Opens profile photo
Follow
Nitin Pai
@acorn
“Eppur Si Mouve!” Director of The Takshashila Institution
@TakshashilaInst
takshashila.org.in Fediverse: @nitin@thinktanki.social
Bangalorenitinpai.inJoined April 2007
913 Following
69.8K Followers

Nitin Pai’s posts

Nitin Pai
@acorn
I don’t condone Kunal Kamra’s behaviour on the plane. I’m shocked at the government’s reaction. There is a process to put passengers on a no-fly list, and a citizen has been banned from flying with *no due process*! All banana.
357
8,172
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Agnipath is an approach to address India’s deep defence challenges. Opposition parties must educate themselves before reflexively opposing the scheme. It is too serious a matter for partisanship.
454
6,768
Nitin Pai
@acorn
When does a republic die? When people agree that there is no wrong way to acquire power. When people agree that there is no wrong way to use power. Then does a republic die.
355
4,686
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The police have a responsibility to maintain order; but by all accounts, Delhi Police dept’s actions in Jamia university were excessive, vastly disproportionate and unconscionable. Senior police officials must listen to their conscience, or find one they seem to have lost.
803
4,560
Nitin Pai
@acorn
India’s enemies are sitting back with popcorn and watching how we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.
186
3,830
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The dignity with which Wg Cdr Abhinandan conducted himself won him admiration among Pakistanis and of course among Indians. A lesson to everyone that good conduct matters.
114
3,397
Nitin Pai
@acorn
I don’t think people have sufficiently grasped the seriousness of India’s economic situation.
267
3,375
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Let’s be clear: claims of large scale EVM hacking are cuckoo. Spreading uncertainty and doubt about the election process is dangerous and irresponsible, when not downright malicious.
137
2,908
Nitin Pai
@acorn
India doesn’t need a population policy. We need a governance policy. There’s no such thing as overpopulation: there is only under-governance.
306
3,162
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Anyone injecting communal poison into Indian society and undermining the values of the Indian republic is, by definition, anti-national.
88
2,519
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Can we please stop using the British colonial term “Centre”? According to the Constitution of India, we have a Union Government. This is not mere semantics; the word conjures up an imagery that then unconsciously shapes our understanding of our polity.
88
2,592
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Just like we have the Rajya Sabha, a house of ‘elders’, we should have a house of young people. I think letting 300 teenagers have a say in legislation is a pretty good idea.
343
2,439
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The second biggest problem in policy discourse in India: Young people sympathetic to centre-left ideas implicitly absorbing latest leftist ideas from the United States and arguing that they are solutions for our problems.
62
2,210
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Uttar Pradesh provides a massive warning, in red neon signs, to the rest of India. People living in other states should do everything possible to ensure we don’t end up like UP.
77
1,919
Nitin Pai
@acorn
You don’t need Raghuram Rajan to tell you that it’s a terrible idea to allow big industrial conglomerates to own banks. I’m surprised that an internal committee of the RBI has even come up with such a dangerous suggestion.
88
2,032
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Britain ejects Huawei from 5G. The United States rejects China's claim in the South China Sea. India closing doors to Chinese investments. And we're told that the guys in Beijing are astute geopolitical strategists. Getting boxed inside a great new wall is some strategy!
61
1,887
Nitin Pai
@acorn
If hundreds of thousands of farmers filling in the streets of Mumbai is not front page headline news, I don’t know if what I’m reading is a newspaper.
96
1,839
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Dear Gen Ghafoor: Pakistan’s economic growth - 3.4% in FY19 - 2.7% in FY20 projected - Inflation - 9.41% - Running out of hard currency - Desperate for an IMF bailout If you are counting jets, you are counting the wrong things!
Quote
Asif Ghafoor
@peaceforchange
• 26 Feb PAF denied IAF strikes across LOC • 27 Feb ~ 6 Strikes by PAF across LOC from within Pak Airspace ~ PAF shot down 2 IAF Jets wreckage seen by all ~ IAF pilot arrested ~ IAF shot down own Mi17 ❓Technology on India's side ✔️Allah on Pak’s side ecoti.in/HvW5ea
127
1,767
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The question is not whether the RSS can mobilise faster than the Indian Army. The question is why should the RSS mobilise a fighting force for anything at all? Bhagwat’s remarks are deeply worrisome.
