In Indian parliament, you are either angry or you are absent. On Friday (August 8), some members of parliament were angry over some of their colleagues being regularly absent. Two of those colleagues got special mention from fellow
Activists and NGOs working on child rights have raised questions on the union cabinet approving an amendment bill on Wednesday that propose
When BJP released its IT vision document in 2009, one of the least discussed aspects of the document was a statement that the party would change “right to information” into “duty to inform.” To my mind, that was a very perc
Books are back in news. They have booked prime time slots on news channels and are being covered – cover to cover – by all other non-hysterics-rousing media. Even non-readers have booked a date with books these days, it seems. So they
Notwithstanding opposition from child rights activists, the union cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment bill that proposes Juvenile Justice Board can decide if a minor above 16 years of age should be tried in a regular court or sent to correc
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on the plank of good governance and development. The country gave the party an overwhelming mandate and people believed in the vision and Narendra Modi’s pro
For some time now, higher(est) judiciary in India has been groping for a toehold to tide over unsavoury controversies it has found itself involved in. Back to back accusations have been flung at its face that significantly mars its holy cow image.
The terms of the chiefs of top 100 public sector units (PSUs) will be based on their record of showing profits instead of just expanding their turnover, according to a plan drafted by the government. The prime minister’s office has instructe
Genetically modified (GM) food crops and products will finally make their way out from labs to the fields of India, something quite unthinkable in November 2013. This is just the beginning, by all indications. While GM soybean and canola oil may s
So Richard Branson advocates a three-day work week and the second richest man of the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, seconds the Brit. But, India, say news reports, is not ready for such a model as per HR experts. I, Sirs, t
A nondescript colony in north-west Delhi is quietly experimenting with privatised water supply while the jury is still out on privatisation of essential services. Savda Ghevra, which started off as a resettlement colony to ta
The trajectory of Mansoor Khan’s life has defied a predictable journey. Best known for his Bollywood blockbusters and for directing the debut movie of his cousin Aamir Khan, Mansoor today is preoccupied with his cheese farm in Coonoor and wr
It would be naive to reduce the Modi-Kerry meeting to a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) success/failure talk. The build-up to the meeting was as palpably significant in diplomatic posturing as the meeting itself. Beginning
Something unexpected, if not unprecedented, happened on July 19. Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung, in news of late more for animation over the suspended animation of the assembly, issued an order, asking agricultural produce market committee
Should I have a right over my own life? Not in a metaphorical or imagined sense. Not even in the modern and democratic nature of fundamental rights that several of us take for granted. Should I be able to decide when to end my life in a real and p
Do you want to know how all the statistics and figures you see tossed around by the government every other day are collated? Think of the people you see roaming around with huge sheafs of paper, ticking off responses as they move from home to home
The average expense of winning candidates in the recent Lok Sabha elections was Rs 40.33 lakh, according to an analysis carried out by the National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Going through the
Even as the government has asked IDBI Bank and United Bank of India (UBI) to prepare a consolidation plan, the Chennai-headquartered All-India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has questioned the objective. On Friday (August 1), AIEBA gen
Being the last of filing income tax returns, July 31 was an unusually busy day for all people dealing – directly or indirectly – with income tax: the chartered accountants, taxation lawyers and staff of the income tax department. In Ch
