The Modi government is going to use information technology to not only clear the logjam of industrial projects but also to bring in transparency in the process. “We are working to digitise the process. A software programme has
It’s been a year since over 5,000 people went missing and more than 540 bodies recovered were buried in the aftermath of the Uttarakhand flashfloods. But the deprived families have still not received the promised compensation from the state
The idea of setting up a unified financial sector regulatory body by a high level committee may not find a keen supporter in Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan who has called it “somewhat schizophrenic”. In addition, he has
Prime minister Narendra Modi has had a great run for nearly a month. With inflation admiringly low when he took over, the stock market going through a heady run and the rupee playing stronger by the day against the dollar, Modi’s promised &l
It’s easy to simplify the implications of an extortion call in exclusively human terms as chilling and threatening. Security agencies, however, are increasingly realising that an extortion call is lot more complicated involving masking techn
An early morning call from the cops could make you a tad anxious. No? Worse, if it’s on a Sunday, when you’re hitting the snooze button of your mobile phone — a countless times. Moreover, if the past two weekends h
There is an increase in abuse being experienced by half of the elderly population in India. According to a report published by HelpAge India on Elder Abuse in India (2014), 50% of elders surveyed were abused during this year, compared to last year
In 2009 the government came up with the idea to link records related to travel, immigration, bank and financial transactions, among others, to provide intelligence agencies real-time information about a terror suspect. Explaining the logic of Natg
If London and New York are the benchmark, where do Indian cities stand? Janaagraha, a non-profit organisation, tries to answer that. We cull out a few points from its evaluation of 21 cities from the annual survey of India’s city systems (AS
I don’t know about you but I do not have the moral courage to click to ‘play’ to watch two minor girls swinging from a branch of a tree after being raped. But if Mr Modi’s government was to call me and ask me to shoot the t
When prime minister Narendra Modi ribbed the bureaucracy’s penchant for moving at a snail’s pace at a recent book release function, all the faces in the auditorium were creased with a knowing smile. Though the message was delivered in
The maiden session of the Telangana assembly began on June 9. After a prolonged struggle for statehood, it was supposed to be an occasion to remember for the people of Hyderabad – as elsewhere in the country’s newest state. But a tragi
If good governance is anecdotally defined as BSP — bijli, sadak, pani, the capital falls short on two counts every summer. But as the mercury soared to a record-breaking 47.8 degree Celsius this year, Delhi has suffered long power outages fo
There is an information revolution taking place in Chhatna block of Bankura district of West Bengal. Rural girls and women are coming forward to learn simple ways to tackle the critical issue of hunger and malnutrition that afflict their region.
The country could soon get its first payments bank offering services including deposits and payments but excluding credit services, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor HR Khan has said. The idea of rolling out payments banks, to further the goal
Badaun, a nondescript district of Uttar Pradesh, is neither a subversive nation like North Korea nor a militant-haven like Somalia to merit the attention of the international community. Yet it has, and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has expresse
The Modi led NDA government has dissolved four cabinet committees including one on unique identification authority of India (UIDAI). The cabinet committee on economic affairs will now be its overseeing authority. Though UIDAI
In September 2013, a committee headed by M Damodaran, a retired IAS officer and former chief of the SEBI and IDBI, submitted a report that raised an issue, long-standing and yet pertinent. Do the regulators need to be regulated, it asked, among se
If ominous signs are anything to go by, the laudations coming in for Narendra Modi’s gesture of inviting the Saarc leaders forebode well, at least in the realm of international relations. The high-decibel discourse has been a loyal ally of M
Tucked a few yards away from the Gandhi Maidan police station in Patna, a restaurant called Mainland China is a new destination for the city`s cosmopolitan elite. Its ambience is no different from that in any restaurant of this global chain in the
