Latest news with #PrachiMishra
Mint
11 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
The Air India catastrophe should catalyse deep structural reform in the country
Next Story Vikas Dimble , Prachi Mishra The aviation tragedy in Ahmedabad calls for economic introspection. India needs to ponder questions of public versus private ownership, market concentration versus competition and diversified versus focused conglomerates. Our take-off for Viksit Bharat may depend on getting the answers right. The Ahmedabad tragedy should serve as more than a moment of grief, it should catalyse the deeper structural reforms necessary for India's sustainable development. Gift this article The tragic Ahmedabad air crash shook the nation, but beyond the immediate grief lies a deeper call for introspection. This isn't about assigning blame, but rather about examining structural questions. The tragic Ahmedabad air crash shook the nation, but beyond the immediate grief lies a deeper call for introspection. This isn't about assigning blame, but rather about examining structural questions. The timing is significant—this accident occurred soon after Air India transitioned from public to private ownership, highlighting three fundamental challenges on India's runway toward developed nation status: How should we balance public and private sector roles? What is the optimal level of market concentration versus competition? And should India Inc embrace specialization or continue with diversified conglomerates that span multiple industries? These questions go beyond aviation, touching the very foundation of India's economic strategy. Yet, aviation provides a perfect case study for examining these broader challenges. Let us start with the public versus public ownership. Also Read: Digital twins of aircraft: A big leap for civil aviation? India is conspicuous with a disproportionately large public sector, compared to other emerging and advanced economies. India's stock market is heavily dominated by state-owned enterprises. But our aviation sector, which has undergone complete privatization, offers a contrast. Globally, aviation ownership models vary dramatically. West Asian carriers remain fully government-owned, Chinese airlines are government-dominated and some European carriers maintain partial government stakes—25% of British Airways' parent company, for instance, is owned by Qatar Airways. Meanwhile, the US mirrors India's approach of minimal government ownership. The privatization of Air India is considered one of the Indian government's most successful divestments. As the private sector takes control, the need for robust regulation becomes critical. The question is not a binary whether or not to privatize, but how to regulate businesses effectively, especially in industries where lives are at stake. The government's role must evolve from owner-operator to an ever more vigilant regulator in both public perception and reality. Also Read: A tale of two sectors: Aviation soars while railways crawl Coming to the dilemma of competition versus concentration, India's economy has long been marked by the outsized influence of family-owned business groups. Remarkably, several of the largest groups from the 1950s still dominate, with the composition of the top 25 largely unchanged since 2010. At their peak in 2012, these groups generated revenues equivalent to 20% of India's GDP. While their dominance has declined somewhat since then, in 2020 that figure was still over 15%—higher than in 2001. The aviation sector typifies these trends. In India, the combined market share of its top two airlines is larger than in other markets globally, far exceeding the share seen in the US, UK, China or Brazil. IndiGo and Air India, both privately owned, carried over 90% of air travellers last year. The US airline industry is also privately owned but its market has much more competition. While larger firms benefit from economies of scale and greater clout, extreme concentration can also stifle innovation and harm consumer interests. Indian policymakers have been on top of this challenge. The sector has been opened to fresh competition repeatedly, but the industry has shown high business mortality, with a long list of airlines declared bankrupt or close to it; Sahara, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Kingfisher and Go First tell a sobering tale of a harsh market. Why has competition withered in this sector? Is market size the determining factor (America's air traffic is five times that of India), or are there policy or market failures? Cost and efficiency determine survival, but consumer choices matter. Notably, both Air India and IndiGo rank low in global service standards. The transition from a state monopoly to private oligopoly outlines a delicate balance. While India needs stronger regulation in critical