Articles written by
K Raveendran

By K Raveendran It is six years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the fateful night of 8 November, 2016 announced demonetisation, putting the nation to untold miseries and breaking the backbone of the country’s economy, but people are still groping in the dark as to why the draconian decision was taken and whether it […]

The post Questions That Refuse To Go Away Even Six Years After Ill-Fated Demonetisation first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has escalated the standoff with the Left democratic Front (LDF) Government by raking up the  gold smuggling case to spite Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In an interaction with presspersons in New Delhi, Khan said he had not interfered in governance.  “But now when I see all […]

The post Kerala Governor Escalates Faceoff With LDF Government first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Soaring international gas prices in recent weeks have caused much concern in consumer countries like India, but the latest trends indicate that power prices may be reversing course. Although Indian gas prices, particularly in terms of supplies for vehicles as well as cooking, have remained moderated, thanks to government intervention, consumers in […]

The post Mild Weather Prompts Soaring International Gas Prices To Reverse Course first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The disgraceful incident in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara in which a man ‘auctioned’ his daughters to repay his debt is a social evil that manifests in similar occurrences in parts of northern India from time to time. The incident attracted widespread condemnation and lowered the prestige of India as a modern nation in highly […]

The post Legislations Unable To Thwart ‘Auctioning’ Of Daughters, Wives And Sisters first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran With a new round of assembly elections, including that of Gujarat, round the corner, the freebies issue has occupied the centre-stage of political discourse. The matter is now before the Supreme Court, which has favoured an early hearing of a PIL in this connection by a larger 3-member bench. The court’s approach […]

The post It May Be Time To Consider Setting Up Of A Competition Commission For Elections first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Violations and atoning for them are in the DNA of Google and its owner Alphabet. Google had to pay penalties of Rs 2,274 crore within the space of a week, in two orders issued by the Competition Commission of India for misusing its dominant position in relation to Play Store and engaging […]

The post Fast-Growing Indian Market Irresistible Attraction For Digital Payment Giants first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court verdict quashing the appointment of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University VC over violation of UGC norms should be reviewed, opined former Lok Sabha Secretary-General and constitutional expert PDT Achary. Achary said the judgment should be subjected to a review as the appointment of the KTU VC was […]

The post Legal Experts Want Review Of Supreme Court Verdict On Kerala VC first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The release of Bilkis Bano rape case convicts by the Gujarat government is turning even more dubious amidst new disclosures that the remission was allowed despite opposition from the CBI as well as the city civil and sessions court of Greater Bombay and the prisons and correctional administration assistant DGP of Ahmedabad. […]

The post Disclosures Further Cloud Remission Of Bilkis Bano Rape Convicts’ Sentence first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The Supreme Court of India has added very little to its credibility by holding a special sitting on a most uncommon Saturday morning and setting aside the Bombay High Court order for the release of human rights activist G N Saibaba, the wheel-chair bound former Delhi University professor, who had been sentenced […]

The post Supreme Court Bench Behaved In A Bizarre Manner In Prof. Saibaba Case first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The move by the US and western nations to enforce a price cap on Russian crude as part of their sanctions against Moscow to put even a tighter leash on its finances provides another opportunity for India to maximise its benefits through the purchase of discounted Ural crude. India has made it […]

The post Russian Oil Price Cap Move Provides India Another Major Opportunity first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Chief Justice U U Lalit can feel happy that his 74-day tenure, coming to an end on November 8, is not the shortest in the history of India’s Supreme Court. That dubious record belongs to the 22nd chief justice, K N Singh, who occupied that position for a mere 17 days, followed […]

The post It Is High Time Age Of Supreme Court Chief Justice Is Reconsidered first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran As the global oil markets digest the news about OPEC+ announcement of a 2 million barrels per day of crude output cut, more details emerging from market analysts should calm Indian nerves a bit as the impact may not be as severe as feared. The Brent price had touched $94 straightaway from […]

The post Sigh Of Relief As OPEC-Plus Cut Unlikely To Reach Declared Levels first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The government has raised the price of natural gas by an incredible 40 percent to take it to a new level, and the move comes like a bolt from the blue to consumers who are already finding their energy costs unbearable. Household budgets are expected to see further squeeze, with cooking gas […]

The post Higher Gas Royalty To Cause Ripple Effect, Squeeze Household Budgets Further first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Crude oil prices have now dipped below the level when Russia’s Ukraine war broke out, which means the market has not only absorbed the shock of disruption in supplies, but the end game is approaching for the oil cartel. The war, however, forced a tectonic change in the oil market dynamics, of […]

The post Oil Prices Below Level Before Ukraine War, But No Solace For Consumers first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The rampaging dollar has caused a bloodbath in the currency markets, with all other major currencies falling to multi-decade lows. The rupee has not done any better. The Indian currency touched historical lows, crossing 81 to the dollar, the lowest it has touched for all times. The dollar rampage, a by-product of […]

