A Padma Bhushan recipient and prominent Gandhian of our times, Justice CS Dharmadhikari joined the Quit India moment when he was only 14. A career lawyer and judge, he retired as acting chief justice of Bombay high court in 1989 after delivering landmark judgments on women’s rights, children and prisoners. He has authored many books in Hindi, Marathi and English and a
The strikingly red CPM flag with the sickle and hammer pasted on the board behind Yechury is peeling off despite the adhesive-tape pasted around it, very symptomatic of the party’s situation in the country. As the new party chief, he faces an uphill task of galvanising the party and strengthening its capacity to influence Indian politics. In an interview with Shubhendhu Parth
Cuba-born Alfred de Zayas, an American lawyer, writer, activist, expert in human rights and international law, has been the UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, also known as Special Rapporteur, since 2012. He worked as a senior lawyer with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights during 1981-2003. In an wi
Since its rollout in 2012, the passport seva project has made the process of issuing passports hassle-free and quick. In an interaction with Pratap Vikram Singh, Pardeshi talks about the challenges in streamlining the process and curbing the role of intermediaries. How satisfactory has been the work of passport seva kendras (PSKs) over the years?
It will be ideologically incongruent for the Narendra Modi government to celebrate May Day. Marx and Modi have nothing in common except that both profess to believe in ultimate triumph of labour – Shramev Jayate. But how? In a candid interview
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, for long one of the few Muslim leaders in the BJP, is minister of state for two crucial portfolios: minority affairs and parliamentary affairs. The first will be watched for the party’s own definition of secularism beyond appeasement, while the second will remain crucial till the government gets sufficient numbers in the Rajya Sabha. In an interview with S
Karthik Kumar is a noted theatre and Kollywood actor. He is also known as Evam Karthik for his theatre background. Karthik quit his job to start his own venture Evam Entertainment (with partner Sunil Vishnu) which is India’s only corporate that is into performing arts, arts management and education, and behavioural training. Among the exceptional plays of Evam is The 39 Steps, which h
The story of Prince Gopaldas Desai, an egalitarian ruler, is indeed extraordinary. You have noted in the preface that you had heard about him from your father in the 1950s. But what exactly was the trigger to write this biography at this juncture? After my father’s mention to me of Darbar Gopaldas in 1950 or so, I “ran into” Darbar Gopaldas in 1
As parliament resumed its budget session after a break, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, minister of state for parliamentary affairs speaks to Sweta Ranjan on the business and the challenges. Excerpts: What important legislations are lined up for remaining part of the budget session? One is the land bill and tho
Rajeev Chandrasekhar has an unusual CV for an MP: he worked in Intel and founded BPL Mobile, before joining politics – and has been twice elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka as an independent member supported by all parties. In an email interview with Shishir Tripathi, he comments on his PIL and free speech in the digital age.
Born in Sylhet, Bangladesh, Zia Haider Rahman moved to London as a baby soon after the 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation. In London, his father, a bus conductor and waiter, and mother, a seamstress, struggled to make ends meet during his growing-up years. He studied at Balliol College of Oxford University and pursued further studies in Germany and at Cambridge and Yale universities. He has
From the archives: Narayan Desai spoke to Ashish Mehta in November 2010, when he was in Delhi for the 88th Gandhi Katha. Excerpts from the interview: You started doing ‘Gandhi Katha’ in Gujarat in June 2004, two years after the communal violence in the state. What prompted you to take this innovative way of propagating Gandhi’s
Recipient of Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi award, novelist, poet and critic Bhalchandra Nemade has taught English, Marathi and comparative literature at various places, including the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Before retirement, he held Mumbai University’s Gurudeo Tagore chair for comparative literature studies. A proponent of ‘Deshivad’, Nemade
Krishan Pal, union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, represents Faridabad in the Lok Sabha. In an interview with Sweta Ranjan, he speaks about development plans for the bustling city that is part of the national capital region (NCR). Edited excerpts: Faridabad has a tremendous potential for development. As MP, what are your p
Finance minister Arun Jaitley has set a disinvestment target of `69,500 crore for 2015-16. Disinvestment secretary Aradhana Johri, the 1980-batch IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, calls it an ambitious target. The disinvestment revenue in 2014-15 has been the highest so far, but Johri is confident of meeting the even higher target for the coming fiscal. In an interview with Jasleen
The Lok Sabha has passed the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015. After the upper house nod, it will replace the ordinance that has paved the way for auctioning of coal blocks, which were put on hold due to the supreme court order creating a lot of uncertainty in the sector. Anil Swarup, secretary at the coal ministry, in an interaction with Shubhendu Parth and
Pradeep Kumar Jena, a 1989 batch IAS officer, is principal secretary of water resources department, Odisha. Until December 2014 he also held the charge of the information technology department. In an interaction with Pratap Vikram Singh in December, Jena talked about the steps to promote electronics manufacturing and strengthen e-governance in Odis
‘Mission Hazaar’ aims at taking the gender ratio to 1,000 girls for every 1,000 boys. At present, there are only 914 girls for every 1,000 boys in India, but it is much lower in states like Haryana. As part of the campaign, a survey was conducted among young people from schools and colleges in four districts of Haryana by an international human rights organisation, Breakthrough,
Kashinath Singh, a distinguished scholar and writer, is regarded as one of the best chroniclers of the city of Varanasi. Only a few people know the city as well as he does. Born in a village 40 km from the city, he came to Varanasi for his higher secondary education. Since then he has lived in the city – initially as a student at the Banaras Hindu University, which is also where
Entrusted with the task to create a resource pool of 500 million skilled workers by 2022, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurshipis on a mission. In an interaction with Jasleen Kaur, Rudy talks about the newly created ministry and challenges ahead. What is the purpose of a separate ministry for skill de
