The second political revolution – that of the Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP – in the history of democratic India seems to have fizzled out. The party has finally announced that it would not contest the assembly elections in Haryana, Maharasahtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand – all due in the next few months, with Haryana going to polls sometime in September-October. To pu
Mornings for me are almost always rushed – the half-an-hour waking up session with the daughter, packing her lunch box, filling the water bottle and helping her get ready before rushing out to make it in time for the school bus. Today was even more rushed. Husband and I had to be in time for her assembly. We made it in record time – beating even her school bus to the school
Being an unabashed admirer of Dilip Kumar, it is quite difficult for me to cast a critical eye at his work. Though limited in my understanding of cinema, Dilip Kumar remains the ultimate superstar; his dialogue delivery and mannerism still hold me in trance. My training as a journalist dissuades me to get overawed by any personality, particularly with those in power. But this training failed wh
A sense of déjà vu hit hard while reading a news report on Infosys being sued in the US. Infosys is an equal opportunity employer: that was the ‘strong’ defence offered by the Indian multinational giant, taken to a US district court for allegedly discriminating against US citizens who did not know Hindi. The former employees have alleged they were
The ongoing crisis in Iraq posed the first serious external test for the NDA government. New Delhi’s handling of the rescue and evacuation effort has been commendable. Yet the government needs to look beyond the immediate crisis. In particular, it should reconsider some fundamental assumptions that have long underpinned India’s response to instability in West Asia. Such an exercise
It was not only the people of the country but opposition political parties were also eagerly waiting for the Union budget to be presented under the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi. With the budget in the public domain now, people are rejoicing but the opposition appears to be clueless and searching for loopholes to take on the budget. But as the PM said, the budget is a sanjeevini to
The PM’s blog on his first month, the foundation course for members of Parliament and now the budget have begun to shift the balance between subsidies for the rural poor and growth that will provide employment in industry and move the agrarian population to cities and into the middle class. Whose ‘ache din’ is a question that has remained unanswered? Th
The prime minister’s blog entries on completion of first month in power, the foundation course for MPs and the railway budget have all been a lost opportunity to begin a national debate on our longer term future to build public opinion that will enable long term investments and ensure implementation, an area where we have failed many times in the past. Decisions have so far
Gujarat was allocated 9 million acre feet (MAF) of water from the Sardar Sarovar dam under the Narmada water dispute tribunal award. The state plans to use that water through the main canal. The level of the main canal is 110 metres. The moment the water in the dam is above that level, it will enter the canal and after that Gujarat can make use of it. Gujarat already has more th
So there I was, standing outside, smoking, when it fell in front of me. A one-rupee coin. I looked up, saw a pigeon flying off the building’s high ledge in a hurry, as if scared of me. Truth be told, I tried to move off faster – as fast as my big-fat body allows – lest it poop on me. I looked up. Realising that the bird had had actually taken fligh
Not many people outside West Bengal had heard of Tapas Pal till yesterday. Not many people will know Tapas, possibly after tomorrow. But for two days, Pal, a yesteryear Bengali matinee hero with one film (Abodh) with Madhuri Dixit, has suddenly become the talk of the town. For his filthy and yet asinine remarks. On Tuesday, he was trending on Twitter nationally – certainly a first
The budget which finance minster Arun Jaitley (a renowned lawyer himself) presents on July 10 is likely to carry the baggage of Right to Food which the UPA II thrust on the reigning government. Happily or unhappily he is slated to set aside a huge corpus for the Act whose time has not come yet. It would be plain ignorance on my part if I could wish the Narendra Modi government would hav
Growing discontent in Indian democracy over the last few years is a cause of concern. The country has more than 65 percent of its population below the age of 35 and will become the world’s youngest country with 64 percent of its population in the working age group by 2020. This would put pressure on the government for providing employment opportunities and citizen-centric governance.
India`s big companies now have an extended responsibility on hand - of turning the `do good` stipulation of the government - indeed `good`. Because social responsibility is not demonstrated by choosing from a basket of ‘good deeds’. Neither can good deeds offset bad ones. The R in CSR (corporate social responsibility), in its true sense, refers to the application of sincere conscience on the p
Internet has been rife with debates, articles and arguments over whether Facebook should collect user data or not to target advertisements. But make no bones about it; Facebook was always collecting your data. Those small ads on the left side of the screen? They were a result of all the things you ‘liked’ on the social networking site or searched for on your computer
So it’s a row over front-row seats that led to the Preity Zinta-Ness Wadia spat, you say? I say it’s way more serious an issue than to be merely dismissed with the irritated bat of an eyelid, or frustrated thwack on the thigh before both the
Prime minister Narendra Modi could be considered a lucky man, for he is reaping the benefits of what UPA sowed. Somewhere in 2010, when I was working with a prominent business newspaper, my then editor had raised the very issue which the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has captured in its report that has taken the nation by storm: that many NGOs are coming in the way of development, and are lending a
Of the three elements of good governance, prime minister Narendra Modi has touched on two, and must now complete the triad. The meeting of the PM with the 77 secretaries closely followed the pledge in the BJP manifesto for “open, transparent and systems based government” and “pro-active pro-people good governance”. The manifesto, in the section on institut
Robert D Blackwill, former US ambassador to India (2001-03), in his physical impression can be somewhat deceptive. When sitting he appears to be almost diminutive but is tall even by American standards and his kindly, almost absent-minded face does not prepare you for the sharp repartees that come your way ever so often in the course of a conversation. Who else could describe Lee Kuan Yew`s rel
All over the world, an element of theatre has always been a part of politics. In contemporary times, 24x7 media coverage has embellished the political theatre with touches of reality television. In our country, Narendra Modi has proved to be a master of using the changing media language to his advantage. He instinctively translates abstract political messages into palpable images, and thus touc
