Nothing, it seems, moves our elected government as political expediency. Note the alacrity with which the government moved to clear the food security bill and induct RLD leader Ajit Singh into the cabinet on Sunday in sharp contrast with its vacillation over the Lokpal bill. Amid reports of rotting stocks in the FCI godowns even while a large chunk of population faced starvation,
The action research on exploring market-based mediation for generating opportunities for knowledge and resource rich but economically disadvantaged people has generated several new alternatives. We realised that women groups from over 15 districts of Gujarat tried to commercialise their products and cooked traditional foods, they may not be able to compete well with the professionals or more ex
It is not often that the words of a ‘literary icon nonpareil’ make sense to the man on the street. But Mani Shankar Aiyar’s comments on the parliament logjam over FDI in retail would make every person who wants his vote’s worth nod in agreement. For those who, out of sheer habit, had reached for their earplugs when Aiyar spoke last, here’s a rewind.
“Didi, are there rivers big like this in your country? Have you ever seen water like what is here below? I have, in Bihar. And in Bangladesh. Once the river got so big that the water came down and took houses and buffaloes away with it. All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye.” Alekh was whispering in the half-light. There was a small group of us who were huddling, unable to
When Anna Hazare sat on a fast demanding a strong Lokpal in August this year, a big fuss was made about the ‘sanctity’ of parliament and its procedures by the parliamentarians, especially in view of the fact that the matter was pending with the parliamentary standing committee then. Now that the standing committee has submitted its report we are wiser about that sentiment
After many international aid agencies failed to replicate the green revolution model in Africa despite billions of dollars they spent, what did they do wrong? They still did not ask themselves whether there was a need for developing not ‘the’ model but a variety of models building upon African genius and ground-level wisdom. Such a question would have taken away the jobs of thousand
Protests, uprisings, upheavals, fasts and revolutions marked 2011, the year that we stand to say goodbye to. Most recently, protests hit the streets of Russia on Saturday after disputed polls that granted victory to Vladimir Putin. In India, all indications are that Anna Hazare will resume yet another fast from December 27. All along when India was rising against graft this year, other countrie
When a top legal eagle does sabre rattling for India, he’s expected to be super sure. This column is devoted to how an overexcited Kapil Sibal, driven purely by a courtier’s instinct, has jumped into a royal mess in his battle with Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo! But first a point on Politics 101. Sibal’s department of information technology has called re
The officials in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) are anxiously awaiting some communication from the government on the National Identification Bill 2010. Sources within UIDAI claim that any action on the bill will be taken only after the government’s decision to accept or reject the
No, the Justice is not the frog prince who turned into an editor soon after he sat on his new chair in the press council of India office. People with such perverted imagination should remember that he wielded a gavel not long ago and could have hammered them to death. It’s just that such talents cannot remain hidden long. And that he loves playing ‘order, order’, a wont which
Something extraordinary happened on November 25. Our democratically elected representatives actually conducted some parliamentary business, only for a little while though, without bringing the houses down – something that hadn’t happened before and wouldn’t for the next five days of the winter session. That day the presiding officers began the day’s proceedings b
What does it mean when a country holding almost 40 percent of the world’s known uranium reserves, decides to review and consequently lift its ban on nuclear trade with India? This suggested policy u-turn on part of Australia, has been viewed as a result of the political influence and visit of US president Barack Obama, who was in Canberra recently. While Obama has denied putting any press
A while ago, sports minister Ajay Maken asked the International Olympic Committee to keep the sentiments of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims in mind and drop Dow Chemicals from the list of sponsors for the next year’s London Olympics. Dow Chemicals, which in July last year signed an agreement with the IOC, is the company that took over Union Carbide, responsible for the Bhop
Book Review Infrastructure at the Crossroads: The Challenge of Governance By Gajendra Haldea Oxford University Press, Rs 575 I’ve never been to a book launch where the anchor described the author as “insufferable”, and got away! Only because the elegant la
The democratic society can measure its success in decentralising and opening up the decision making processes by the extent to which it invites and welcomes open social criticism. Unfortunately, the team of Anna Hazare, the government, other institutions and everybody seems to believe that the entire truth is on their side. Willingness to discuss, debate and learn to create innovative solutions
Last week, hundreds of students and faculty from diploma engineering students from Parul Polytechnic Institute, LCIT Bhandu, Hashmukh Goswami college of Engineering, Govt polytechnic Surat etc., part of GTU were provided a national platform to showcase their talent through SRISTI`s techpedia.in. DG CSIR, Dr Samir Brhamchari, VC GTU and many other senior colleagues interacted with the students a
In an article dated July 18 in the New York edition of The New York Times — an American newspaper of global repute — the reporter wrote of Kerala chief minister Oomen Chandy: “In an India beset by kickback scandals at the highest reaches of government, and where petty bribes at police stations and motor vehicle departments are often considered a matter of course, Oommen Chandy
The slap on Sharad Pawar’s face reverberated in parliament last week. Before the Lok Sabha met on Friday last, several members went across to Pawar, who was seated in his usual first-row chair, as a gesture, which looked weird, more like him taking a guard of dishonour. Speaker Meira Kumar said the house strongly condemned the unfortunate incident of assault on the agricult
The union government’s insistence on keeping the names of 700 entities holding secret accounts in HSBC Bank in Geneva close to its heart reflects how sincere it is about fighting the black money menace. Not only did it grudgingly admit to having received the information from the French government after the media went public, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee justified it saying that the g
It’s like broth you serve after agonizing for too long. Or having several cooks for the job but none really in charge. In cricketing terms, a bit like Tendulkar now having to face a billion of us after making 94. Therefore, to be fair, a huge legislation of this nature was thus bound to fall short of expectations. As cleared by the union cabinet on November