207
1,732
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Claiming that the NRC process will not harass any Indian citizen is both logically absurd and morally dubious. Absurd: Since a person is considered a non-citizen until proven otherwise, she can be harassed up to that point. Immoral: harassing non-citizens is not okay
92
1,714
Nitin Pai
@acorn
How do you know that the government thinks demonetisation failed? Because they are neither boasting about it, nor even talking about it.
95
1,488
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Jagan Reddy’s closing of the Amaravati project is much more damaging than George Fernandes pushing IBM & Coca Cola out in the 1970s. Massive damage to India’s credibility as a destination for foreign investment in infrastructure. Reversing the…
mastodon.social
Nitin Pai (@nitin@mastodon.social)
Jagan Reddy’s closing of the Amaravati project is much more damaging than George Fernandes pushing IBM & Coca Cola out in the 1970s. Massive damage to India’s credibility as a destination for foreign...
92
1,427
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Sometimes I wonder if our police officers, civil servants and judges have feelings for fellow citizens and human beings; Whether they see daughters, sons, husbands, wives, parents. Whether they have any empathy left, Even if they are too scared to express it.
77
1,477
Nitin Pai
@acorn
I dream of the day when South Indian chief ministers will appear on election campaign posters in North Indian states.
176
1,386
Nitin Pai
@acorn
To be very clear: getting public sector banks to bail out Jet Airways is neither capitalistic nor neo-liberal. It is just a government bailing out private businessmen with public money. It discriminates against other market players with better business models & management.
72
1,397
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Don’t be fooled by the Taliban’s sweet words. Their supreme leader Haibatullah is more of a doctrinaire zealot than Mullah Omar was.
27
1,435
Nitin Pai
@acorn
I disagree. Many television channels can no longer be considered to be in the journalism business.
Quote
Chitra Subramaniam
@chitraSD
Irrespective of your views about a news organisation or a journalist, keeping them out of a presser as the @OfficeOfRG & @INCIndia did to the @republic today is wrong. Journalism is a public good to be publicly lauded or shunned. 1/n #FOE
199
1,353
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Never had sympathy for the left wing, have opposed their ideas all my life. But rounding them up in the manner we saw yesterday is against the spirit of the Constitution and undermines the Indian Republic. Using state power in this low manner weakens the moral force of India.
153
1,360
Nitin Pai
@acorn
All those who study economics are blessed with a curse: Once they learn the concept of opportunity cost, they see it everywhere.
49
1,426
Nitin Pai
@acorn
To the people who retorted that 20 million/day is an unrealistic estimate: India hit 20 million doses today. Only goes on to show how much we underestimate what India can achieve; and why we must not limit our expectations of the government.
Quote
Nitin Pai
@acorn
India is vaccinating 3 million people per day, second largest in the world today. But India can vaccinate 20 million people per day (if only half of its hospitals and clinics do 100 vaccinations per day, on an average) if vaccination is fully deregulated.
34
1,332
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Let's be clear: China making a new border claim with Bhutan is intended as a challenge to India. As long as New Delhi limits its lens to the Himalayas, India will be compelled to contest at a time and place of Beijing's choosing. We must respond in the maritime space.
43
1,180
Nitin Pai
@acorn
I think it is vitally important for Indian society to understand the difference between an economist and a chartered accountant. Yes, there’s a difference. Yes, it matters.
77
1,171
Nitin Pai
@acorn
With the storming of the US Capitol fresh in our minds, I hope every parent, school principal & community leader takes the opportunity on January 26th to explain to young people the greatness of the Indian Republic and our foremost duty to safeguard and strengthen it.
31
1,205
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The reason for India to allow crucial pharma exports to the United States is because it is in our national interest. The US is an important economic & strategic partner, and our prosperity depends on theirs. Overreading Trump’s media remarks shouldn’t cloud this point.
72
1,106
Nitin Pai
@acorn
It’s sad to see such a learned man make such senseless comments. Why should Indians care whether neighbouring countries are safer or not? What matters to us is the safety in our own country.
Quote
Dr David Frawley
@davidfrawleyved
When Bollywood Muslim actors claim not to feel safe in Hindu India let them tell us any nearby Muslim country they consider to be a safer place to live.
