Colonial Cast; Drab Demand; Sanna Slumps
Opinion Watch
Colonial Cast
What others say about us has been an age-old obsession of the people in the country, and The Asian Age has counselled Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar in an Editorial that he and his tribe should not be oversensitive about remarks made by the developed countries where freed media questions all and elicit answers as well.
The Pioneer also has turned the spotlight on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for chiding his party colleague Digvijaya Singh for his juvenile exultations over Germany taking note of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha. Invoking the ancient Hindu wisdom, The Asian Age called for more engagement with voices of dissent and laugh away viewpoints other than ours.
India should study China more for the way it deals with sharp criticism. Beijing just builds on strength to dictate terms in the global order, and hardly does anyone come across statements from even the lower run officials of whining against western nations’ utterances.
Drab Demand
The Economic Times has said in an Editorial that anemic rural demand is putting pressure on the fast moving consumer goods companies. The business daily noted that the consumption demand continues to slow down sequentially over the quarters.
The only positive for consumption demand is the sales of cars and mobile phones, said the ET, adding that the public investment is yet to translate into higher disposable incomes in the hands of the people. The daily warned that unless wages in the informal sector align to the nominal GDP growth, India’s domestic consumption story could be in trouble.
Irony is that the GST and the direct tax collections are at the record high, but the people are without disposable income. This must call for serious questioning of the economic policies of the government.
Sanna Slumps
At the age of 37 years, Sanna Marin had become Prime Minister of Finland, but The Hindu said in its Editorial that she had to bow out of power solely for economic reasons, as the runaway inflation overshadowed her handling of the Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Chennai-based daily gave an account that the alliance partners of Marin’s Social Democrats faltered to the sharp attacks by Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition. Marin, the fashion diva among the leading global politicians, remains the most popular leader in Finland. The daily stated that Orpo has to decide his alliance partners after the poll outcome, as Finland has a multi-party democracy.
Inflation is ravaging Europe. Breakfast is now costlier in the UK. People are on the street in France against pension reforms. Marin had lavishly spent borrowed money to beat Covid pain in Finland, as had been the case with several European countries and the US. Europe is now learning a hard lesson that quick fix solutions don’t last too long.
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