The prime minister has promised to resurrect land acquisition reforms. But the bill in the works is quite a shoddy piece of legislation. It doesn’t even have the decency to say, “I’ll take your land, but I’ll make you
The question that struck me after seeing the India census 2011 report is: Is the Pre-natal Diagnostic Technique (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (PCPNDT) Act a toothless piece of legislation? That seems to be the case as the sex ratio has turned from bad to worse. While the normal ratio for children between 0 and 6 is about 950 girls to 1000 boys, the 2011 census shows that the number of girls ha
Stakeholders including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and professional services firms are now worse off with a half-hearted approach of the government allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in limited liability partnerships (LLPs) in a piecemeal measure, while also withdrawing the advantages enshrined in the LLP Act, 2009. This has raised more questions than answers about the fate
What is world class? About two decades ago when the Canadian government wanted to modernise itself and its public services, it appointed a group of consultants to go around the world and find out what constitutes the quality of world-class organisations. This team came out with the following qualities of world-class organisations which they preferred to call as “adaptive organisations&rdq
Technology has come in handy for the educated and affluent Indians to exterminate the female child before birth. This ugly aspect of our society has been laid bare by a study conducted by Lancet which points out that the growing imbalance between girls and boys aged 0-6 is indicative of a trend of selective abortion of female foetuses. The study mentions that the conditional sex-ratio f
Have you ever seen UN TV or even heard about it? No? Then you are not the only one, there are billions who have not. But UN TV is real and its pre-recorded telecast can be seen at Live Station. UN TV features live coverage of UN meetings, such as those of the Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, as well as conferences, briefings and oth
The sensational helicopter raid in Abbottabad has spurred India into direct action, India style. We have refreshed our list of “wanted” men and despite Pakistan’s protestations the world now knows there is no evading India’s objectives. We want Dawood Ibrahim and we know he lives in Karachi. We also know he keeps hopping houses just to keep our intel guys engaged
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) finally notified the regulations titled “The Competition Commission of India (procedure in regard to the transaction of business relating to combinations) Regulations, 2011 (Merger Regulations).” These regulations, due to come into force on June 1, 2011, regulate all acquisition of shares, voting rights, control, merger or amalgamation (coll
The focus in public diplomacy is on the public. When country A practises public diplomacy with the rest of the world then it is engaging global public by sharing with them more information, explanation of major policy decisions, replying to their genuine queries, it makes an effort to win global public opinion. So does country B when it practises public diplomacy. As a whole the
Privatisation is a panacea for all ills. That is what the World Bank thinks, suggests, propagates and pushes full-steam around the globe, despite fierce criticism and condemnation from several countries, people, experts and civil society groups. The world over, the bank’s privatisation policy has led nowhere, achieved nothing, as is well documented by different scholars including Nobel La
The teething problems for the passport seva pilot project continues with people under the Bangalore regional passport office (RPO) still complaining of delays in getting online appointment to visit passport seva kendras (PSKs), not to talk of the passport itself. The delays in getting an online appointment often go beyond a month, which is 10 times the period (three days) the go
During the monsoon session of 2010, Lok Sabha witnessed a stormy exchange, dividing its members along linguistic lines. The incident revealed an outdated thinking on the part of even some senior MPs. To recap, dur¬ing question hour on August 13, some MPs complained about the failure of their language interpretation devices while a question was being raised in Hindi. It was first reported by
It may be debatable if there will ever be an end of history as Francis Fukuyama had predicted. But it seems quite certain, if one looks at the recent assembly elections results, that there will be an end of ideological rigidity in Indian politics. Communists have paid the price of upholding ideological purity which is devoid of pragmatism and out of sync with social evolution. Th
Instead of showcasing the Incredible India, our museums display what is wrong with our culture of governance. Proper planning coupled with some funding can help us (and the world) connect with the country’s true heritage With countless museums, heritage sites and immeasurably immense resources, some on th
A country where 70 percent students in higher education pursue a future in science and technology with only 30 percent in humanities has shown a healthy irreverence for global models of development. It has pioneered several other models of future growth which defy the conventional image of Africa as a follower (sometimes, people allege a sluggish one). Let me list some of the initiatives that E
There is a growing and widespread agitation around the country on the issue of land acquisition. It is obvious that if more roads, faster traffic, greater investment and more industries have to come up, land acquisition will inevitably be needed. I am not getting into the debate whether this developmental model is the really most suited for our needs at this moment. No matter whic
I can very well imagine taking a stroll near a school in some town of Madhya Pradesh. I overhear someone cry. It’s a small girl sitting under a tree in her school uniform who was crying out loud. As I go close to ask her what was wrong, I see a boy standing next to her and trying to console her. Just then he holds a stick in his hand, takes out an old pair of spectacles from his schoolbag
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) notified the CCI Combination Regulations, 2011 (also known as CCI Merger Regulations) on May 11 marking the commencement of a new merger regime in India. The now-in-force CCI merger regulations exempt mergers approved by the board of directors before June 1, 2011. The merger regulations require any enterprise proposing to enter into a co
When you oppose something, usually it is assumed that your opposition is backed by a reason. And depending on the situation, your reasoning can be based on either your experience or some study or data. But what of you are talking just in the air without any justification whatsoever to back your argument? Who is going to believe you in that case? Five public five public authorities inclu
The last event in the campaign before the students union elections in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (described by US diplomats as ‘Kremlin on Jumna’, according to Wikileaks) is traditionally reserved for the Students’ Federation of India, the student wing of CPI-M. And the speaker is usually Sitaram Yechury or Prakash Karat, who held union positions in the 1970s an
