A comparative analysis of Two South Indian States
“Many state borrow and spend on unproductive projects which will send them into debt trap. Many politicians’ aim is to spend more in order to get more kick-backs or spend on popular dole out to get more votes. At least, Kerala is in trap; to give salary of government employees borrowing is required” so commented A T Mathai in response to my article ‘India’s debt: Signs of alarm bells’ published by this website on 25th July 2022...[By Philip Mudartha]
Fr. Lawrence Fernandes: Priestly Journey from Moodubelle to Allahabad as a Missionary, Educationist and Writer
The St. Lawrence Parish, Moodubelle has been a cradle of religious vocations. Since its inception in 1910, for the last one century and a decade, the parish has been providing inspired and dedicated youngsters to follow the religious vocation as priests and nuns who have been serving as missionaries not only within Karnataka but also north India and even abroad. A large number of Belleans serve in different dioceses of north India as missionaries working in parishes...[By Dr. Eugene DSouza]
Electricity Supply: Which is better, Private or State?
As of June 2022, India’s installed power capacity is 403.76GW. In India, electricity generation primarily depends on thermal sources, coal, lignite, gas, and diesel. Thermal power generation accounts for 58.5% of the total installed power generation capacity. Of which, coal accounts for 50.6%, gas 6.2%, lignite 1.6% and diesel 0.1%. India has several renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind, and solar which are non-fossil fuel based. Besides, there is a small nuclear power generation capacity of 6.78 GW...[By Philip Mudartha]
India’s debt: Signs of alarm bells
Following the alarming economic melt-down in neighboring Sri Lanka, there are voices in India predicting gloom and doom scenario for our economy. What is the reality on the ground? Because Sri Lanka is caught up in a debt-trap and a man-made economic crisis, should we worry about our own national debt? This essay attempts to look at the facts and figures and come out with certain conclusions...[By Philip Mudartha]
State of Indian economy: An Overview
An eight-year-old high inflation, soaring energy and commodity prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war are threatening to squeeze the Indian economy. The only silver lining is that the monsoon has arrived. Good rains will not only help the agriculture sector but help cool off the soaring inflation. A good monsoon will also boost rural demand, which in turn will help the economy to recover...[By Philip Mudartha]
Quad leaders’ Summit in Tokyo: a review
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi returned to New Delhi early morning on Wednesday after participating in the Quad Leaders’ Summit as part of his two-day tour in Japan and immediately held a Cabinet meeting. At this week’s meetings of Quad, Japan and Australia were represented by their new PMs, Fumio Kishida of Japan and Anthony Albanese of Australia. Japan and India looked for confirmation that Australia is serious about engaging with Asia. The US reviewed its expectations of what Australia, under a Labor government, is prepared to contribute to both the Quad and AUKUS...[By Philip Mudartha]
Ukraine war: The role of the Orthodox churches
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is the primary church in Russia. Legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate, it is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The title of primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’. The ROC, and hence its primate, officially ranks fifth in the Eastern Orthodoxy Hierarchy. The four ancient patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem of the Greek Orthodox Church rank higher in that order. Patriarch Kirill is the primate of ROC since 2009 and has continued his predecessor’s...[By Philip Mudartha]
Disinvestment: LIC’s mega IPO
The wait is finally over for the investors who were eagerly waiting for India’s biggest public issue, the Life Insurance Company (LIC) initial public offering (IPO). It hits primary markets on Wednesday, 4th May 2022. Government of India (GoI) is offering for sale 3.5% of its equity stake, totaling 22.1crore shares of face value of Rs 10. The (GoI) has fixed the LIC IPO price band at Rs902 to Rs949 per equity share...[By Philip Mudartha]
Putin’s Unjust War on co-religionists in Ukraine
n his speech declaring war on Ukraine, Putin said the goal of his “special military operation” was the demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine and ridding it of drug addicts. He also said that it his moral and spiritual duty to protect the Russian speaking “brothers” in Ukraine from the genocide inflicted by the neo-Nazi Ukrainian government in Kyiv...[By Philip Mudartha]
Are we a secular nation? Our dilemma
The so-called hijab row is brewing in Karnataka for several weeks now. In late December last year, six female students of Udupi Government Junior College were denied entry into their classrooms for wearing the hijab. Hijab is headscarf worn by many Muslim women and girls in public places. The college said that Hijab went against its dress code. The girls protested and stood their ground. They approached the school authorities, district commissioner, and education department officials. Their grievances were not heard with empathy...[By Philip Mudartha]
Budget 2022-23: A perspective
The FY23 budget estimates an expenditure of Rupees 39,44,909 crore. Of which, largest share of Rupees 9,40,651crore is the interest burden on its outstanding debt. Unfazed, the GoI aims to borrow more by a whopping Rupees 16,61,196 crore during the year. The outstanding debt and other liabilities of the GoI on 31st March 2023 will be Rupees 1,52,17,910 crore..[By Philip Mudartha]
The four shortcomings of Modi Government
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, the January 15th attacked the BJP central government with an online Twitter poll. He asked his followers to vote on what they think are its biggest shortcomings. Rahul Gandhi posed the question "What has been the biggest shortcoming of the BJP government?" and listed below it four options to vote for. The four options were ’unemployment’, ’tax extortion’, ’inflation’, and ’atmosphere of hatred’...[By Philip Mudartha]
The Gen-Z and Crypto mania in India
There is no official data but estimates are that there are about 20 million crypto investors in India, with total crypto holdings of around Rs. 40,000 crores. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, is trading at around $60,000. Its price has more than doubled since the start of this year because hordes of new local investors have flocked to trade. There are several crypto-exchanges which offer the trading services just like the stock-broking...[By Philip Mudartha]
PM Modi repeals his three farm laws
Unpredictable that he is, Prime Minister Modi surprised the nation when he announced hat his government will repeal the farm laws in the Winter Session of Parliament. What were the farm laws that have been repealed? The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 which is aimed at allowing trade in agricultural produce outside the existing APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis...[By Philip Mudartha]
Mangaluru: My tour of North Eastern State of Sikkim, paradise of heaven on earth to beat Covid-blues
In order to be free from the confinement induced by Covid-19 lockdowns, I and my wife Regina availed the services of India’s premier Mumbai-based international tour operator – Veena World to visit Sikkim – Darjeeing – Gangtok – Lachung (8-day tour). It was a great stress-buster for us and also 20+ tourist group after 20 months since Janata Curfew announced in India on March 24, 2020...[By John V Tauro]
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