Anything that can be taxed in a global context can be tracked by definition. Additional TCS on tax-paid money which you will then recover during tax filing achieves what? Working capital for Govt? TDS is on what you owe-one doesn't owe anything here. Even so, 20%? Makes no sense. This is classic Yes Minister move. First, it is backward looking. India’s CAD stress was last year - this year and ahead it is rather benign. Second, once they started with a wrong premise (high TCS) then it becomes easy to add: but what about credit cards? No, premise is wrong.

Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive Scheme – 2.0 for IT Hardware.

pib.gov.in/PressReleasePa…

There was a time when India joined WTO's ITA without applying its mind. Here we are learning from the OGs - Hamilton, List, Clay, Lincoln, Bismarck, Deng - and going one better :) What I find really admirable about the PM is his immense pragmatism. Somewhere in the middle of his first term he realised that 'Washington Consensus' on trade and industry was not fully working for Make In India. He then did a gradual pivot despite criticism from few supporters.

Younger, educated in India vote “rightist” BJP more whereas in “US” they vote “left-liberal” [LT @arpitrage]

‘West/Liberalism’, ‘Dharma/Indicness’ are only sustainable universalisms. Not Christianity, Islam. Certainly not CCP. Even West, India complement as much as they compete. Both fundamentally represent integrationist mindset more than expansionist or isolationist ones. You can use the word syncretic if you want. Some have even used the term “boa constrictor”. The difference anxiety both create is something to behold. One is just more prominent now.

Not complicated. Many factors but comes down to Hindu unity. Dharmic unity's point is to defend pluralism, yet to sustain it - it has to be rooted in dignity, opportunity, mobility. Our Gods overlap but some of us want to be in watertight compartments.
#DharmaSangathan #Karnataka

https://twitter.com/harshmadhusudan/status/1589142957260943365

Beyond creating some awareness in all sincerity, there is no point bemoaning it. Socio-econ trends vary from country to country but they aren’t completely unique either. Here too, it will play out well over time. Modernity suits Dharmic values/polities in a way feudalism doesn’t.

One has to wonder why did we go through Partition in 1947 and a genocide in East Bengal in 1971 - where Hindus were disproportionately murdered/raped? If after all that, we cannot even screen a movie that denounces ISIS. Remember it is “West” Bengal in East of India for a reason.

https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1655539765608067072

Not only does this regressive minority street veto get normalised by the opposition (governing some of the states) - worse, Hindu “fundamentalism” gets a bad name.

Well, Hindu fundamentalism is glorious because Hindu fundamentals are glorious.

Not all fundamentals are the same.

For FY23 (Mar22-Apr23), India:

Goods trade -$267B
Service trade +$142.5B
Net trade -$124.5B

Remittances +$100B (arguably akin to service exports)
Gold trade: -$35B (arguably capital not current a/c).

Adjusted trade FY23 surplus. If you subtract royalties, much smaller deficit. Some of the gold imports would be re-exported after value add, but a lot of the jewellery exports are also diamond etc based (both natural and artificial)

In any case, broader point that India is somehow a chronically trade deficit country is not true anymore way some assume it.

I have not read any recent coherent piece why India should not have a more open capital account. Debate has been going on for a generation; much has changed for the "for" side. "Against" side has vague fears. Not exaggerating: no point-by-point argument which one can engage with. Except for less than 2 years - India has been a democracy since Independence, Partition. That is ~75 years. No default. No hyperinflation. Has added territory net not lost. Soon to be 3rd largest GDP by both $ and PPP. Solid macros, growth. You can get 40y at 7.2% in a cheap INR.

I do not subscribe to this jurisprudence that the ‘deity’ has rights though it may have tactical uses. One can argue that a corporation etc has legal rights - but control is clear and in the hands of individual humans. Deity rights just begs the question: who speaks for the Gods? Whether it be a deity aka a temple (or a river), effectively what this question is asking for is who are the fiduciary trustees and how is that to be constituted if it has not been formalised so far, and to what extent would laws and changing mores apply to the said constitution?

The Untold Story Of Muisca: How An Ancient (Polytheistic Colombian) Religion Was Destroyed By European Colonisers
thecommunemag.com/the-untold-sto…
The entire world followed such traditions. For some progress meant many Gods to one to none. This is why rise of a Dharmic India rankles many. The problem isn’t just one of pronouns. It is one of monotheism itself. In polytheistic religions, there is no need to decide whether is God is male, female, neither, or both..

mosaicmagazine.com/observation/po…

My latest: "Road to India@100: Largest economy in the making"
in @businesstoday
'..the world's biggest growth story and investment opportunity..'

'These two questions—“convergence” and “cornucopia”.... will in large part define the rest of this century.'
businesstoday.in/magazine/colum… You can also read it here.

