The best opinion pieces from across newspapers this Sunday, curated just for you.
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In his weekly column for The Indian Express, P Chidambaram has a question for the Finance Minister: How will she address economic woes, born out of persisting inflation, in the Budget for 2023-24?
Drawing on unemployment, consumption and other datasets, he charts out a base that can become the foundation for future policies.
He argues:
"Let me begin by applauding Narendra Modi for an achievement that has not been noticed enough. He has succeeded in selling India the dream of one day becoming a developed country," writes Tavleen Singh for The Indian Express.
But, she is quick to add that Prime Minister Modi has skirted around the country's other identity: a totalitarian one.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar's dig at the 'basic structure doctrine' has invited criticism from all quarters, and perhaps rightly so.
Lawyer Prateek Chaddha, in his piece for The Times of India, traces the evolution of this principle and tells us why it is absolutely necessary despite all the apprehensions that the executive recently seems to be casting over it.
As “ideas, intellectuals and a large caravan of global net worth travel” to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Shankkar Aiyar, argues that the meeting, although fawned over, is only symbolic.
Writing for The New Indian Express, he points out that the discussions and agreements made at Davos do not have any real-world impact and the decisions made there are never binding.
While many have pointed out that the reason for Joshimath sinking is development, Patralekha Chatterjee, writing for Deccan Chronicle takes a more nuanced look.
She argues that it is not development, but “unsuitable development.” According to her, catering to tourists or pilgrims was never the problem, but doing it without taking the region’s geography, geology, ecology, or climate change, into account was.
Adding to the longstanding debate on freebies, Manish Tewari, in his piece for Deccan Chronicle, hints at a need for defining these “short-term measures.”
Once that is done, he points out, that it becomes evidently clear that these are nothing but “reckless.”
Drawing on state finances and RBI data, he concludes:
RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat’s latest interview has not been lost on anyone.
While many have analysed each word he said, Bharat Bhushan takes a slightly different approach: he questions its purpose at this juncture, in his piece for Deccan Herald.
And in his reflection, stumbles upon perhaps the perfect answer: losing control to the other ‘pope’ in Delhi – the prime minister.
“The present RSS chief, or Sarsanghchalak, no longer enjoys the moral authority over the government as his predecessors once did. Now, the Prime Minister towers over everyone else in the RSS family of organisations of which he is as much of an éminence grise as Bhagwat," he says.
He adds:
What is the point of Rahul Gandhi marching on for miles on an end?
Political redemption, says Mukul Kesavan in his piece for The Telegraph, as the Bharat Jodo Yatra enters its latest leg in Punjab.
Kesavan suggests that this journey and the message it is promoting is significant because it is a counter-narrative to the divisive discourse that currently grips the country.
In an unusual take, Ritwik Sharma, in his piece for The New Indian Express, points out the desperate need for innovation in corporate gifting.
Sharma stresses upon the importance of developing a gifting strategy that aligns with the company’s values and moves ahead from the Mugs, T-shirts and mementoes.
In doing this, he hints at a massive untapped market -- businesses that come up with thoughtful gifts:
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