When a citizen does not pay due taxes, the result is black money. Everybody gets worked up about it, and rightly so. But when the government collects taxes and does not use the revenue for the intended purposes – or even collects money for non-existent taxes, what would be the result? Grey money? That has been happening, and despite reminders from the supreme auditor, goes on happening su
The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report 2019 ranks India at 166 out of 190 countries in ‘Registering Property’, lower from last year’s ranking of 154. This, in spite of a 53-place jump in India’s overall ranking in the last two years alone! In Mumbai, it takes a little less than three months to get a property registered in the na
Most of us have paid at least one visit to a health facility. It is easy to identify quality care when we receive it – an attentive doctor, a responsive team of health workers, adherence to hygiene and safety protocols, and so on. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to high quality care, a situation we are working hard to change. In Delhi in Dec
The new world is aggressively batting for individual rights and self-determination. As the society is evolving for the better, we see a more assertive Indian coming to the fore. An Indian who has higher expectations and an Indian who is cognizant of his/her rights. Our constitution guarantees us several freedoms and rights, with Article 21 affording a window for the generations to interpret and
Jenine di Giovanni, a reporter who was a first-hand witness to the destruction in Bosnia, Chechnya and other places, wrote: “In the aftermath of any war or genocide, healing and reconciliation are ultimate aspirations.” After some years of the end of the apartheid era in South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established there under the chair of Archbishop D
After passing the 12th board exams in 2014, Vikas Kumar, of Madhepura in Bihar, took a year’s break to prepare for the engineering entrance exam. The hard work paid off and he managed to score high enough to qualify for admission to one of the prestigious National Institutes of Technology (NITs), where admission rates are as low as 1-2 percent of the applicants, making them only next in s
The dastardly attack on the personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of February 14 in Pulwama that killed forty men has already turned a new page in the India-Pakistan ties. The loss of precious human lives caused immense resentment across India against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, for the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM), which is being supported by the Inter-Service intelligence (ISI), a wing
Here is a picture of the late 1970s: prime minister Indira Gandhi calls on an ailing Sheikh Abdullah at a hospital in Srinagar. He had just been released and had taken over the reins of Jammu and Kashmir after elections. The picture shows Gandhi offering her hand while Sheikh is lying in bed. Yet, the persona of Sheikh, a veteran leader from Nehru’s generation, towered over Indira Gandhi.
Ghar mein ghus ke marenge (We will hit you right inside your own home),” prime minister Narendra Modi thundered, when he addressed a meeting at the civil hospital in Ahmedabad on March 4. He paused before finally delivering this one-liner with an elan that conveyed that patience was exhausted. That he chose the civil hospital, where a bomb blast targeted
The nation is virtually in election mode, and political parties are busy thinking up campaign strategies. But have MPs been making a mark in their constituencies? A study of malnutrition indicators among children below five years in parliamentary constituencies in the country shows that some of the constituencies with the worst health profiles are state capitals like Bhopal and Ranchi, and citi
As you drive down from Varanasi airport, the elevated road that takes you to the city says it all. It takes less than 20 minutes to reach the cantonment area where the British established their garrisons and other establishments to administer the city. Varanasi, one the world’s oldest cities, is bracketed by two rivers, Varuna and Assi, from whom it derives its name. There
Near a deserted park in Salempur Jat village in Bulandshahar sit a few men discussing politics. Sipping their morning tea, the men are engaged in a heated conversation about upcoming elections, education for the poor, local village issues and rising prices of fuel and LPG cylinders. Narrating his tale of woe, 52-year-old Bane Singh says that his family was forced to use firewood
Just as army commandos who conducted surgical strikes in September 2016 returned safely to their base, India’s Director General of Military Operation (DGMO) called his counterpart in Pakistan and informed him about the action against terrorist camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK). Though the Pakistani DGMO was aware of the situation by then, he asked the Indian army official not revea
The Kashmir conundrum was never below the radar, but the Pulwama attack has once again put terrorism and foreign-aided separatism on top of the national agenda. The ghastly killing of the CRPF personnel in the suicide bombing has shocked the entire India and peace-loving people everywhere. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed it was behind the act. It’s a script that
In a black salwar-suit and matching headscarf, Ruksana (name changed) listens carefully from a corner of the hall. Members of her support group are talking about their suffering, struggles, aspirations and achievements. At her turn, she slowly opens up. Like that of many others, her story is one of deceit, despair and misery. Yet she sees hope. Ruksana was 21 when a
When Dr Shruti Kamdi (pictured on left), a transfusion specialist at a leading Mumbai hospital, had her first child, she struggled to nurse her baby as she was unable to secrete enough milk. Admitted to a private hospital, she was put on medication to increase breast milk. But that didn’t help much. And four months after the delivery, she had to put her baby on breast milk substitutes (BM
After the liberalisation of the insurance industry in 2000, private firms (mostly in partnerships with foreign firms) have readily taken to the sector. Till FY18 there were 23 private firms in the life insurance sector and 21 in general insurance segment. However, it was only in 2016-17 that the first private domestic reinsurance firm, ITI Reinsurance, entered the industry and was yet to begin
Villages without power supply are easy to find though the government says there are none. The lines are laid, but many villagers are too poor to pay for electricity. BPL (below poverty line) families, entitled to free supply, are waived the installation charge. But they don’t have money to wire their homes. Others are held back by the fear that bills will rise beyond reach. &nbs
“Aandhi” (Storm), director Gulzar’s movie starring Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar, was made in 1975, when Indira Gandhi reigned supreme in Indian politics. The film, based on Kamleshwar’s Hindi novel ‘Kaali Aandhi’, depicted the life of a woman politician, and it was believed to be partly inspired by the life of the then prime minister. Suchitra Sen too app
An official who worked closely with Narendra Modi during his stint as the chief minister of Gujarat told me an anecdote to explain his style of working. Just before the 2007 state assembly elections, Modi had found himself pitted against a strong lobby of Patel farmers and the RSS-backed Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. What got the goat of the affluent Patidars was Modi&rsqu
