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Nitish’s art of freebies

NDA govt has rolled out an enormous welfare package to win Bihar voters. It will have dire fiscal consequences. My back-of-the-envelope math suggests that just the top two programmes have already raised state revenue expenditure by 10%. Here is the math: Even before they entered the polling booth to cast their vote, 1.5 crore women…

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Nitish Raj: Slow work in progress

How does Nitish Kumar score on Bihar’s economy as the state heads to polls early Nov? Much better than his two predecessors, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. Admittedly, a modest benchmark and too far back in history for voters to care. Most young voters probably do not know that Lalu’s seven years as chief minister,…

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Where’ll our brain train go?

It has to head home. There’s no certainty US hostility against Indian talent will go away with Trump. India’s elite will have to demand & work towards building world-class universities here Avenues that once brought Indians to richer countries are shrinking as nations like the United States turn increasingly hostile to immigration. Is this a…

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