Rajesh Mahapatra was the Chief Content Officer at Hindustan Times. From sports to politics, analytics to economics, he has an interest in everything that makes news. He tweets as @rajeshmahapatra
Articles by Rajesh Mahapatra
Good life vs agent of change?
For some, they are the "we can" generation that can rid new India of its old, festering challenges.
Updated on Apr 23, 2011 10:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
Matuas bat for Trinamool chief
They make one of the most cohesive sects in Bengal's social matrix, but rarely do they mix their religion with the political choices they make. Rajesh Mahapatra reports.
Updated on Apr 23, 2011 11:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, Thakurnagar, Gaighata
Nandigram waits for a gift from their Didi
It doesn't take much to figure out that Firoza Bibi is not what it takes to be the MLA from a place that has come to be known as the epicentre of the change waiting to happen in Bengal. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya report.
Updated on Apr 22, 2011 02:17 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya, Nandigram
Nandigram wants Didi as candidate
When Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee chose Firoza Bibi, 55, to contest from Nandigram, quite a few eyebrows were raised. Firoza had won a 2009 by-election riding on a Trinamool wave and sympathy for her son who died in police firing that set off the Nandigram agitation. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya report.
Updated on Apr 22, 2011 12:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, Ravik Bhattacharya, Nandigram
The making of Mamata Banerjee
From a rabble rouser to a game changer on whom 90 million people pin their hopes for a new tomorrow, Mamata Banerjee has come a long way. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya decode the making of Bengal’s new leader. The Mamata machine
Updated on Apr 18, 2011 08:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya , Rajesh Mahapatra
Ride on, if you can’t rein in, inflation
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is not a politician who tries to sell dreams. His budget proposals on Monday, therefore, didn’t promise to tame inflation, which is nudging toward 10% on account of such factors that are mostly beyond the government’s control. Rajesh Mahapatra reports. The pickpocket
Updated on Mar 02, 2011 01:34 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Praise the budget for what it didn't do
A lawyer would tell you that there is nothing like not doing anything. Not doing anything, in legal speak, means doing something. That is why I say praise the finance minister for not what he did in the budget, but for what he didn’t do. Rajesh Mahapatra writes. Read moreThe Delhiwalla | Dabs & Jabs | Page Turner
Updated on Mar 01, 2011 01:50 AM IST
None | Rajesh Mahapatra
It's the trust deficit, stupid
Wen's challenge — some would say the onus is on him — is to remove the new strains in India-China relations and overcome mutual mistrust. Rajesh Mahapatra reports. Potential vs Pain Points
Updated on Dec 15, 2010 10:08 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
Uneasy on cloud nine
India’s economy may have returned to a high growth trajectory, but it is more vulnerable to risks in the current scenario than it was before the global financial crisis set in more than two years ago.
Updated on Dec 02, 2010 12:56 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
A man who could never become a minister
The year was 1995. I was a beat reporter covering the Planning Commission and the finance ministry. The big story was the eighth five-year plan's mid-term appraisal, which was critical of the government's economic liberalisation programme. Rajesh Mahapatra writes.
Updated on Oct 12, 2010 10:06 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
If your child’s happy in school, it’s the best in town
My first school had seven teachers and six rooms. One of those asbestos-roofed rooms doubled up as the head master’s office and staff lounge, while the rest held students from Class 1 to Class 5. A small courtyard, which split the rooms into two rows, was used for playing during recess.
Updated on Sep 20, 2010 02:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Naxals gain as states dither on response
This week’s spurt in Maoist violence has again put the spotlight on the lack of a cohesive strategy in tackling what the prime minister called the greatest threat to the nation’s internal security, reports Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Feb 19, 2010 01:29 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
The power of 9 comes of help
The year ended better than it started. Economists may explain it differently, but numerologists say it’s all in the digits. Rajesh Mahapatra crunches the numbers.
Updated on Dec 27, 2009 10:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
Your daily meal to get costlier
The spike in prices in the last few months could get worse in months to come, and undo the economic recovery the country has been making, say leading economists, reports Rajesh Mahapatra. See graphics
Updated on Nov 16, 2009 01:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
“We want to make sure that whatever we do in India, we do it right”
As the world’s third largest auto player the Renault-Nissan alliance has had a successful run globally. But its presence in India has been on the fringes at best. In an exclusive interaction with Hindustan Times, Ghosn spells out his outlook and plans for India.Videos:Carlos Ghosn Interview I| Carlos Ghosn Interview II
Updated on Nov 12, 2009 01:19 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra and Samar Srivastava
The buck stops here?
