Manipur activist Irom Chanu Sharmila has led a long battle against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that gives sweeping powers to the army. But what has she truly achieved? On August 20, a Manipur court ordered her releas
Tirumala Tirupati Dewasthanam (TTD), the body which manages the world’s richest temple affairs informed that advance booking of Rs 300, special entry ‘darshan’ tickets would commence on August 30 on a trial basis through internet
Michael Vaughan is wrong. He had to be, of course. Vaughan was a batsman. But he seems to be trying to act like a bowler, sending down googlies and wrong ’uns to have the great Indian team scurrying, hurrying, worrying and furrowing.
After making an announcement in his Independence Day speech that his government would scrap the six-decade old planning commission to set up a new think-tank, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 19 invited, via Twitter, public views on the shap
Life in Telangana came to a standstill on Tuesday, with the state government conducting a massive household survey across the new state to get comprehensive information on citizens. The exercise has attracted criticism from certain quarter
Three seemingly unrelated developments have put food on the front pages of newspapers after a long time, and I’m not even including the Centre for Science and Environment’s report on antibiotics-infused chicken that’s makin
The Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Being implemented in phases s
When the government began rolling out the e-Panchayat project, it was widely expected to change the governance structure at the village level all across the country. But like all things in India, some states have taken to it wholeheartedly,
The Singapore story is essentially a telling in resilience and collective will. If an analogy between the island-nation and an individual could be drawn, its life-narrative would find place in the annals of history as one of the most inspiring rag
World Bank president Dr Jim Yong Kim has described his meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi last month as “one of the most inspiring meetings I have had as the president of the World Bank group”. In a letter to the
In an attempt to encourage banks to allow overdrafting (read loan or credit) for beneficiaries of the financial inclusion plan, prime minister Narendra Modi on August 15 is said to unveil a credit guarantee fund to compensate the banks in case of
The resignation of deputy national security adviser (NSA) Nehchal Sandhu on July 31 is seen as a precursor to a major change in the government’s approach towards higher echelons of bureaucracy. The 1973-batch IPS officer, who retired earlier
In what is seen as a big victory for the Narendra Modi government, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (August 14) passed the national judicial appointments commission bill, 2014. The bill, along with a constitutional amendment bill, was passed in Lok Sab
In an age when books, or other works of art, are banned/pulped/not published for fear of either a social castigation or fatwa or violence or some or the other form of jihad and/or either or all, it takes the judiciary, despite all its flaws, to re
Prime minister Narendra Modi is like Jawaharlal Nehru who also had an authoritarian streak in him. Nehru had controlled the government and t
Pesticides considered ‘highly’ and ‘moderately’ hazardous by the World Health Organisation have been found in leading national and international tea brands, says a recent Greenpeace report “Trouble Brewing”.
Riots are a by-product of politics. The eruption of communal clashes all over Uttar Pradesh in recent times is a manifestation of a cynical politics which has taken hold of the country’s most populous state. Slight sparks have
The reform proposal, seeking statutory powers to the public enterprises selection board (PESB) is under serious consideration by the government, says Rajiv Rai, secretary at the board. The PESB functions as the selection body for appointing PSU
The union cabinet’s approval of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 has opened a can of worms. While many say the move would act as a strong deterrent, given that several recent cases of rape, including the Dece
Making his first official address to the BJP cadre after taking over as the BJP president, Amit Shah on Saturday said that it was due to the Gujarat model that BJP was able to gain the trust of the people across India. Shah said his appoin
