The falling rupee and soaring fuel prices remind many people of 2013. But things might not be as bad
Thanks to a free-falling rupee and spiralling fuel prices, many people are having a feeling of déjà vu. The situation today, in more ways than one, looks similar to 2013, when the BJP, then the main opposition party, joined hands with the left parties to protest the high fuel prices. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat chief minister, called the jump in petrol prices the “prime example of the failure of the Congress-led UPA”.
Curiously, the Modi government’s response to the current situation has been quite similar to the Manmohan Singh government’s response at that time. “The prices of petrol and diesel are rising due to the double impact of the rise in crude oil prices and devaluation of the rupee,” said Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary, department of economic affairs. Manmohan Singh’s finance minister P. Chidambaram had the same defence in 2013.
Earlier this year, however, Chidambaram had suggested that petrol prices could be cut by 25 a litre by the Central government. Back in 2013, the UPA government was battling higher crude oil prices—$130 a barrel, compared with $82 today— but had allowed under-recoveries by oil marketing companies up to 10 a litre. Though it checked the rise in retail fuel prices, it further widened the government’s deficits and weakened India’s ratings.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 30, 2018 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 30, 2018 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