There’s more to the UPA’s austerity drive than meets the eye, Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Sep 16, 2009 09:42 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
India has every reason to cheer
The collapse of the iconic Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, remains the first dramatic indicator of the economic downturn that was to shake the world. Hindustan Times starts a five part series looking back at how the downturn hit India, and how it was overcome. Impact on households
Updated on Sep 15, 2009 02:52 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Will the gamble pay off?
FM Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget has evoked a mix of reactions. Some have hailed it as a fine balancing act between political expectations and economic compulsions, while others have derided it as a Budget that lacks vision and is short on reforms, writes Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Jul 07, 2009 11:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
Little option but to risk high fiscal deficit
Union Budget 2009-10 drew criticism from several quarters on Monday for risking an alarmingly high fiscal deficit, but a scrutiny of the government’s spending plans suggests there were few options otherwise, reports Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Jul 07, 2009 03:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Management is the keyword
If I were Pranab Mukherjee I would wish I had a time machine — to go back to 2004 when the UPA began its first innings and finding money for a new scheme was the last of the worries its finance minister had, writes Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Jul 02, 2009 11:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Rains play hide and seek; India worries, braces for worst
With the monsoon continuing to elude farmers and weather experts alike, governments at the Centre and the states have begun bracing for the worst — a possible monsoon failure and a resultant drought. A nationwide review by Hindustan Times revealed that the situation on the ground is grim. Rajesh Mahapatra reports. State of the rains | About monsoon
Updated on Jun 24, 2009 09:26 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
The job has only half begun
If the Congress wants to consolidate its win, it needs to focus on six crucial states, writes Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on May 27, 2009 11:19 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
Budget 2010 to address job losses, economic growth
Fighting job losses, introducing an urban income security scheme and reviving economic growth are the three big issues that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would be addressing in the first budget of the UPA government. From disinvestments of public sector companies to liberalisation of financial services, several market-friendly policies may come embedded in Budget 2009-10, likely to be unveiled in the first week of July. Gautam Chikermane and Rajesh Mahapatra report.
Updated on May 27, 2009 01:28 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Gautam Chikermane and Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
India’s next government
Three days from now, the last votes will be cast and general elections 2009 will be all over bar the counting. The Congress, BJP, and ‘Third Front’ will probably try hard to come to power. A look at which of them is most likely to form India's next government. Rajesh Mahapatra elaborates. See Graphics
Updated on May 10, 2009 02:42 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra
Black money a dark alley
Politicians make tall promises ahead of polls, but the latest vow from the BJP to bring back illicit money stashed away in Swiss banks stands out for trivialising a serious issue. Recovering stashed funds from tax havens is easier said than done, reports Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Apr 22, 2009 02:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Fight poverty to defeat Naxals
If Thursday's voter turnout is any indication, the naxals are gaining. In the affected constituencies, the turnout dropped by 4 to 10 per cent. Rajesh Mahapatra reports.
Updated on Apr 18, 2009 12:07 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Bondas’ tryst with democracy
This election is a turning point for the Bondas, or the naked tribe as some would say, living in the remote hills of Orissa’s Malkangiri district. Dambaru Sisa has not only become the first Bonda to contest elections, but chances are he may win the Chitrakonda assembly seat, reports Rajesh Mahapatra.
Updated on Apr 16, 2009 12:48 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
What’s on the minds of Indian voters
A split mandate, the usual chaos in corridors of power and the same slanging match among politicians — will this election be any different from the past? Yes, in some ways. The most ambitious pre-poll assessment ever, by 60 Hindustan Times journalists who travelled across India over the past two months, reveals what’s on the minds of Indian voters. Rajesh Mahapatra reports. See Graphics
Updated on Apr 14, 2009 12:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Worst seems over; recovery not yet
Two days ago, we heard that India’s industries registered their sharpest fall in output in 15 years. So why is a rising crescendo of voices saying we are now living through the end of the economic downturn? Rajesh Mahapatra reports.
Updated on Apr 12, 2009 01:05 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, New Delhi
Voting against a goddess
Tribals in Koraput, Orissa, believe voting for Indira’s party guarantees good rains. But even they are tiring of government neglect, and threatening not to vote this time. Rajesh Mahapatra reports. Special Coverage
Updated on Apr 09, 2009 01:23 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, Koraput, Orissa