154
1,096
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Give migrants a free return ticket to their home towns. Let them leave and return when they want. What applies to the privileged among us must apply for the migrants too.
40
1,098
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Let’s be very clear: the four Supreme Court judges would not have gone public without serious — very, very, very serious — deliberation. They must have seen the situation as so extraordinary that this was their best recourse.
53
996
Nitin Pai
@acorn
If the BJP returns to power tomorrow, India’s national interest demands that credible voices rise to hold it to account. So too, if some other party or coalition forms the government. The need for a credible opposition, political and civic, has never been more important.
78
1,011
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Let's not forget who repeatedly elected the Rajapaksas. 2010 vote share 60% 2020 vote share 60%
Quote
Birender Dhanoa
@bsdhanoa
“They are Sinhalese nationalists. But above all, they are into politics for themselves, for the family. Where else can you find an entire nation of 22 million run completely by four brothers,” Erik Solheim m.thewire.in/article/south/
18
1,023
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Kannan Gopinathan
@naukarshah
’s decision to quit the IAS exemplifies the moral dilemma of a conscientious public official. A good guy quitting means one less good guy inside the system. But staying in the system means accepting limitations on free expression.
79
933
Nitin Pai
@acorn
No liberal leader rises to national prominence in the Information Age because liberals want that leader to satisfy a hundred liberal checkboxes, each with its own veto. No one is completely woke on all dimensions, so no single leader is acceptable to all liberals.
57
876
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Thanks to the Internet, the most advanced knowledge on any subject is available to almost everyone on the planet at nearly zero cost. Yet we’re seeing the profusion of superstition, quackery & false information around the world. The central paradox of the Information Age.
48
889
Nitin Pai
@acorn
A Great Firewall prevents our opinions from reaching Chinese citizens. But Chinese diplomats & mouthpieces can use Twitter (denied to their citizens) to tell us their side of the story. In the Information Age this gives China a massive, almost epistemological advantage.
Quote
Lijian Zhao 赵立坚
@zlj517
A step-by-step account of the Galwan clash 1. The Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary. For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region.
26
826
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Quite some distance traveled from moral grandstanding with the anti-corruption movement in 2011 saying “mera neta chor hai”, to amorally declaring horse-trading as an art form in 2018.
Quote
Chetan Bhagat
@chetan_bhagat
In a hung parliament there’s no ethical way out. So let’s stop moralizing either side please as it is a pointless exercise. Even horse trading is an art form. another test for both BJP and Cong. Let’s see who’s better at it.
32
829
Nitin Pai
@acorn
In this crisis, the principle figure of merit is the vaccination rate, or how fast India vaccinates everyone. Any and every method that allows us to get there quickly is in the national interest.
31
854
Nitin Pai
@acorn
On the contrary, leaving gracefully when you’ve lost the election is the norm. Skulduggery to hang on or form governments is a perverse deviation. We shouldn’t lower the bar and normalise deviation.
Quote
Shekhar Gupta
@ShekharGupta
Once again, by respecting the mandate in MP rather than try a smash-and-grab like Karnataka, @ChouhanShivraj shows why he’s among our most dignified political leaders. He’s a BJP stalwart in Vajpayee mould who nearly pulled off an incredible fourth term.
28
792
Nitin Pai
@acorn
So, Pakistan has imposed a ban on banned organisations proof of whose presence in Pakistan is not existent anyway.
30
743
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Dear Bank Manager: I did not deposit the money earlier because I trusted the Finance Minister’s word that I have until Dec 30th to do so.
108
776
Nitin Pai
@acorn
When new facts emerge, the scientific mind changes its opinion. When new facts emerge, the ideological mind attacks the fact.
26
741
Nitin Pai
@acorn
As I told a journalist friend yesterday, anyone who thinks letting Huawei build our 5G networks is the carrot to get China to sanction Masood Azhar has got his sums terribly wrong.
31
728
Nitin Pai
@acorn
These are facts. It is unpatriotic to deny facts. Our power & influence in international affairs comes from economic growth & liberal democracy. If the bases weaken, so will our standing. I doesn’t make me happy to say it, but facts are facts.
