Marathwada and Latur Water Crisis

Rational pricing of water for irrigation and not banning new sugar mills is what Marathwada needs.
The right way is ending the regime of subsidies on canal irrigation as well as electricity for pumpsets. If water is properly metered and priced to reflect its scarcity value, farmers may well choose to reduce the area under cane and plant more pulses, oilseeds. Alternatively they may continue to grow sugarcane, but by employing drip irrigation.
Sugarcane also produces green fodder and doesn't need electricity from outside.

The Panama Papers

In India, tax rates are higher, the system is complicated and capital controls restrict foreign financial transactions.
The difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance is a thin line.
An agreement on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) aims to prevent companies from choosing low-tax jurisdictions to book profits in. The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework will facilitate information flows among signatories.
In addition to tax avoidance, as tax havens have laws to ensure greater confidentiality of companies and banking secrecy legislation, the companies may be used for money laundering.
Hedge funds that manage money in multiple countries often use tax havens to reduce compliance costs arising from different tax treaties among jurisdictions.

The capital gains tax makes financial transactions even more unattractive.
As a member of the Financial Action Task Force, India works with other member countries to prevent the use of the proceeds of crime.
There are cases of tax evasion: A person does not declare to the tax authorities in her home country her income, which is paid into a bank account of her company in Panama, and no taxes are paid. Here, a distinction between tax evasion and avoidance is relevant. If taxes have been paid in the tax haven at its lower tax rate, then there may be no illegality. When India introduces the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (Gaar), some of these activities may become illegal.

Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), every Indian resident is allowed to invest $2,50,000 abroad every year. In 2004, the limit was one-tenth of this. Money remitted abroad is from income on which tax has already been paid. If the amount invested abroad exceeds the amount allowed by the RBI, it is a violation of the law. Fourth, the illegality may be the non-declaration of assets held abroad. A provision in the Finance Bill introduced in 2015 made it criminal not to declare foreign assets in annual tax returns. If the assets held in tax havens have been declared, then it is not illegal to hold them.

In India, it is not just entities engaging in crime and tax evasion that have offshore companies. Many Indian technology start-ups are moving their headquarters to offshore locations due to our complexities.

Cyber Security

India is a net information exporter. Its information highways point west, carrying with them the data of millions of Indians. There are different types of cyber threats like espionage, cyber crime, cyber frauds, Denial of Service Attacks.  
Permanent and semi-permanent staff that is technically proficient in cyber operations, both defensive and offensive. 
Lay out Cyber Security Doctrine.
National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA).
India should not hesitate to build its offensive cyber capabilities. 
Nevertheless, a cyber arsenal serves the key function of strategic deterrence.
If India’s cyberspace has built-in vulnerabilities, it also has a highly skilled IT workforce, which should be harnessed by the government for strategic use.
At international fora, India should encourage nation-states to restrain from deploying cyber weapons.

Minimum Government, Maximum Governance

Coalition Govt. (Council of Ministers) UPA II regime (29 committee on various issues)
Domain Specialisation- accountability, efficiency
Delayed decision due to lacking inter ministry coordination and consensus.
Administrative Costs- Perks.

To ensure better governance what is necessary is not larger council of ministers but faster decisions, people's participation in decision making, transparency, accountability...

Real Estate

High costs of housing units and lack of affordability.
Increase income tax deduction limit for housing loans, given their prices in large cities.
Incentives for Green Housing projects.
Deletion of Dividend Distribution Tax for REITs.
By granting Infrastructure status for housing, the availability of priority funding would be greatly enhanced.
Real Estate Regulatory Legislation.
Swifter project approvals.

Taking stock of the defence sector

India remains the largest importer of defence hardware in the world. 

Issues:

• Most submarines currently operated by the Indian Navy are past their operational life, while the Indian Air Force is still saddled with MiG-21 aircraft of 1970s vintage. 
• Defence modernisation remains stuck in procedural and bureaucratic delays. Direct purchase of 36 Rafale jets from France. Time and cost overruns are typical of our procurement process.

Way to go:

• Opening up the defence sector to private players. 
• Creating a single window for defence licensing and FDI approvals for ensuring ease of business.  For example, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) (Deptt. of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance), which are currently under different departments/ministries, ought to be brought under one umbrella. 
• Accord infrastructure industry status to the defence sector, thereby paving the way for easier credit. 
• Cyber threat in the form of snooping virus present in imported defense systems exists. Indigenous software should be used.
• India should talk transfer of technology. India must insist on co-development and co-production of defence systems that it plans to buy from the U.S. The way we should go with the Americans has to be on the lines of the co-development and co-production of the state-of-the-art Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with the Russians. India's decision to buy Apache helicopters without Transfer of Technology for local manufacture is unwise.
• Naresh Chandra Committee recommendations on Army reforms: Exploiting technology for intelligence gathering, setting up a NATGRID & NCTC , appointing a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Reduce the communication gap between political leadership and armed forces community. 

Drug Pricing

The recent decision to remove customs duty exemption on the imports of ~70 drugs could also have a significant economic impact. India’s pharmaceutical industry suffers from a significant lack of competition. India’s drug pricing regime remains ripe for change. We need to ensure affordability of life-saving drugs. We must encourage a centralised procurement system, as utilised by Tamil Nadu, for purchasing drugs. Unethical and unfair drug selling practices, such as holiday trip offers and fancy gifts, used to influence doctors and key bureaucrats, need to be curbed.