sectors, the broader economic imperative often calls for less onerous regulation; theEconomic Survey highlighted calls for greater deregulation and for government to get 'out of the way." Coming to the third issue of specialization versus diversification, economic theory suggests that countries should specialize in industries where they have comparative advantage. We can illustrate this through Bollywood: If Shah Rukh Khan, an economics graduate, specialized in economics, he would have been a successful economist. But even if he were to become the world's best economist, his 'opportunity cost' of missing a career as an actor would be too high, given the low wages he would earn compared to his earnings from cinema. Even with an absolute advantage in economics, his comparative advantage would lie in cinema. Specialization versus diversification represents a distinct strategic choice from concentration versus competition. Firms can maintain high market concentration while remaining either specialized or diversified. The jury is certainly out on this. Global trends reveal fascinating patterns. While emerging-market conglomerates are increasingly diversifying, those in advanced economies, particularly the US, are moving towards specialization. Emerging-market giants like the Tata Group in India (spanning salt to aviation), Samsung in South Korea and Fosun in China have expanded their sectoral reach dramatically, often doubling or tripling their presence across industries. Conversely, developed-market leaders like General Electric, Siemens and Johnson & Johnson have undergone significant consolidation or strategic splits. Most now operate as publicly traded entities with focused business models. So what is the path forward? What does it imply for India's aviation landscape—a three-way combination of private ownership, extreme concentration and the diversified nature of controlling conglomerates? This combination makes the sector distinctive globally but also potentially vulnerable. The stakes couldn't be higher. Markets often face efficiency versus equity trade-offs. Beyond that, there are efficiency and public safety trade-offs, at least in perception. Ultimately, there are no concrete recipes for success. That said, these questions are pertinent. As India marches towards Viksit Bharat, we must find appropriate answers. Our aviation sector's future—and by extension our broader economic strategy—depends on getting many balances right. The Ahmedabad tragedy should serve as more than a moment of grief. It should catalyse the deeper structural reforms necessary for India's sustainable development. Only through such introspection can we build an economy that is both dynamic and safe, competitive and responsible. The authors are, respectively, operations director, Ashoka Isaac Center for Public Policy (ICPP); and professor of economics, and director of ICPP, Ashoka University. 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Indian Express
04-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
7 must-read translated Indian novels that retain their soul
Written By Prachi Mishra In India, the landscape changes every few hundred kilometres, and so does the language. A phrase uttered in one village might sound completely different a district away. At times, it's a new dialect. At times, it is an entirely new language. Thus, in a nation woven together by its multilingualism, translation is not merely a creative decision; it's a cultural imperative. But with each act of translation, there is a silent risk attached to it, the risk of something slipping between the cracks. It may mean losing nuance, humour, agony, the rhythm of a sentence or simply the weight of a silence. But, as Ken Liu reminds us, 'Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.' And that's exactly why, when translation succeeds, it is rather more than ability. It is more like alchemy. Let us take a look at few Indian books that have traversed linguistic boundaries without diluting their emotional and literary content. Srinath Perur translated this book from Kannada to English in 2015. Ghachar Ghochar shows how unexpected wealth changes a family in ways people don't notice. The story's main character, who doesn't have a name, lives well in Bangalore now. He sees how money breaks down his family's sense of right and wrong. The made-up phrase 'ghachar ghochar' means a mix of feelings, values, and how people connect. Shanbhag writes without extra words, and Perur keeps this style in the translation. This helps readers feel the tight calm mood of the book. The main character asks, ''When the house is on fire, do you waste time chasing rats?' In just over 100 pages, this book shows how respectability can conceal rot, cutting straight to the heart of familial dysfunction. Against the backdrop of Partition, Tamas is a sobering portrayal of how communal violence is engineered. Translated into Hindi and published in 1974, the novel begins with the sight of a pig's carcass hurled outside a mosque, a minor action that has disastrous fallout. Bhisham Sahni himself translated the book into English so that nothing was lost in terms of tone or emotion. Through various characters – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and colonial officials, he reveals how riots are more planned and less spontaneous. 