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3 Disruptions That Can Benefit India In 2012

Published: Dec 28, 2011 06:02:20 AM IST
Updated: Dec 27, 2011 05:18:08 PM IST
3 Disruptions That Can Benefit India In 2012
Image: Siphiwe Sibeko/ Reuters

Mid-Term Elections
The Manmohan Singh-led UPA government’s second term has now become infamous for its inability to legislate. Starting with the winter session of 2010, a series of sustained interruptions by the Opposition has meant that the current Lok Sabha is the most disrupted in all of independent India’s history. The Opposition, some civil society groups, and the media have a long list of complaints against Singh’s Cabinet. There seems to be no way to resolve the logjam.

Perhaps, the best thing that can happen to India is a mid-term general election in 2012. It would give citizens an opportunity to elect a new government with a renewed mandate to take decisions. It is time India stopped dragging its feet on decisions and focus on bringing about inclusive growth.


Scrap Doha Round, Start Afresh
The Doha Round negotiations of the World Trade Organization was started in the Qatari capital city in 2001. The aim was to improve the trading prospects of developing countries by accommodating their special needs. However, even after a decade, the Doha Round is far from conclusion. Reason: Developing countries like India and China have grown rapidly over the past decade and have increasingly pushed their agenda many times to the chagrin of the established developed trading entities like the US and European Union nations. The global financial crisis of 2008 further complicated matters by intensifying the protectionist tendencies among the negotiators.

Perhaps, the time has come to fold up the Doha Round and start a fresh development round which recognises the economic might of many of the emerging economies.


WikiLeaks Publishing Names of Black Money Account Holders in Foreign Countries

3 Disruptions That Can Benefit India In 2012
Image:  Reuters
There has been a lot said and written about retrieving the millions of rupees in Indian black money that is supposedly stashed in Swiss bank accounts. It is funny how this topic continues to be a bone of contention between the government and the Opposition despite all parties being on the same side on this issue. The problem apparently lies in the modalities of getting the names of those who have such accounts. If WikiLeaks published the list of names of guilty Indians and the amounts they hold in their accounts, the government would be forced to act on it.


(This story appears in the 06 January, 2012 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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  • Sp Gupta

    I heard Mr. L.K Advani speaking in Parliament about the black money issue. He claims he had a discussion with Assange and pleaded to release the list list of names. According to him, Assange has pacifed him by saying he has names of all names of black money holders and would release this soon for the world to see. The camera peeked at Mr. Singh and he had a grin on his face.

    on Dec 28, 2011