-The Hindu In response to my recent article in The Hindu, “The real questions from Kudankulam” (edit page, September 14, 2012), supporting nuclear power and arguing for an independent regulatory authority, I received much feedback, largely positive, some critical; some of which deserves a response. Many of these points have been made by others, repeatedly, but some are new to me. 1) Independent oversight: Two credible people said that I was too...

Remember Arjun Sengupta Committee Report? It’s the same report which put paid to government’s shifting poverty estimates by asserting that almost 80% Indian survive on less than Rs 20 per day. Known as the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), the report has gone missing from the public domain. The official website of NCEUS is no more working: http://nceus.gov.in, raising doubts regarding someone, somewhere trying to hide...

-The Economic Times A nation intermittently bombarded over the past several decades by messages highlighting the dangers of smoking, the cruelty of crackers or the crime of dowry is about to get a new one, this time on the perils of cartelisation. A message that mirrors as much as it seeks to address the concerns of a globalising India and a changing society at a time the national discourse is dominated by...

-The Economic Times Where will India get its water from in the coming years? The water challenge is already grave and could get graver. By 2050, for instance, it is estimated that demand would go up to 1,180 million cubic metres, 1.65 times the current levels, a situation that would be made worse by fast dwindling fresh water resources. That's why desalination — removing salt from seawater to make fresh water —...

-The Business Standard Gas cylinder cap has lessons for the future  Of all the decisions that the United Progressive Alliance government took last week to end a long period of policy paralysis, the one that has caused the least provocation to opposition political parties is the annual capping of the supply of subsidised cooking gas cylinders. This is surprising, as its net effect on a householder’s annual budget will likely be substantial....