port city. But five years after it started operations, India’s first transhipment terminal at Vallarpadam is still languishing.
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