'The riots had not erupted,' he writes, 'they had been ignited.' With understated prose and unflinching honesty, Tamas remains one of the most haunting literary documents of Partition. Published in 1974, With the translation into English by Samik Bandyopadhyay, the novella stands as an intimate portrait of political violence that soon casts an enormous shadow across the reader's consciousness. Written in Bengali, it begins with Sujata, a middle-class homemaker, being asked to visit a morgue to identify her son who was murdered for being with the Naxalite movement and was given the designation, 'Corpse No. 1084.' Saddened, Sujata embarks on questioning her own position and privilege; she questions inaction on her part as well as society's gruesome acceptance of this injustice. 'I gave him birth. And the state gave him death,' she says, encapsulating the novel's emotional and political weight. The translation is stark and elegant, echoing Mahasweta Devi's fiery critique of state repression and class apathy. Moustache, a dark folk story set in Kerala's backwaters first came out in Malayalam in 2013. Jayasree Kalathil translated it later. The book tells the story of a man from a lower caste who grows a moustache. This facial hair, a symbol of upper-caste male power, causes wonder, jealousy, and dread. As the moustache gets bigger – like something out of a myth – Hareesh looks at caste, manhood, and fighting back. He does this through a dreamlike tale full of rich details. Kalathil's translation won the JCB Prize for Literature in 2020. People praised it for keeping the poetic feel and political punch of the original work. In the book, the moustache 'comes to life – growing rebellion.' By doing this, it becomes a story about getting back one's honor. This peculiar short Bengali novella from 1993, which Arunava Sinha translated to English, features a deceased aunt who lingers in the family's thoughts, both as a spirit and a symbol of resistance. The tale intertwines the experiences of women across three generations as they grapple with rich male dominance, and the weight of tradition. Mukhopadhyay's writing has a whimsical touch but also contains many depths blending the with everyday gender bias and pointed social commentary. Sinha's translation keeps the wit and closeness while bringing out its feminist undertones. 'It's not death that scares me,' says the aunt, 'it's forgetting.' It is a book that keeps reverberating after the slim volume is set down. Published for the first time in 1889, Indulekha is regarded as the first full-fledged Malayalam novel and continues to be remarkably forward-thinking for its era. Written in the midst of British colonial times, it is a narrative of an educated, smart Nair woman who goes against the norms to exercise her right to choose. O. Chandu Menon's incisively ironic voice and social commentary come into English translation through Anitha Devasia, whose translation maintains the Victorian-era vocabulary but brings the text to within reach of contemporary readers. The novel lightly challenges orthodoxy without discounting cultural identity. Its eponymous heroine's announcement, 'A woman with learning is feared by men who do not understand her', rings like a call across the ages. The Bride, written in Maithili in the 1950s, is both comical and sharp in its satirical thrust from the rural heart of Bihar. Harimohan Jha satirizes social customs of dowry, arranged marriages, and Brahmanical pride through the narrative of an overloaded scholar trying to cope with the absurdities of wedding negotiations. Translated into English by Lalit Kumar, the novel's humor and cultural particularity survive translation without sacrificing readability. Its appeal lies in how lightly it wears its satire, never compromising humor for sermonizing. 'Perhaps you know Panini's grammar,' remarks one of them, 'but unless you know how to please your wife's father, you are lost.' This Maithili gem is gently comic, sharply observed, and deeply rooted in cultural detail. In a land of many voices, these eight books remind us that translation is not just an act of language, but also an act of faith. When done with devotion, it enables stories to traverse not only geography but into new hearts, new readers, and new lives. Because the finest stories, wherever they start, need to be heard everywhere.
