Columns

The tyranny of the written word

Every word is deeply marinated in history. Peel it and you will uncover a spell-binding story. Emden is a city in Germany best known for Volkswagen’s factory producing its high-end car Passat. Emden is as German as Bavarian sausages Weisswurst. But when you hear many a grandmother in Tamil Nadu warn prospective victims about their particularly destructive grandchild saying “Paar Emd

UP spilt: just a poll gimmick

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has disarmed her opponents, leaving them with no other option than saying "touché". The UP cabinet has endorsed a proposal for the division of UP into four smaller states: Poorvanchal (eastern UP), Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh (central UP) and Paschim Pradesh (western UP).  This is being seen as her masterstroke to beat t

Kingfisher or the flock?

Till the media was praising F1, giving acres of free publicity to his team, Sahara Force One, Vijay Mallya, was an indulgent accomplice. No sooner the spotlight shifted to disastrous Q2 results of Kingfisher Airlines, the embattled king of good times can’t stop his tweeting diatribe. On November 14, as the tax payer worried whether her money would be thrown into the voracio

2G: And the fall continues

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. So had Alice down a rabbit hole to reach a phantasmagoric world she truly belonged to. But both their falls had nadirs. There was a thud and it ended. But the UPA government’s fall into the spectrum of the 2G scam is unending. There have been several lows and none the lowest. What began with just the government’s hesitation in auctioning the 2G spectr

Rahul makes no waves, much lesser sense

By all accounts, Rahul Gandhi’s campaign from Phulpur in Allahabad on Monday proved to be a tame affair. His diatribe against Mayawati sounded like a usual political parody which is being drummed into the ears of the state’s electorate for years on end without any result. He expressed his anger against rising corruption in UP and increasing backwardness. But his silence on the corru

Real estate regulation bill: FAQ

The recent DLF order of the competition commission clearly brought into focus the plight of the real estate consumers who have long been grappling with the twin-challenges of one sided contracts favouring the developer/builder on the one hand and endless delays in legal proceedings on the other. The model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Act (“the Real Estate Bill” for short)

Swami and his new friends

First, a confession. I haven’t watched Big Boss 1 through 5 (faults on both sides, no doubt). Then, another: I am not likely to watch now that Swami Agnivesh has been paid or has paid up (depending on whom you believe) to become a part of it. Agnivesh means bright as fire, and some of his house mates certainly dress and act in a manner that suggests a fiery brightness or a bright fierines

The patriarch and his dark shades

After a failed visit to Delhi wherefrom he was expected to bring back his daughter and trying unsuccessfully to stash away a few tears, Muthuvel Karunanidhi is suddenly worried about the future of Indian democracy. In DMK mouthpiece Murasoli, he has written about his concern over the continued incarceration of his daughter Kanimozhi in connection with the 2G spectrum case. &ldqu

Dos and don`ts for protesters in Delhi

After much persuasion, the assistant commissioner of police at the Parliament Street police station calmed down a little. “Do whatever you want... but do not put our jobs at risk," said the ACP, after gulping a glass of water and adjusting himself in his chair. “Do the protest against increasing power tariffs or on any other issue. But remember two things: do not

Economists to blame for the bubble-burst

Don’t trust economists! This is the underlying message currently echoing in several parts of the world. Leading the pack are economists themselves, call them ‘dissident economists’. Professor Joseph Stiglitz, world acclaimed economist and Nobel Prize winner, recently said in a talk in New Delhi, “I blame the economists. They provided some of the arguments that led people

Next: ban those 299 Ramayanas

As the good word of Ram spread across centuries and continents, its narrative changed. It crossed the Vindhyachal, for example, and the Ramayana absorbed elements and motifs of the south Indian folklore. The language in which the epic was translated also made its presence felt: Sita in Sanskrit and Sitamma in Kannada have different shades of meaning which lead to different stories about her bir

And all for want of a horseshoe nail!

The prime minister’s last letter to Anna Hazare wherein he had reiterated his commitment to deal with the issue of graft seriously wasn’t mere lip service. Just that his government seems to have begun it from Team Anna members only. In April, father-and-son lawyers Shanti and Prashant Bhushan faced allegations, long since discredited, that they undervalued property to

Will it and it will happen

Justice (retired) Markandey Katju, the new chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI), is unhappy with the state of the India media – both the print and the electronic ones. In his interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN, he says the media is not working for the interest of the people; is very often anti-people; sometimes it divides people; promotes superstitions; publishes paid news and

Don’t wait for an Occupy Dalal Street

Since May 15, the ‘Indignants’ movement in Spain followed by ‘Occupy Wall Street’ demonstrations in the US, street protests have spread and plans are afoot to take them to 951 cities in 82 countries. It is against corporate greed and biting cutbacks in welfare measures. The root cause is really the increasing disparity in income and blatant display of unproductive expend

Why Ramanujan`s essay is un-Indian

I must admit that I have found the intent of AK Ramanujan’s essay patently un-Indian not only because of the tone set by the Romila Thapar’s undesirable comments quoted by Paul but also because it seems that there is a sinister design to place a few exceptions and rare extremes in such a manner that they just appear to be five simple examples and thoughts on the 300 Ramayanas. After

MNREGS vs graft, not centre vs state

The slugfest between the centre and the Uttar Pradesh government continues on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREG) scheme in the state. After Jairam Ramesh’s letter to the UP government last week, Mayawati has accused the rural development minister of playing politics. With the state elections around the corner, Mayawati has rubbished Ramesh`s allegations by attribut

All looks saffron to a jaundiced eye

Anna Hazare has announced that he will continue with his maun vrat, vow of silence, citing health reasons for his decision. The veteran Gandhian has said that silence helps him recover from swelling in his feet. No, Digvijay Singh hasn’t issued a comment on Anna’s statement yet. But he will. He always does. Nobody knows what his real job is, but this one he performs w

Smashing democracy’s licence permit raj

The equations of electoral arithmetic can confound even the most profound of mathematical geniuses. Numbers are the bedrock of any exact science and there is no science as precise as mathematics. That is till it mingles with the rough and tumble of the dust bowls of heartland politics. Then blurriness replaces precision, numbers throw up unexpected combinations and bizarre marriages get pulled

The state of federalism

“I am sure you are not bothered about the price rise and inflation because you have seriously taken your party’s slogan to heart which talks about aam aadmi (common man) and not aam aurat (common woman). Obviously the hardships caused by inflation and price rise largely affect women, hence you are genuinely not bothered to check it.” This was Gujarat chief minister Narendra Mo

Electoral reforms version 2.0

1. Amend Rule 125A of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to provide for a ban for ten years in the first instance to any candidate withholding or providing incorrect information on Form 26 as prescribed under Rule 4A of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. A second offence should lead to a life ban. 2. Amend Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 to provide for the following:

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


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