Quote
Mohandas Pai
@TVMohandasPai
Does not the aggregate GDP matter? China per capital is 10000$ not high but at 15tr$ GDP it is a colossus @acorn Why do you always try to pull India down all the time? Gives you sadistic pleasure? Disappointing twitter.com/acorn/status/1…
38
774
Nitin Pai
@acorn
And yes. If you are a journalist wanting to do true journalism, don’t worry too much about press cards & accreditation. Those only get you access to the people in power. Go out and do real journalism. The stories are out there. You don’t need anybody’s accreditation to do that.
35
709
Nitin Pai
@acorn
China can’t block Indian apps because it didn’t allow them in in the first place. The Great Firewall has long blocked Indian views from the Chinese market...for instance, even this tweet is blocked.
Quote
Hu Xijin 胡锡进
@HuXijin_GT
Well, even if Chinese people want to boycott Indian products, they can't really find many Indian goods. Indian friends, you need to have some things that are more important than nationalism.
Image
8
676
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The Indian republic owes a lot to our Tamil citizens and their leaders for being at the forefront of defending federalism.
21
721
Nitin Pai
@acorn
India’s ambassador to China visited the beleaguered Carrie Lam after the Hong Kong protests broke out. Beijing has chosen to ignore that overture. I don’t see why New Delhi shouldn’t be interested in the democratic aspirations of Hong Kongers.
22
654
Nitin Pai
@acorn
This is as it should be. Budgets should focus on public finance, fiscal policy and long-term macroeconomic approaches. Over the years budgets had become opportunities to announce programmes, projects etc. A ‘drab’ budget is a good budget.
Quote
Chetan Chauhan
@chetanecostani
For me, nothing in the budget. Business as usual. Very drab twitter.com/shankarsview/s…
13
761
Nitin Pai
@acorn
It is vital that we focus on only three things: 1. How to contain the Covid-19 outbreak as quickly as possible 2. How to provide humanitarian relief to those hard hit by it 3. How do we get the economy back on line as soon as possible. Everything else is a distraction. 🙏🏽
28
744
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Replying to
@acorn
Of course Agnipath has implementation challenges & potential downsides. That means you identify those issues and get the government to take necessary steps to mitigate the negatives. Defence recruitment is too serious a matter to be turned into a political football.
64
739
Nitin Pai
@acorn
@DanishSait
Ramamurthy-avare, are you seen the news? Laakdown has been announced from Tuesday. Hoon saar, correct only. Too many cases saar, going up like staack morket.
16
728
Nitin Pai
@acorn
This is getting childish now. I hope the next tweet won’t be about how the PLA is using virtual reality or airdropping girlfriends on mountain slopes to provide its soldiers with conjugal comforts.
Quote
Hu Xijin 胡锡进
@HuXijin_GT
With these drones, the PLA’s frontline soldiers can enjoy hot meals once winter reaches the plateau. Some sympathize with the nearby Indian soldiers who can only eat cold canned food and have to endure the severe cold and potential spread of COVID-19.
Embedded video
1:00
42
648
Nitin Pai
@acorn
I don’t think Indian voters connect economic outcomes to their electoral choices; nor see economic policy as part of ‘politics’, unless it’s some government intervention in prices. ‘Politics’ is seen to be only about power, identity and narratives. 1/3
59
673
Nitin Pai
@acorn
The honourable thing for the concerned Election Commissioners to do is to resign. If the court says you haven’t observed the most fundamental principles of fair play, how can you supervise elections in the world’s biggest democracy?
Quote
Sakshi Singh
@Sakshi_Singh2
Delhi High Court quashes opinion of Election Commission on 20 AAP MLAs who were disqualified, observes that principle of 'Natural Justice' not upheld, sets aside disqualification.@LambaAlka @ArvindKejriwal #SatyamevJayate twitter.com/ajaymaken/stat
28
659
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Scroll and Wire are much better news sources than mainstream newspapers. Better designed and not full of advertisements.
35
614
Nitin Pai
@acorn
A lot of people lamenting 100% cutoff for university admissions. The problem is a shortage of good universities. If we care about our children’s education, then we must support the development of good universities. 100% cutoff is the surest signal of a supply crisis
27
657
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Dear Ganesh Your second vaccination was due on 03-05-2022. Please schedule your appointment on CoWin. Also, use your own phone number.
18
669
Nitin Pai
@acorn
Driving around in rural South Karnataka. Beautiful roads. Clean villages. And neat well-maintained primary & higher primary schools in villages. This picture is from near Kabini.
Image
26
601