Indian Express
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Top 10 most visited museums in the world
Written By Prachi Mishra The world-renowned Louvre Museum in Paris made headlines a few days back not for a new exhibit, but for an unexpected temporary shutdown. And, the reason being, overcrowding. With daily visitor numbers swelling beyond manageable limits, the museum staff raised concerns about safety and work environment. The staff from various departments including gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel joined forces to go on strike against the mentally and physically draining working conditions. This incident highlighted the global trend, especially after the pandemic, where people in mass numbers have been attracted by museums despite lack of infrastructure and staff. Amidst this surge in cultural tourism, let's take a look at the other top 10 most frequently visited museums around the world. The museum registered a footfall of more than 6.8 million in 2024. The Vatican museum is organized in a manner that the visitors can enroute different paths to explore it. The key attention of the museum is the Sistine Chapel which is famous for Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling and altar wall. Other attractions include papal carriages, historical documents, vestments, and religious relics. The museum spans over 70,000 square meters with a construction area of nearly 200,000 square meters and 48 exhibition halls making it one of the largest museums in the world. Annually, 6.7 million visitors come to explore the museum. This museum showcases China's rich history and artistic heritage. The highlights of the museum include the 'Simuwu Ding' (the world's heaviest ancient bronze vessel) and the 'Gold Thread and Jade Garment' (a Han Dynasty burial suit). Founded in 1753, the museum holds the record of the first national museum that became open to the public. Drawing over 6.4 million visitors in the year 2024, the museum showcases items from all over the world. The museum's premise has been used as film sets on numerous occasions and the film-series, 'Night at the Museum' was also filmed here. Famous artifacts that are on display include Rosetta Stone, Sophilos Vase, The Parthenon Sculptures among many others. In 2024, the museum welcomed a record-breaking 6.3 million visitors, making it the second most visited UK attraction that year. The museum offers free entry to its permanent exhibitions, which adds to the visitors tally. The museum's dinosaur gallery, including the famous 'Dippy' (Diplodocus cast), and the 'Our Broken Planet' exhibition, are consistently popular with visitors. Popularly known as The Met, the museum houses over two million works of art, encompassing a wide range of cultures and time periods. With the footfall record of 5.36 million visitors in 2023, the museum features the largest collection of American Art in the world. The Met is renowned for its collections of classical antiquity, ancient Egyptian art, European paintings, American and modern art, medieval art at The Cloisters, and its Costume Institute. Founded in 1869, the museum complex comprises of 21 interconnected buildings. With around 5 million annual visitors, the museum is famous for its fossil dinosaur and mammal halls, as well as its lifelike dioramas. The Rose Center for Earth and Space, featuring the Hayden Planetarium, is also a major attraction. The museum also boasts of over 30 million research specimens, including one of the world's largest collections of fossils and insects. Tate Modern houses a vast collection of modern and contemporary art, including international and British works from 1900 to the present day. In 2023, it recorded 4.74 million attendees. It is housed in a former power station on the south bank of the River Thames, a site that has been transformed by architects Herzog & de Meuron. The major attraction is the museum's Turbine Hall, renowned for its large-scale, often spectacular, art installations. The museum size is comparable to 18 football fields. The museum boasts over 146 million specimens and artifacts, making it the world's largest natural history collection. This includes plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and human cultural artifacts. In 2023, arond 4.4 million people visited the museum. Also, the museum does not charge any entry fees, making it more widely accessible. Other notable exhibits include African elephants, paleobiology (dinosaurs), and gemstones. The museum boasts a vast collection of over 166,000 items, including ceramics, wood carvings, calligraphy, paintings, and gemstones. The museum with approximately 4 million visitors in the year 2023, is a key institution for understanding the unique culture of the Lingnan region, which encompasses Guangdong, Guangxi, and parts of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. Notable exhibits include a dinosaur hall with fossils and information about the region's prehistoric life, and a calligraphy and painting hall showcasing traditional Chinese art. The museum is situated on a golf-course, which was earlier part of the Yongsan Garrison. The museum's famous collection includes Gold Crown, Pensive Bodhisattva, Ten-Story Pagoda among others. Moreover, the museum's six permanent galleries showcase a comprehensive collection of Korean artifacts and art, covering prehistoric times through the Joseon Dynasty is the reason for its footfall of 3.5 million visitors. (The author is an intern with The Indian Express)
