BLOGS

Why this halla about AAP government in Delhi?

All this hullabaloo is meaningless. There is no alliance, as alleged by BJP, since Congress is not part of the government. It is providing only outside support and that is only out of its own volition. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) never asked for it.

AAP vs BJP: Prospects and some issues

Unless a miracle doze is administered in a month’s time, the Congress will have no prospects in the ensuing central and state polls. The regional leaders can`t unite and pose as an alternative. That is why the fight now on is really between

Bifurcation of states: a good idea?

The debate on the creation of new states in India has been renewed with the government’s decision to allow for the creation of Telangana. Since  independence, India has experienced the creation of several states after prime minister Jaw

Brooms are not for brandishing

Just brandishing brooms in the air is not governance. I get the strong feeling that the Aam Aaadmi Party (AAP), having had a great journey has lost its nerve on reaching the platform. The train stops here, old son, time to get off and get to work.

Criminalise all the left-handed

There’s no difference under India`s cultural law (???) and perception and prejudice between Article 377 against gays and being left-handed. I am left-handed. My parents never tried to change me. On the contrary they saw it as

How can you not love bureaucrats!

I love the bureaucracy. However, would I have let my daughters marry one? Now, that’s a loaded question. Every time I go home to India I collect red tape like kids collect shells on a beach. An of

Horror: Are `masala` films making a comeback?

“ Sari ke fall sa, kabhi match kiya re. Kabhi chhod diya dil, kabhi catch kiya re...“  Can anybody make sense of these lyrics? These are just two lines from a song in the soon-to-be released movie “R….

Why I would have debuted with my vote this time

I don’t have a vote in Delhi (I stay in the Wild West– the badlands of western UP). Heck, I have never ever voted in my life, if you cut out the college and Delhi University students’ union elections. There, too, I skipped it the

Pappu Yadav books a query: Is pen mightier than the gun?

A bahubali (musclemen) once upon a time turned politician now, former member of parliament Pappu Yadav (officially Rajesh Ranjan) has now shown the hand that held the trigger once can wield a pen as well. The four-time MP this week launched his au

Tehelka: why apology won`t do

Following the unfortunate gangrape incident of December 16, the whole country was in one voice that crime against women should be tackled with strictness and laws against such crimes should be made more stringent and enforced with fear or favour.

This whole Sachin fracas is ridiculous

Get over it. Sachin Tendulkar never asked for it, okay. You want to give him the Bharat Ratna knock yourself out. But don`t drag the guy through the mud. Stop comparing him to Bhagat Singh and Rabindranath Tagore, Homi Bhaba and a thousand other d

The Indo-Pak feel good Google gag

The Google ad on India and Pakistan displaying heaps of love is so good it makes it too clever. It takes what is now an an irrelevance and wrings false tears out of it. So do all the soaps on Indian TV. Of course, we love schmaltz and emotion and

Netaji Mulayam`s 30/30 India (U) Vision

Blame it on Nehru. If it had not been for him, India (Undivided) would comprise Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and Bangladesh, though regrettably still not Sri Lanka (Galle and Kandulama are so beautiful!). Now why couldn’t the man have just made Ji

Crack the whip

The last time I touched a firecracker was when I was 11, and that’s almost 20 Diwalis ago. When I was 15 or 16, for a children’s drawing competition my mother’s office was hosting for Diwali, I submitted one of a menacing, whip-w

The China-Pakistan nuclear nexus

The China-Pakistan cooperation on nuclear issues was established from the time Pakistan began its nuclear programme. Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact start date of this cooperation, a testament by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto suggests that c

Who let the Sardar out?

Only in India would a proposal to erect a statue in memory of Sardar Patel, who oversaw the integration of princely states into India as we know it today, create so much controversy. After all, the poor Sardar only added to the land mass of India,

RIP gold. Will Unnao get back to being back of beyond?

In a distant land at a time long, long time ago, an old monk had a dream. There’s gold buried in Unnao, he declared one fine day. Unnao, half of India thought with a sense of detachment, was the new UN building in Harare and stood fo

Democracy`s flabby middle

No, this is not about Modi`s expanding girth. It`s about how archaic are our systems for "group think" on public affairs. It is not only about having to elect an MP, an MLA or a councilor to represent us. “Group think” systems are

JAC a welcome change but there is room for improvement

Change is inevitable, governments change, trends change, one system makes way for another, and it could be for the better or worse. Nevertheless, change is constant and if it is in a positive direction it should be welcomed. Very soon the collegiu

India needs to be fair to everyone knocking at its door for help

The Indian government`s denial of political asylum to Edward Snowden brought into focus the lack of an objective procedure for treatment of asylum seekers. And what is even worse is that no detailed reasoning was offered for this decision.

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter