The trouble with Indian military shopping deals is that when things go wrong they throw the baby out with the bathwater. Cancelling the deal for the $750 million order for a dozen helicopters from Italian defence group Finmeccanica, because of kickbacks is not the answer. Catch the culprits, keep the choppers. Why make the equipment guilty? They did exactly the same thing with the Bofor
It’s still firmly in the realm of conspiracy theories. But some believe the US and Israel formally attacked Iran sometime in the month of June 2010, and both are now at war. There is some uncomfortable evidence to support these conspiracy theorists, and more keeps tumbling out. But it’s still circumstantial at best. In June of that year cyber-security experts discovered an ext
British prime minister David Cameron’s semi-apology during his visit to Jallianwala Bagh massacre memorial on Wednesday has been criticised by newspapers today. They, as well as the news channels, wanted nothing less than a full and formal one. Fine. But why not a few apologies preceding Jallianwala? On March 22, 1739, Nadir Shah, the Shah of Iran (1736–47) a
Amid this ongoing national debate about Narendra Modi being a probable prime minister candidate for India, British PM David Cameron offered some lessons for Mr Modi when he regretted the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (though falling short of an apology). Does it mean that Cameron is personally guilty of what had happened in 1919? Does it lower his moral guard? I think not. Without commenti
Anthropology has failed to trace the origin of the world’s first godman. But most probably he preceded the idea of god and sold it out to people until it gained currency. India being the spiritual capital of the world has now graduated from being the land of snake charmers to that of godmen. All types, hues and sizes are available. So much so that they occupy one-third of the country&rsqu
The Durga Nagpal controversy has brought to the surface the issue of political interference impeding bureaucratic work. Our columnist, a former bureaucrat himself, had written this piece about how bound administrators in our country are by our representatives. We are reviving his column (published February 13, 2013 on our website) for more insight into legislative-executive relations.
As if the numerous controversies the Congress is battling in recent times are not enough, the party’s MP from Kerala K Sudhakaran has added another one for the party’s troubleshooters to handle after he made offensive remarks against the Suryanelli rape victim, calling her a “prostitute”. And to make matters worse, he has refused to apologise. On Sunday, while ad
Press council of India chief Markanday Katju is a marksman par excellence. After relentlessly trying many targets, he seems to have hit through the right one. In a signed article that appeared in The Hindu on February 15, Katju questioned Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s s
“1949: Only socialism could save China 1979: Only capitalism could save China 1989: Only China could save socialism 2009: Only China could save capitalism” - Joke doing the rounds in Beijing after the global financial crash China, the world’s most populous country, with a population of 1.3 billion and the fourth largest count
President Pranab Mukherjee in a recent meeting with the vice-chancellors of central universities has proposed several initiatives which could perhaps help in transforming higher education and connection between academia, innovators and rest of the society. According to the press release dated Feb 7, 2013, he would interact with teachers
Governance Now and CVoter carried out a survey of the trust various institutions of governance inspire among the people. Read more about the overall findings of the survey here:Trust of the Republic survey: little faith in government
Union minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi has claimed that he was joking when he made an offensive remark to a woman journalist in Kerala. Asked about the Congress party’s stance on Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurien, allegedly involved in the Suryanelli rape case in Kerala, Ravi responded, “Do you have anything personal against Kurien? Has something happene
Veteran politician and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar is livid with party leader and Maharashtra minister Bhaskar Jadhav for the “gratuitous extravagance” which the latter displayed at a social occasion. Jadhav, who is minister of state for urban development in the state government, was in news recently for the lavish weddings of his son and daughter. Accordin
On January 20, following two days of stimulating discussion and deliberation to perk up the party ahead of next year’s general elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in Jaipur, “I assure you that I will personally continue to press for the passage of the law that would provide for one-third reservation for women in parliament and state legislatures.” It was a
In Dabangg 2, when the jeep of protagonist inspector Chulbul Pandey (played by Salman Khan) lands up in a large pit and the engine chokes to death in a cloud of dust, he asks his constable in his typical comic baritone, “Yeh kiska khet hai, Sharmaji.” And the constable replies meekly, “Sir, ye toh Kanpur ka main chauraha hai.” While the joke had viewers of
Saturday, February 9, would have been just another day had news channels not begun beaming the news of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging. Not that it made much of a difference to the man/woman on the street going about his/her business on an exceptionally sunny day, marking the onset of spring in Delhi. Not, also, that the news brought a collective sigh of relief
Governance Now and CVoter carried out a survey of the trust various institutions of governance inspire among the people. Read more about the overall findings of the survey here: Trust of the Republic survey: little faith in government or in print in the February 1-15 iss
On January 20, following two days of stimulating discussion and deliberation to perk up the party ahead of next year’s general elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in Jaipur, “I assure you that I will personally continue to press for the passage of the law that would provide for one-third reservation for women in parliament and state legislatures.” It was a
At some strange level, the Indian political system has a deep, if not too apparent, connect with Bollywood. Like a half-decent Hindi masala flick, the Indian polity, and thereby the political system, sees and believes in only the colours black and white, with no chance in hell for the existence of a grey, let alone shades and tones of it. Like the sheriffs in the Western flicks, from where Boll
The government’s decision to secretly execute Guru just days before Maqbool Bhat’s death anniversary — Bhat was a symbol of Kashmir’s resistance against what many in the state believe is India’s claims over the region, who was also executed in the same Tihar jail 28 years ago — seems to have touched a raw nerve, especially among the youth of the Valley.
