This is a make or break year for Prime Minister Modi. Unless economic growth picks up significantly in 2016 and jobs come in masses, we can forget about achhe din. The standard recipe for making a poor country rich is to export labour-intensive, low-tech manufactured goods. It transformed East Asia, China and South-East Asia into middle-class societies.

Since the Congress party is determined not to let Parliament work, Prime Minister Modi has an unexpected opportunity to focus on executive action. So much can be achieved through good execution, and voters too will generously reward those who visibly improve their lives. Urban reform is one area crying for such vigorous attention.

Dharma is a frustrating, almost untranslatable word. Duty, goodness, justice, and law have something to do with it, but they all fall short

Some nations seem to possess a code word, which is like a key — it unlocks the secrets of the country. That word is ‘liberty’ in America’s case. It is égalité, ‘equality’, in the case of France. For India, the code word is ‘dharma’.

The circus is over. Another election has come and gone, and it’s time for bread. “Bread and circuses” is an ancient figure of speech from the Roman Empire when politicians neglected the real issues and diverted the people with cheap entertainment. The Bihar election was important but a huge distraction. India is continuously in election mode, and this delays crucial reforms and executive decisions. For the past month, we have had only a part-time Prime Minister.

“Good fences make good neighbours,” said Robert Frost, and by this he meant that neighbourly success depends on respecting each other’s autonomy. This is especially true when those neighbours are as unequal as Nepal and India. The smaller neighbour is invariably suspicious, which is why Mexicans say, “Too close to America; too far from God.” India looms large in the Nepali imagination but Nepal hardly figures in India’s, except as a fantasy wonderland in the Himalayas.

केंद्रीय मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्री स्मृति ईरानी को दुनिया की सबसे खराब शिक्षा व्यवस्था विरासत में मिली है। भारत में शिक्षा का प्रभार कम गुणवत्ता वाले मंत्रियों को मिलता रहा है। अर्जुन सिंह जैसे लोग भी इस पद पर रहे हैं जिन्होंने व्यवस्था में सुधार की चिंता तो नहीं की, लेकिन ओबीसी आरक्षण कार्ड खेलने में जरूर लगे रहे। यही कारण है कि एक प्रसिद्ध अंतरराष्ट्रीय परीक्षा में भाग लेने वाले भारत के 15 साल के लड़के और लड़कियों को केवल किर्गिस्तान के ऊपर सभी देशों में आखिरी से दूसरा स्थान मिला। हां, सचमुच। विज्ञान और अंकगणित की सामान्य परीक्षा में 2011 में 74 देशों में भारत के बच्चों

Smriti Irani should begin by asking why 15-year-olds from India who took part in a famous international test came second last — only ahead of Kyrgyzstan. Yes, Indians ranked 73 out of 74 in 2011 in a simple test of reading, science and arithmetic called PISA (Program for International Student Assessment). The response of the UPA government to this shocking result was to refuse to participate again in PISA.