In November 2020, a journalist wrote a piece titled "Why I Am Losing Hope In India". The screed was shared widely by the usual suspects, offering an extremely negative prognosis on how the India story might be on its last legs.
Let us assess how things have turned out over the last ~15 months for India and the Indian economy.
Entrepreneurship: 2021 was a record year for IPOs and for new unicorns minted.
India continued to see net investment from institutional investors, even as other Asian countries saw significant net outflows - reflecting investor confidence in Indian business.
Public health: India started vaccinations on January 16 2021. As of this morning, over 1.58 billion shots were completed. ~95% of eligible persons have received one dose, about 70% of eligible persons are fully vaccinated.
India's vaccination rate has been *the world's fastest*.
Macro: @IMFNews projects India to be the world's fastest growing economy - for 2021 and 2022. India, a ~$3T GDP economy, leads not just Asian or emerging economies, but is likely to be the world's growth engine.
Goods exports are picking up as the various economic reforms implemented in the last 8 years bear fruit, helping raise India's share of global goods export to an all-time high.
Indian savings are financializing like never before, getting invested into equities, and it is still early days as workers join formal economy and park savings into stocks.
Finally: National-scale programs like @jaljeevan_ have been making sustained progress over the last 3 years, despite the challenges brought by the global pandemic.
So next time you see some journalist penning fictional prose written in tear-jerking style, and passing it off as serious analysis, your reaction should be...😉
At @rmponweb’s recent conference, I had the privilege of being a co-panelist with former Finance Secretary Shri Hasmukh Adhia ji. Shri Adhia has had a close association over 2001-2018 with @narendramodi and described his leadership style in detail. A 🧵 for all to know and learn.
Caveat: This thread 🧵 is from my notes and recollection of Adhia ji's speech - I don't think a video recording has been put out as yet. Any errors or misattributions are entirely mine 🙏
>@narendramodi listens a lot. He hardly speaks during presentations and meetings, he is never distracted, and he absorbs what is being presented. Normal people tune out or lose focus after some time, but not him.
First, opposition politicians and some media sellouts panned the vaccines, spread doubts and fears about their efficacy baselessly. Some called the vaccines “BJP vaccines”.
Does anybody think that *any* Indian Govt. would be so irresponsible as to just launch any vaccine publicly for use by hundreds of millions of people without due process and due diligence?
Some poisonous editors, compromised journalists and vicious politicians did exactly that.
One Uttar Pradesh leader panned the “BJP vaccines”. Chhattisgarh held back Covaxin usage for 2 months. Hardly any top leaders of Congress or other opposition parties declared they are taking / have taken the vaccine or posted photos to create public confidence in the vaccines.
This is not an accident. India has of late embarked on a deliberate policy of taxing petrol and diesel to incentivize electrification of transport. The nudge to consumers is clear - look for the electric alternatives.
“Didn’t he install his daughter as Congress party president, also dismiss the elected state government of Kerala in 1959 by abusing Article 356?”
“Nehru was a liberal.”
“Why did he reform personal laws only for Hindus in 1955, leaving India’s Muslims in the hands of religious conservatives?” livemint.com/Opinion/h953KJ…
“Nehru was for freedom of speech, he loved the arts.”
“Didn’t he kill free speech with the First Amendment, enunciating the reasonable restrictions standard? Didn’t he jail poet Majrooh Sultanpuri who happened to write critically about Nehru’s policies?” livemint.com/Opinion/hZBwop…