On a news show the Deputy Director General of UIDAI had rubbished allegations that banks continued to insist on identity and residence proofs for opening bank accounts. He cited a circular of the Reserve Bank of India which apparently said, &ldquo
Four years ago, Tiwari had written an Issue Brief for the Observer Research Foundation, a prominent think tank, pointing out the legal vulnerability of the CBI and the Intelligence Bureau, and the need to give them legal sanctity. Like many things
Hinjili, the home turf of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has been in dark since the day cyclone Phailin hit the district on October 12. On the evening of Diwali, power supply was provided for a brief period from 8 PM to 8 AM. Only a
In what is being seen as an indication of things to come post-2014 elections, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to "rise above politics" and help the Biju Janata Dal (BJ
Freebies on offer In Chhattisgarh, it will be a tossup between freebies. The freebies being disbursed by Raman Singh-led BJP government through public distribution system (PDS) and the freebies promised by the Congress in its manifes
The last time I touched a firecracker was when I was 11, and that’s almost 20 Diwalis ago. When I was 15 or 16, for a children’s drawing competition my mother’s office was hosting for Diwali, I submitted one of a menacing, whip-w
There is need for robust regulatory system which will scientifically establish mechanism for evaluation of GM crops so that all the issues on this matter can be put to rest, union minister of state for agriculture and food processing Tariq Anwar said
The cornerstone of democracy – that your MLA and MP carries your voice – turns out to be a myth in an analysis carried out by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW). The two organizations
Truth be told, the special protection group (SPG), viciously called as ‘Sonia Protection Group,’ was indeed a creation of the Gandhis. Its need was felt after the Delhi police failed to protect Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Hence
Politics is often akin to nonlinear equation whose output is not directly proportional to its inputs. There have been instances when politics defied conventional wisdom but the strange phenomenon around Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi appears
For Kelabadi, the festival never ends. There is a long procession of people wearing saffron caps and lotus badges on their kurtas and sarees walking on a road parallel to Kelabadi. The march is led by a jeep adorned with glaze posters and belting out
A healthy democracy believes in its electorate. It believes the people have the common sense, rationale and basis to know exactly who they are voting for. While that may not be the case in many parts of India, where voters ostensibly s
The China-Pakistan cooperation on nuclear issues was established from the time Pakistan began its nuclear programme. Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact start date of this cooperation, a testament by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto suggests that c
The assembly polls in Chhattisgarh may not be as one-sided as predicted by many pre-election surveys, conducted by different news channels. The Congress is unlikely to be a pushover. The grand old party in fact seems to have an upper hand in major
A strike at CIL will hit output by almost 2 million tonne, given that the company produced four-fifth of the country’s coal output, estimated at 557million tonne during 2012-13. The dominant trade unions have threatened to go on a s
State Congress ‘resurrects’ Sonia The 2013 assembly elections in this idyllic state are as much about marginalisation of former chief minister Ajit Jogi as about anything else. Unlike the last two elections, wh
This isn’t the rant of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) hater. Truth be told, I have friends in the premier service, and like many in this country, if I were smart enough in that format of the game, I might’ve been one myself!
Everywhere in India the procurement processes in the government follow the general financial rules and guidelines of the central vigilance commission. Except, it seems, in Arunachal Pradesh. Be it road or building construction or a technology proj
If you thought it’s game, set and match for the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha after cyclone Phailin left the Odisha coast, tamer than the 1999 ‘super cyclone’ but still leaving a big enough trail of destruction along with t
For the last few quarters, India has experienced two ‘strikes’ that have set it back by many years: the ‘decision-making strike’ by government officials and the ‘investment strike’ by the organised private secto
