Mainstream Weekly

Estimating GDP in India: How Erroneous is it? | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2026-01-24T06:26:06Z

(Based on articles in Manorma Year Book, 2025 and in National Herald, 2025 December 6)
GDP is taken to give an idea of the production of goods and services in an economy. Because of the huge diversity of what is produced in a modern society, aggregation becomes difficult. GDP yields one monetary number to represent it and that is taken to present an aggregate picture of society

- 2026

Satish

Arun Kumar — 2026-01-10T02:10:24Z

I remember Satish as a multi-faceted personality. Academia was one aspect of his life, but activism was also an important aspect. He was a lifelong Socialist due to the influence of Shri Paliwal ji in Agra from his school days. He was a Gandhian socialist at heart, believing in frugality in life. He liked gadgets but kept a sparse house with most rooms in the house largely barren.
He was anti-modernity and, perhaps due to Gandhi

- 2026

Trump

Arun Kumar — 2025-09-06T00:15:43Z

The contrast is stark in the way US is negotiating with China and India. For India, a penal duty of 25% has kicked in for trade with Russia. This will be on top of the higher than expected tariff of 25%. But for China another 90 days extension was announced for negotiating a deal. The irony is that China imports much more energy from Russia than India does. Further, US wants to stall China

- 2025

Reform of Judiciary in India Cannot be in Isolation | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2025-06-21T16:37:51Z

Judiciary in India faces unprecedented challenges. Its functioning is under constant scrutiny. The government is set to launch an impeachment proceeding against Justice Verma in whose outhouse burning cash was found. MPs have initiated a move in the Rajya Sabha to impeach a High Court judge. A judge has been transferred for apparently taking bribes for bail. Perhaps in response to all this, the CJI has talked of ethical concerns. And the previous CJI recently talked of the need to earn the (…)

- 2025

FTAs and Marginalized Sections | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2025-05-31T03:49:11Z

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between UK and India has been announced. A day later a FTA between US and Britain was announced. India may soon conclude FTAs with US, EU, etc.. A FTA is hailed as win-win for both sides since they are supposed to lead to increased trade between the parties and thereby increase their GDP. These benefits are supposedly a result of the

- 2025

Trump Induced Tariff War: Global Implications and Potential Alternative | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2025-04-27T07:37:58Z

(This article is an enlarged version of the article titled

- 2025

Manmohan Singh

Arun Kumar — 2025-01-18T20:31:08Z

A shorter version of this article appeared in The Wire on January 5, 2025. Titled,

- 2025

Direct Tax Collections, Growing Disparity and Need for Redistribution | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2024-06-01T02:37:22Z

[rouge] ( This is a longer version of the article published in the Businessline on May 09, 2024, Titled 'Direct tax collections reflect disparities' )rouge]
CBDT has said that net direct tax collection has exceeded its target for 2023-24. It has increased 17.7% over last year and much faster than the income increase of about 9%. Analysis of these facts is important in the light of the contentious debate set in motion by the PM regarding redistribution of wealth in the economy.
Trying to (…)

- 2024

The False Feel-Good About Indian Economy's Performance Since 2014 | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2024-05-04T03:57:54Z

The ruling party is in election mode with daily pronouncements about how well the Indian economy is doing and benefitting not just the well-off but also the poor in the country. It has claimed a big reduction in poverty in India. It is stated that the Indian economy growing at about 7% is the fastest growing large economy in the world. Further, inflation is said to be tamed and employment generation robust, in spite of global head winds due to the Ukraine war and the pandemic.
It is (…)

- 2024

Nehru's Era: The Past Embedded in the Present | Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar — 2024-03-29T11:50:37Z

Introduction
When Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India not only was there euphoria at gaining independence but there was all round crisis. The devastating colonial subjugation was ending. The World was emerging from the ravages of the Second World War. India was racked by poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, etc.
A comparison with what has happened in Pakistan helps understand the difficulties faced by a newly independent nation. The comparison is valid since the circumstances were (…)

- 2024