Fareed, there are many inaccuracies here. You call BJP anti-Muslim. But the BJP supported President Kalam, and many secularists - some of whom you may know - said he was not "Muslim enough" because he was culturally 'too Hindu'. We must genuinely introspect on what is wrong here.

https://twitter.com/FareedZakaria/status/1622313357381607425

According to Dr Rafiq Zakaria: "Dr Kalam..should not be put in the same category as the two former Muslim Presidents..Both of them were as great a patriot as Dr Kalam. But they were also Muslims in the real sense of the word; they believed in the tenets of the Quran.." (19/06/02)

A half-truth that seems to have spread is that "resources" are no longer the issue for Indian infra etc, execution is. Not fully true. Still triage done with cost/land acquisition factors. Yes environmental/judicial delays there, but more money will also mean more state capacity. Again, it is half true - there is truth to it and more truth to it than earlier. But the problem with taking this as a full truth is that it prevents us from being even more ambitious on infra. As it is, there is a weak consensus on this albeit a growing one.

Much more to build!

Anybody who lays claim to an ethnic identity and doesn’t talk about relevant issues (PTM movement, Taliban stopping female education, killing minorities) but sounds sympathetic to a morally bankrupt Islamic Republic of Pakistan (where Pashtuns are oppressed) should be questioned. Let it be very clear. India is morally superior to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and People’s Republic of China. A democratic Hindu Rashtra is superior to theocracy and communism. It does not mean we cannot, should not strive to improve - we should. But no to moral relativism.

The fact that Shraddha wrote a letter to the police in November 2020 but still ended up murdered in 2022 shows much more needs to be done with our law and order capacity and sensitivity. She was desperately trying to escape this abusive violent man but could not. We must improve. For various socio-economic reasons victim often takes back the complaint. Knowing this it is then the duty of the state to still keep a tab on the case. We pay so much in taxes and we will gladly pay a bit more if it is spent efficiently with a priority on the safety of citizens.

Soon world's largest economies will be US, China, India. First two run on one language as it has network externalities even w/ tech etc. Hence EU is not a country. Even India will need a lingua franca (w/ other languages). LF=English/ Hindi/ Sanskrit we choose. I prefer Sanskrit. Moreover world is moving towards one LF whether we like it or not. If India wants her language to be world's LF as opposed to de facto accepting somebody else's, it has to first narrow down on one language as domestic LF while keeping others. Again positive network externalities.

In my humble view, @arvindneela is one of the most erudite and courageous writers on socio-religious issues. As always a very insightful read by him in @SwarajyaMag

https://twitter.com/SwarajyaMag/status/1579440458870099968

One can read “Hindu Dharma” on kamakoti.org, honest view (one I disagree with) that entire Jaatis belong to Varnas not individuals aka Part 3. A section therein “who is responsible for the decay” is worth reading too, which I also disagree with.
kamakoti.org/hindudharma/pa…

I cannot emphasise how tricky these times are for the world, including India. We are very fortunate to have a sensible, solid leadership during this transition. Make no mistake - many are trying to destabilise this government so that they are forced to "adjust". War of attrition. An internally divided India goes back to being dinner on the high table, and not well a diner.

Everybody wants more financial and manufacturing value-add at home as aspects of globalisation face a setback due to geo-economic reasons. Everybody wants their narrative to take hold.

If one is talking of removing caste, exclusive mapping of Jaatis to Varna, how does Sampradaya come in?

We will always be Vaishnav/Shaivite/Shakta, Advaita/Dvaita, Hindi/Bengali/Tamil speaking etc, even Brahmin/Vaishya etc but not based only on birth.

Caste apologia is showing.

https://twitter.com/PankajSaxena84/status/1578625907157504001

I have said this earlier. Jaati per se is fine. Varna per se is fine. It is the exclusive overlap of both aka caste, which you can call Jaati-Varna though I don’t prefer either terms, that is problematic. How will that in any way reduce diversity of Hindus, their rituals, Gods :)

There are no -isms in Dharma if we are to talk rigorously. Bauddh, Vaishnav, Shaiva, Jaina, other Dharmic panths have almost always peacefully coexisted and indeed intermingled not just in India of course but in Japan, South East Asia, China and now in the West as well
#Dharmatva Indeed in a larger sense polytheistic pantheons have always been overlapping, evolving.

The interaction between Egypt, Greece, Rome and elsewhere in the incredible “Mediterranean” pantheons is also a fascinating example of this, before the area fell to monotheistic proselytisms.

For the umpteenth time allow dual citizenship with friendly democracies. Criteria is completely India’s sovereign right. We have an incredible diaspora and we must give some the right to vote, own all property etc (but no right to run for election, sensitive government jobs etc.) In the latest UK riots, India would have been able to raise its voice much more since many more Hindus there would have been Indian citizens as well (I am sure some still are.) Economically also, only upside. But there is one big psychological problem here which we must face..

Where will growth/jobs come from is not a particularly helpful question to be answered directly. The more interesting and relevant one is are the capabilities for growth/jobs being created. If yes - then arbitrage remains a very potent motive for humans of almost all backgrounds. How will the jobs be created and where will the growth come from suggest an omniscience that no one actually has.

But what we do know are the trends and the ballpark reasons for said trends. Within just that there is a lot of intelligent analysis that can be done if we so wish..