News18
19-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Protectionism Brings Both Disruptions And Openings For India: Economist Prachi Mishra
Last Updated: On the sideline of the inaugural session of ICPP Annual Growth Conference 2025, Mishra discusses trade realignments, private investment challenges, etc. As global trade dynamics shift and India navigates through macroeconomic challenges, leading economist Prachi Mishra shares her insights on the emerging opportunities and economic transitions India must leverage. Prachi has held key roles across top global and Indian institutions. She worked at the IMF in Washington, served as Managing Director and India Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs (2018–2020), and headed the Strategic Research Unit at RBI (2014–2017). Earlier, she was Senior Economist with India's Finance Ministry and the PM's Economic Advisory Council. In a candid conversation on the sideline of the inaugural session of ICPP Annual Growth Conference 2025, she discusses trade realignments, private investment challenges, financial savings trends, and India's long-term growth outlook. Q: Ma'am, on protectionism – many countries are turning inward. What opportunities or risks do you see for India in this wave of protectionism? Prachi Mishra: 'Protectionism and shifting global trade rules are creating disruptions, but also opening up space for realignment in global value chains. India has a chance to position itself better," she said. She noted that while such changes may pose risks to exports and services in the short run, they also create space for India to step in and claim ground vacated by others. 'There are a lot of opportunities because of the realignment that's going on globally." Citing sectors like electronics and labor-intensive manufacturing, she emphasized that this is a good time for India to strengthen its place in the global production network, which could address both growth and employment concerns. Mishra pointed to global trade's resilience even after recent shocks. 'We didn't see a decline in global trade. There was reallocation instead." She believes India can tap into this reallocation process and strengthen its role in sectors like electronics, engineering, and labor-intensive manufacturing. Q: In your presentation, you mentioned challenges in private investment and the banking system. Could you elaborate? 'I don't think I mentioned banking directly," Mishra clarified. 'But I did talk about declining net financial savings and structural shifts in household behavior." She pointed out that net financial savings in India have declined, though there has been a slight recovery. 'We're witnessing a structural transformation where Indian households are shifting away from traditional forms of saving." Physical assets like real estate continue to dominate household portfolios, especially amid uncertainty. 'Household liabilities are going up. In many emerging markets, deposits form a large part of bank liabilities. So when savings patterns change, it affects banking structures too," she added. Q: Is the shift in savings a concern for the banking system's lending capacity? Mishra explained that the shift from traditional savings to newer financial instruments must accelerate. 'Gross savings may be up, but net financial savings are down. Disentangling this is key. We need to encourage more financial savings to ensure banking stability." Q: With inflation cooling and RBI cutting rates, how do you see the balance between supporting growth and managing inflation expectations? Calling it a 'delicate balancing act," Mishra said that central banks, including the RBI, must tread carefully. 'Now that inflation is more manageable, and there are concerns about cyclical slowdown, the RBI has started easing and injecting liquidity. And there's more to come." She noted that core inflation has come down significantly, supporting a more accommodative stance from the central bank. Q: GDP growth projections for India are optimistic, but per capita income remains a concern. Your take? 'Per capita income has increased tenfold since 1980. That's a remarkable success," Mishra said. But she acknowledged that to become an advanced economy, India needs to sustain real growth of 6–7% over the next two decades. She added, 'We don't need double-digit growth. Sustained 6–7% real growth can help us reach our long-term goals." Q: Finally, is the goal of becoming a developed economy by 2047 realistic? 'It's ambitious but possible," Mishra said. 'With the right reforms, consistent investment in infrastructure, and careful macroeconomic management, we can get there." Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: May 18, 2025, 11:05 IST News business Protectionism Brings Both Disruptions And Openings For India: Economist Prachi Mishra