The post Gold Has A Tough Summer, Yet Holds Out Well Amidst Turmoil first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Arvind Kejriwal seems to have come of age as a politician. The Delhi chief minister is apparently taking a page out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi book to speak the same language, same content and wear the same demeanor.  He needs to be given credit for his assessment that Modi’s language strikes […]

The post Kejriwal Follows Modi-Style Vote Catching And Succeeds first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran A major hurdle in the shift to electric vehicles has been the price disadvantage of EV units. But this is expected to change soon, as electric vehicles are expected to hit price parity with petrol and diesel engines by next year. The shift is being made possible in view of the increasing […]

The post Price Parity With Fuel Vehicles Next Year To Remove Major EV Hurdle first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The Supreme Court has kept its word in terms of protecting the rights of undertrials by granting bail to journalist Siddique Kappan, who has spent over two years in UP jails without trial in connection with the Hathras conspiracy case. The decisive action comes within weeks of the apex court having warned […]

The post Supreme Court Keeps Its Word For Protecting Rights Of Undertrials first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The gap between time of booking and delivery of new cars is changing from months to years, which is causing frustration to buyers of new vehicles. During the pandemic, the industry was down in the dumps as demand dried up completely dried up. But as the industry rode out of the pandemic, […]

The post Frustrating Increase In Auto-Makers’ Delivery Timeframe first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran The rupee hit a historic low this week. The immediate provocation was, of course, a signal from the US Federal Reserve that it will persist with high interest rates so as to try and control inflation. The dollar has been steadily climbing in recent times, driven by an exodus of capital into […]

The post A Historical Perspective To Rupee Falling To Its All-Time Low first appeared on IPA Newspack.

  By K Raveendran   A brief respite in retail inflation registered for July may not be of much assurance about price stability as another GST readjustment is threatening to push up prices of items of mass consumption.   Retail inflation was steady in June, although well above the Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance limit […]

The post Next Round Of GST Readjustment To Lead To More Price Increases first appeared on IPA Newspack.

  By K Raveendran   The acrimony between political parties, particularly Modi’s BJP and Kejriwal’s AAP, over freebies notwithstanding, it may be an appropriate occasion for a full-fledged debate on the issue as the nation celebrates 75 years of Independence. But the cold fact is that every interested party is running away from such a […]

The post It Is Time To Take Freebies Debate To More Fundamental Levels first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran   The rate of urbanisation in India has so far been slower than other emerging countries. But this is expected to change drastically in the coming decades. So much so that in the next two decades, the country is expected to add a new city of the size of Los Angeles every […]

The post Rapid Urabanisation To Reshape India’s Energy Consumption Pattern first appeared on IPA Newspack.

  By K Raveendran   With the Modi government increasingly citing ‘policy’ to justify what it is doing, the Supreme Court has felt compelled to deprecate this tendency.   A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna, hearing a plea against the levy of GST on equipment such as wheelchair used by people with […]

The post Supreme Court Finds ‘Shackles Of Policy’ Put By Govt As Intimidating first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Parliament has been witnessing a standoff between the government and the opposition over the issue of price rise and inflation, with the opposition demanding urgent debate on the issue and the Modi government showing the inclination to go to any extent, including suspension of over a scores of members belonging to the […]

The post Modi Govt Continues To Run Away From Vexed Inflation Issue first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran A global crisis in the supply of lithium and other components is hitting the Indian EV industry even harder than other major markets. Apart from the high costs of imports, the relative low size of the Indian market is also affecting the industry’s capacity to negotiate. Although the EV sector in India […]

The post Global Supply Constraints Darken Indian EV Manufacturing Horizon first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Developments in Sri Lanka have served as an eye-opener to the inherent dangers of prodigal spending by governments and the implications of freebies model. Unprecedented visuals from the island nation — of people dropping dead while waiting in multi-kms long queue for petrol and diesel, a sea of humanity swarming the presidential […]

The post Arvind Kejriwal Beating Narendra Modi In His Own Game Of Sops first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Congress hasn’t done any credit to itself by criticising prime minister Narendra Modi‘s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ call to hoist the national flag atop homes to mark the 75th year of India’s independence under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign. It was somewhat uncharacteristic of him at this instance to mention that the […]

The post Congress Discrediting Modi’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ Call May Be Suicidal first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran Amidst global supply chain disruptions and the attendant cost escalations, there is some encouraging news for India’s merchandise trade. Oversupply of containers is forcing a correction in the second-hand container market prices in the wake of average container prices and leasing rates declining globally since October 2021. The current situation of oversupply […]

The post Falling Global Freight Rates Bring Respite To India’s Foreign Trade first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By K Raveendran It is becoming increasingly clear that the western sanctions against Russia for its Ukraine invasion is hurting Europe more than these were meant to harm Moscow. While a guaranteed energy crisis is staring Europe on its face due to the stoppage of gas flow from Russia, even creating the scare of rationing […]

The post Russia Surprises Sanction-Slappers By Exporting More Oil Than Before first appeared on IPA Newspack.