Mohit Satyanand

    Minority of One

    Private take on public affairs

  • I am not Your Crony

    Last week, RIL Chairman, Mukesh Ambani, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I don't know what they discussed, which is hardly surprising. But I can guess, since the media has been full of speculation about the CAG's draft report of investigations … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/06/26/i-am-not-your-crony/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • ‘Make Believe’ Policy

    In accounting and government One of the corner-stones of accounting is "mark-to-market". Meaning, a company must tell its shareholders the value its financial assets would fetch in the open-market. When these prices fall, the real worth of the company takes … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/06/12/make-believe-policy/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Dirty Money Is Not Just Black

    We complain about black money. For most of us, black money is money in suitcases, printed notes of currency. We imagine that there are huge stashes of currency in politicians' houses, that industrialists are, quite literally, rolling in the stuff. … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/06/08/dirty-money-is-not-just-black/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Beware the False Prophets

    "We are not righteous people, only they will go to heaven, the others will stay here on Earth to go through terrible sufferings." Written in her diary by a 14-year old Russian girl, convinced that Judgement Day would arrive on … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/05/29/beware-the-false-prophets/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Red Riddance

    Kolkata's decline began when the Naxals raised the red flag in rural West Bengal. 34 years of Communist party rule hollowed out the commercial status of the city. For any one born in the last 3 decades, it is difficult to … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/05/15/red-riddance/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Andhra Pradesh’s Microfinance Muddle

    Last week, the Andhra Pradesh government took a fresh step towards encouraging its citizens to violate their contracts en masse. Claiming to be speaking on behalf of self-help groups in his state, the principal secretary, AP Department of Rural Development, … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/05/01/andhra-pradeshs-microfinance-muddle/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Many Routes to Corruption

    Fellow columnist, friend, and editor of this space, Amit Varma, hit the button when he wrote last week that corruption is a manifestation of too much power vested in our politicians. Now Anna Hazare and his mob want power over … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/04/17/the-many-routes-to-corruption/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Free our markets – it’s simple

    As I write this piece, the highest gains amongst the 50 shares that make up India's Nifty, have been logged by Sesa Goa, an iron ore producer. The good cheer comes from the Supreme Court ruling yesterday that the Karnataka … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/04/06/free-our-markets-its-simple/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Time for Project Human

    What is it about the tiger that so captivates our political leaders? A few years ago, when it was discovered that the population of tigers in Ranthambore had dropped significantly, PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh spent a day at the park, reviewing … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/11/22/time-for-project-human/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Green Face of the Congress Party

    After Jairam Ramesh showed a red light to the Vedanta mines in Orissa, the Congress party and its Crown Prince unfurled a huge green flag of environmentalism. The POSCO port and steel project, which was to be the largest foreign … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/11/08/the-green-face-of-the-congress-party/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Rabbit Garden

    When you have a large stash to hide, it pays to cultivate a rabbit garden. A stratagem well known to successful gardeners, it acknowledges that a garden full of vegetables will attract rodents and other marauders. These are persistent animals, … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/10/25/the-rabbit-garden/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Liquidity could wash out India’s stability

    "The flood of liquidity is going abroad and causing problems all over the world", said Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winning economist last week. Does that include India? Our Finance Minister seems to think not, but the Reserve Bank of India … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/10/11/liquidity-could-wash-out-indias-stability/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • All Piglets are Equal

    Within days of taking charge as our Minister for Human Resources Development (HRD) in 2009, Kapil Sibal pronounced his 3 over-arching goals for Indian education - access, equity (inclusion) and excellence. Ninety-six percent of Indian children of school-going age are … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/09/27/all-piglets-are-equal-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Preserving the Land Raj

    Two weeks after her son's 'warrior' speech in Niyamgiri, Sonia Gandhi called for protection of farmers' land rights. Rahul's helicopter visit to Orissa was designed to embarrass the Patnaik government after Vedanta's mining activities were declared illegal; Soniaji's declaration came … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/09/13/preserving-the-land-raj/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • No Cure For Corruption

    People starving and thirsting, grain elevators are bursting. Oh you know it costs more to store the food than it does to give it away. Legendary songster Bob Dylan sang these words in 'Slow Train Coming', in 1979. Over a … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/08/30/no-cure-for-corruption/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Dishonour among Thieves

    India is scarcely famous for a clean public life: on a scale that runs from 0, for highly corrupt, to 10, for highly clean, Transparency International ranks India at 2.9, along with Mali, Moldova, and Tanzania, and just a little … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/08/16/dishonour-among-thieves/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Queen Supreme

    For six years she was out in the cold, while those awful pretenders ran riot over the Republic her line had ruled so long. But she used those six years years well, thinking carefully about the role of a Monarch … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/08/02/the-queen-supreme/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Water Tables and the Politics of Pricing

    The water table in north-western India is falling at an alarming rate. The reason is politics. Bad politics. And the bad pricing that follows from it. Am I sure it isn't because of global warming, or climate change? Well, I … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/07/05/water-tables-and-the-politics-of-pricing/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan

    How can land on one side of a road be ten times as expensive as land on the other? It's not easy to accomplish this, but with the right mix of land-use laws and poor policing, it can be done. … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/07/02/jai-jawan-jai-kisan/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Gaudi, Dali and Mass Tourism

    Mohit Satyanand is on a vacation from public affairs this week, and serves up a travel piece instead. "Was Gaudi related to Mick Jagger?" my son asked, as we toured the eccentric architect's home on the outskirts of Barcelona last … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/06/21/gaudi-dali-and-mass-tourism/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>