BLOGS

AAP in hot water following MCD poll debacle

The BJP’s clean sweep is not just a referendum on the Arvind Kejriwal government, but also could mark the beginning of the end of one of India’s youngest political parties, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). After the Bharatiya Janat

Petro-products home delivery isn’t a new idea

A plan to home-deliver petroleum products may look like an out-of-the-box idea, but it is not exactly a new one. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted: “Options being explored where petro products may be door delivered

Will Narendra Modi act on his own vision of RTI?

Following is an excerpt from a letter written in 2005 by Gujarat chief minister Naren

A happy, gurgling Ganga and that sinking feeling

The river Ganga that the people in the plains know is very ill. It is odious. Well, what they perhaps don’t realise is that the river is not like that when she begins her journey from the Gangotri glacier. She is pristine, pure and ecstatic

The racist Indian

  Our heads must hang in shame over the attack on five African students in Greater Noida – for it was no ordinary assault. It was an attack on our Indian sensibilities. It showed our rabid intolerance, a dark side that rem

Why do we need Aadhaar?

 Aadhaar is arguably one of the most convoluted public policy interventions in India’s history. It has been more than eight years, yet there is little clarity on the exact purpose of the biometric-based unique identification project.&nb

Ganga, Modi and people’s unwavering faith

When the truth was a few steps away from Modi’s gaze In November 2014, prime minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to his constituency Varanasi and launched a massive cleanliness drive at Asi ghat, whic

Excess of saffron isn’t good

Anxiety and headache are just two of the side effects of saffron. Some people are also allergic to it. Pray what were you thinking – That this is about BJP’s victory and Yogi Adityanath being anointed the chief minister of Uttar Prades

Huh! Turning Delhi into London, Paris

Politicians are magicians. Don’t snigger. It’s true. They are determined to turn Delhi into either London or Paris, minus of course the swish of the cape and the wave of the magic wand. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on

Speak up people, if you want to be heard

Bengaluru’s overly ambitious steel flyover project, which would have led to 800 trees being sliced and diced, has been dropped. Karnataka minister KJ George said the decision was taken as the BJP was trying to cash in on allegations that t

A Tetrapack of juicy nothings

The latest buzz on social media is about whether or not Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in Manipur, said he would be happy to see ‘coconut juice’ from the state being sold in London with a label that says ‘Made in Manipur’.

So what Pahlaj Nihalani, if there`s lipstick under the burkha

The Central Board of Film Certification seems to be fast turning into 16th century Italian theatre Commedia dell`arte, whose special characteristic is the lazzo - a joke. And Pahlaj Nihalani is the prima donna of all that is not right with the cen

Dying cultural expressions

Every year since 2000, February 21 is observed as International Mother Language Day by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It is to celebrate linguistic and cultural diver

The rot at the top

CBI is supposed to be the last resort to catch the corrupt after all other options have not yielded the desired result. But, who will now tackle corruption now that two of the former top officials of the premier investigating agency are themselv

Make Godse’s statement public, but don’t idolise him

Nathuram Godse, who was brought up by his parents as a girl in the first few years of his life, has been reviled for decades for fatally shooting the apostle of peace Mahatma Gandhi. What Godse said during the Gandhi assassination trial has not be

Demonetisation: When cash played peek-a-boo

Post-demonetisation, cash did the Houdini vanishing trick at ATMs. With currency notes playing hide and seek, life was sheer misery. Things improved a bit, but the situation is back to square one. The ATMs are running dry, yet again.

Where is my right to vote?

Today was the election day for Western Uttar Pradesh. There was so much excitement in people coming out of polling booths, just as the people coming from a Dusshera Mela (The festival of triumph of good over evil).   

Convenient coalition vs. aspirational alliance

 It is that time when contesting parties take the road less travelled, woo their voters with dream schemes and swear by their promises. Each party attempts to gerrymander vote share and appease voters with the sole objective of winning maximu

Agriculture in Budget 2017: Radical change in approach needed

 Both the finance minister and later the prime minister spoke about the highest priority given to the welfare of farmers in the budget related speeches in the parliament  soon after the budget was presented on 1st February 2017. The fina

Sun, sand and slow pace of Goa polls

 Goa is all set to witness elections on February 4. I was travelling to the state for the first time with a group of friends a little more than week before the polling date. At first, we were sceptical about going just before elections, as we

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


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