The prime minister seems to have turned his face away from the business of introducing serious reform, says T N Ninan.

If the Modi government is going to set new benchmarks of performance, don't expect the majority of his dozen-odd ministers-who-matter with economic portfolios to be making the difference, says T N Ninan.

It is a pity that the Modi government, which began on the right note when it came to pricing issues, has changed colour and become interventionist in its impulses, says T N Ninan.

Whether it was the Bofors gun in 1986 or Italian helicopters in 2012, a leak or disclosure at the source overseas is like dynamite, and usually impossible to refute. They acquire a life of their own in the hands of the media, says T N Ninan.

The Modi government has ambitious plas to achieve 10% growth, but there is no assessment of how much money is needed for the whole package of measures, and where it will come from. In short, there is no plan for how to get from here to there, points out T N Ninan.

Colombo can handle more container traffic than all of India's ports put together. For a country with a long maritime tradition, this is a pathetic state of affairs, saya T N Ninan.

At a time when more and more of government spending is done by states, the impression you get from these large advertisements could well reflect the slogan of Emergency days: the nation is on the move, says T N Ninan.

'These trends put at risk not only minorities or the media or some other out-of-favour group, they can and do concern everyone,' warns T N Ninan.

The total quantum of water supply has barely improved since Independence, while demand has exploded, points out T N Ninan.

Many stalled projects are about to get going again, providing potential relief to banks, says T N Ninan.

When the state is unable to provide adequately for the bottom half of the population, should it be giving tax benefits to the well-off?

Columnist T N Ninan wonders when there is real progress to talk about, why our ministers make exaggerated claims.

One way to do a reality check on the official numbers will be to develop a desi version of what came to be called the Li index in China.

The Brics line-up has yielded to a shaky China-India story, with new question marks over China even as India remains a "B+" performer, says T N Ninan.

Sustaining anything in the region of 7% growth should be good enough in a troubled and risk-laden world, says T N Ninan.

T N Ninan lists a few David-Goliath encounters in the Indian markets, all of which make life interesting, though difficult if you are an investor looking for the next multi-bagger.

India's primary failings have been in its inability to deliver health and education for all.

Emission norms for automobile industry should be tightened.

The government has made its initial moves, good and not-so-good, while the roll-out in some cases has been slow.

Salary hike is fine but govt must reduce support staff to get its math right.