Do it yourself

Fruit salad and helmets It was summer of 1992. The weathermen had announced the arrival of monsoon, a few days ago; though it had not rained even once. Weather was hot and humid – just the way mosquitoes, houseflies, fungi, and a variety of bacteria & viruses love it. People, especially children, were suffering from infections. The city administration was daily issuing half/full page newspaper advertisements cautioning people against disease outbreak, and guiding them to maintain personal hygiene, stay hydrated and avoid consuming street food, especially cut fruits. Several billboards and posters were also put up across the city. My office was located on Indraprastha Marg, one of the busiest streets in the city, just opposite an imposing building housing the Delhi Police headquarter (DPHQ). Around 100 meters away from DPHQ, there was a major bus stop (ITO). Several fruit chat vendors would sell cut fruits & vegetables like watermelon, pineapple, cucumber, coconut, etc. Th...

One of the economic positives of Covid-19 pandemic is material rise in digital payments and e-commerce. The steep rise in adoption of digital payments by household consumers and merchants in past one year should have arguably led to lower currency in circulation. However, the recent data released by RBI indicates that the cash in circulation is highest in 6 decades relative to GDP. In absolute terms also, the cash is materially higher than the pre demonetization levels. It may be argued that holding more cash during the times of distress (e.g., Pandemic) is natural instinct; and this trend has been seen globally. Nonetheless, in the Indian context, the issue needs deeper examination by the policy makers. Digital payments rising exponentially The initial public offer (IPO) by One 97 Communication Limited, the owner of India’s largest payment brand PayTM, celebrates the exponential growth in digital payment in past few years. As per NASSCOM, digital payments in India have grown ~10x ...