With the publication of ‘Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas’ in 1961, Romila Thapar emerged as one of the foremost historians of ancient India. Even after 53 years, this book remains the most authoritative interpretation of the grea
About the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the news from Australia is that a group of Indian-origin Punjabi taxi drivers in Adelaide raised funds to the tune of Rs 1.6 lakh in support of the fledgling party’s candidates’ electioneering in Punjab
If there is one area for which it is difficult to predict how a Modi government will work, it is internal security – beyond an aggressive approach of a Hindu nationalist. Also, if there is one area which can turn up a Waterloo for Modi, it i
When I first got a call on my mobile from the block education officer (BEO), it got me worried. I decided not to take the call and respond after 15-30 minutes. Was it about the inspection of the school or was it about my transfer, I wondered? It c
Congress`s prospects in Haryana are riddled with a slew of controversial land deals and strong anti-incumbency of the party’s 10-year rule under chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The Indian National Lok Dal opposition, on the other hand,
A day before Narendra Modi was to file his nomination in Varanasi, I called up my young friend Shahid, who is from the weaver community. “How can we meet, as the entire city is expected to come to a halt tomorrow?” I asked. I was aware
The Chinese have a curse which goes thus: May you live in interesting times! In the uncertain world of international affairs, the next prime minister of India can rest assured of exciting and challenging times. Exciting, because major geopolitical
An encounter with auto-rickshaw drivers in Chennai mostly leaves commuters drained and exasperated. They drive recklessly, for most of them traffic rules are meant to be broken, and they argue over fares, despite the fact that metres are installed
The National Waqf development Corporation (NAWADCO), a three-month-old public sector firm set up by the UPA government to develop 6 lakh acres of Waqf land, is set to launch its IPO by the end of the year, according to a newspaper report.
Having a PM (or a PM candidate) from the state is not a first-time event for Gujarat. The twice-caretaker PM, Gulzarilal Nanda, used to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Sabarkantha in north Gujarat. Morarjibhai Desai, though largely Mumbai-based i
With a view to relieve themselves from the mounting pressure of the bad loan pile, a number of public sector banks (PSBs) is hoping to sell about Rs 2,000 crore of these loans to asset reconstruction companies. According to media reports,
We are in the last leg of the elections—the world’s largest such exercise, and looking to formulate a new government. Whatever be the result, the job of this column is not to speculate on the same–there is little doubt that India
The Gujarat model has come in for criticism on two counts: for not doing enough in social sector, and for not doing anything at all for environment. Indeed, an aggressively pro-industry policy has only added to the environmental disaster in the st
Given the fact that there is little difference between the Gujarat model and the post-reform liberalised economic scenario across the country, achievement of Modi’s 11 years as chief minister can largely be credited to a less-talked about fa
When looking for policies that need a relook, trust former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India Dr KC Chakrabarty to make some noise. And he did just that before bidding farewell at the central bank as he hinted his inclination towards mak
The biggest victim of a corporate merger and/or acquisition is the human resource pool which shrinks owing to change in HR policies and intensified competition. However, the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), which is soon
The sharp rise in non-performing assets has not just meant trouble for banks, especially state-run ones, but has also deepened the cracks between the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which have got into a verbal battle over the
State-run BHEL has inked an initial agreement with the government of Yemen for setting up solar power projects in the Gulf nation. The MoU has been signed by B Prasada Rao, chairman and managing director, BHEL and Saleh Hassan Sumie
Air India (AI) is all set to join the world`s largest airline grouping company— Star Alliance, this June, according to newspaper reports. It will become the first airline company from India to be part of a global chain of carriers.
Around 11 am on March 24, an hour into the supreme court (SC) resuming work after a week-long Holi break, senior lawyer Dushyant Dave entered court number one – the chief justice of India’s (CJI) court – and made an accusation th
