Yet again, Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for external affairs, challenged a stated policy and embarrassed his government. Yet again, the media savoured a few juicy stories where none need have been offered in the first place. It has all happened much too often. This time round, Tharoor suggested that Saudi Arabia could act as a valuable interlocutor between India and Pakistan
Before one could raise a toast to the finance minister for providing relief in income tax, came the dampener: petrol and diesel prices became dearer by more than Rs 2.50 per litre. This was courtesy one percent rise in customs and excise duty. Soon came a series of depressing news. Some auto companies announced hike in prices of cars and two-wheelers. Airlines hinted a similar step. The FMCG co
When Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced a hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel during his budget speech in Lok Sabha on Friday, members of opposition parties staged a walkout together in a rare show of unity. Later, the united opposition slammed the government for introducing an inflationary measure in the Union budget at a time when food prices had risen by nearly 20 percent over
Mamata Banerjee`s appropriation of the annual budget of Indian Railways for electoral gains raises a larger question. Should we blame just the railways minister if the budget is skewed in favour of her home state West Bengal? As captain of the team, isn`t the prime minister ultimately responsible for the railways minister`s performance as well? According to a report in The Indian Expres
The software technology park (STP) units had been enjoying corporate tax exemption under section 10A and 10B of the income tax act since the past decade now. NASSCOM president Som Mittal, is advocating the extension for strengthening the SMEs based in Tier II and III cities. However, we must realize that each scheme has a sunset clause and the STPI scheme has already reached the same. E
Now the Supreme Court has referred to the election commission to verify if elephants built in memorial parks in Lucknow and NOIDA stand for electoral symbol for Mayawati`s BSP. The question appears quite redundant as there is hardly any doubt the BSP`s symbol is elephant. At the same time, elephants are culturally used as good omen in India to welcome guests across the country. But Mayawati`s p
The full court of the supreme court has again rejected the demand for setting up its regional benches. The full bench, comprising 27 judges and headed by the Chief Justice of India, was unanimous in its decision and said setting up regional benches would affect the country`s "unitary character". The apex court had rejected such demands four times in the past as well--through resolutio
It is a weird thing to do. For the Delhi government to ask 10 state governments to take back the beggars, that is. The logic being these beggars came from those states. How does the Delhi government know? It actually carried out a survey to find out how many beggars came from which states. And on the basis of this survey, the Delhi government wrote to chief secretaries of 10 state governments.
The Narendra Modi government has been toying with the ways to dilute the prohibition policy. The latest move is to allow all domestic tourists to buy a permit on arrival at the Ahmedabad airport, no questions asked. The state government would like us to believe that this would boost tourism. Gujarat is the only state in the country to have a prohibition policy and that has not come in t
Seven months after Delhi High Court legalised consensual gay sex, Aligarh Muslim University has suspended a professor for exercising this legal right within the privacy of his home on the campus. The university decided to suspend Professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, who headed the department of modern India languages, after a few students reportedly filmed him in the act with a rickshaw-puller
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai made a telling point while reacting to the news of Maoists gunning down 24 jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles in West Bengal. He said: "If a police camp becomes a picnic spot, such a thing is bound to happen." Details about the camp and activities of the jawans at the time of attack are telling: camp site hemmed in by a crowded market
If you are in your 30s or older, you would have said this at least once: that, when we were young we started going to school only after the age of five. These days the child is barely two, not yet able to even express himself or herself properly, and off they go to the playschool, with colourful bags on their backs. They should be in playgrounds instead of those, well, gulags. Some of us think
After a lull of 14 months, the terrorists have struck again. This time in Pune, killing nine and injuring scores of others, including two foreign tourists. No less than Home Minister P Chidambaram has hinted at the link of jailed Pakistani-born American citizen David Headley. Headley had surveyed Osho ashram and the Jewish Chabad House, which are close to the Pune`s blast site, in 2007-8 when h
“The system is opaque. There is no transparency, no procedure. What are the parameters for selection? No one knows what the collegium is looking for in candidates.” This is what A.P.Shah, chief justice of Delhi high court, said last Thursday referring to the functioning of supreme court`s collegium that appoints judges to the apex court. He went on to
On a Mahashivratri when milk prices have been h
In Mumbai Bal Thackeray has the last word, they say. And the credit for letting him have the final word goes to the successive governments in Maharashtra. Thackeray has little regard for democracy and the rule of the law. If he wants to ban Shah Rukh Khan’s new film, well, it’s banned. His Shiv Sena believes fear is the key. But Mumbaikars have time and again proved they are not afr
Delhi High Court`s concern for the city`s
The question has arisen again after the CPI(Maoist) general secretary Ganapathy told The Times of India in an interview that his outfit was willing to talk if the arrested rebel leaders were released from custody. Many senior Maoists leaders like Narayan Sanyal, Kobad Gandhi, Amitabha Bagchi and Sushil Roy are in various jails at present. Of course, this is not the only pre-condition fo
Unlike Bt Cotton, the prospect of commercial production of Bt Brinjal has sparked a huge uproar in the country, dividing scientists, policy makers, farmers and even lay persons like you and me. Tomorrow Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh will announce his decision on whether to allow this or not. But what is all this brouhaha about and why? Here we take a look at the subject
For more than four decades the ruling clique at the centre and in Maharashtra have kow-towed to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and allowed him to bully anyone he pleases. But when things seemed to have changed for the better after Rahul Gandhi`s open defiance and Sena`s subsequent turnaround on banning Shah Rukh Khan`s film, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has postrated before Thackeray.
