How does the BJP propose to build its base in Tamil Nadu? For the past four to five years the BJP has been consistently working in Tamil Nadu. And our mobilisation capacity has got demonstrated in the near past. It has increased exponentially. We have been taking up issues which are core to the state. For instance, the Tamil Nadu fishermen issue. We worked to mob
Nayana Kathpalia has been fighting to save Mumbai’s open spaces. As the founder trustee of NAGAR, she has been working on solid waste management, improvement in air quality, preserving beaches, mangroves, heritage places, efficient road space management and water conservation. She is also a trustee of the OVAL Trust that has been instrumental in restoring and maintaining Mumbai’s ic
Do you feel that discrimination and violence against people from the northeast is more prominent in Delhi as compared to other metro cities? After visiting several metro cities, the committee observed that the number of people from the northeast living in Delhi was much higher. This can be a reason for larger number of such incidents taking place in Delhi. Peopl
A founder member of Penguin India, David Davidar spent 25 years with the publishing giant in various capacities before moving back to India to start his own publishing venture Aleph Book Company in partnership with Rupa Publications. He is also an acclaimed author of three novels. He spoke to Shreerupa Mitra-Jha about the new anthology of Indian short stories he has edited, and
It’s been more than a year since Prof Ashish Nanda took over as director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). An IIT-Delhi and IIM-A alumnus and former Robert Braucher professor of practice at Harvard Law School, Nanda, 54, is a man on a mission. At IIM-A he has brought in changes in the selection of students and introduced deferred admission system. In an interview w
Stephen Alter’s latest non-fiction, ‘Becoming a Mountain—In Search of the Sacred and the Sublime’, was recently released in the capital. The American author was born and raised in the foothills of the Himalayas in Mussoorie. He talks to Shreerupa Mitra about his latest book, the need for good translation in Indian regional writing and his brush with Bollywood.
What change you have seen in Kashmir during the last 14 years? The biggest change is that the Kashmiri people have realised that the gun is their enemy. It is clear now that they are not cut out for the gun culture and violence. The fact is that the Indian army and security forces have seized nearly 95,000 guns and ammunition from militant organisations. This is a huge q
What do you make of the huge voter turnout? People have voted in huge numbers for two reasons. One is the recent floods in Kashmir. Somewhere people have realised that they need a government and systems that work or else such mismanagement will continue to recur. The flood was a grave reminder to all of us that we need a government to run the daily affairs of
What does the huge voter turnout in the valley mean? People have voted on the issue of ‘sadak, pani and bijli’– development. However, this is not going to impact our movement [for azadi or independence]. I am confident that all those who have voted in the election are also for freedom. Hence, the voter turnout is insignificant for us. I always had
Sarbananda Sonowal, a young and firebrand leader, is BJP’s rising star in Assam. He is now in charge of a ministry that does not make many headlines but whose work would be uppermost on the minds of most Indians. Sonowal spoke with Sweta Ranjan about the government’s plans for sports. Edited excerpts: There is a need for more transpare-ncy in
Kumi Naidoo, in his late 40s, is the first African to head Greenpeace International, the pre-eminent global green group of our times that is increasingly hogging headlines in India too. During his New Delhi visit recently, he sat down with Shreerupa Mitra-Jha to discuss the perspectives behind those headlines. Excerpts from the interview: What is the India conne
From teaching chartered accountancy to running a textile weaving unit, real estate baron Niranjan Hiranandani has rich experience. He has been part of different state and national bodies for habitat and low-income housing for long, besides drafting Maharashtra’s slum rehabilitation policy. After their state-of-the-art mixed-user townships across 200 acres in Powai and Thane, the Hirananda
Conservation architect, author, consultant to international and national bodies on heritage preservation and winner of multiple awards, including the largest number of UNESCO Asia-Pacific awards for heritage conservation, Abha Narain Lambah wears many hats. Her vast repertoire spans preparing plans for restoration of ancient to medieval sites, regional and urban conservation plans, urban
Jual Oram, the union minister for tribal affairs, is a veteran Odisha politician who created history when he became the first tribal affairs minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was a face-saver for the BJP in Odisha in the recent Lok Sabha elections, winning the lone seat in the state. Oram discusses the Naveen government and the Odisha BJP with Shreerupa Mitra-Jha
Amit Jain was just another young Indian, working in an IT firm in the millennium city – Gurgaon – who dreamt of a decent life and sought a house for himself. And that decision – to buy a house – turned his life upside down. In 2010, Jain, then in his late 30s, waged a battle against “corrupt developers” after his apartment was “wrongfully” cancell
Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) is a joint venture of the government of India and leading oil and natural gas industry players – GAIL (India) Limited, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). Tasked with importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and setting up LNG terminals in the country, Petrone
The department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) recently released the draft policy on Internet of Things (IoT, interconnection of uniquely identifiable embedded devices). To understand the technology better, Shubhendu Parth speaks to Dr Kevin Curran on how IoT can impact governance. Curran, who is known for his work on location positioning within indoor environments, pervasive
Some issues related to the pradhan mantri jan dhan yojana (PMJDY) have surfaced which even the RBI governor has flagged, like duplication of accounts. How do you plan to ensure effective implementation of the scheme and solving these problems? We are aware of it, but it might have happened because some people may have felt that by opening an account under PMJDY th
An electrical engineer from Delhi University, AK Purwaha, as chairman and managing director, has led Engineers India Ltd to new heights. One of south Asia’s leading design and engineering organisations, EIL has spread its wings further under him. From being an engineering solutions consultancy company focused on oil, gas, petrochemical and non-ferrous metallurgy industries, EIL has now di
Land is at the centre of the big debate in India, as more and more farming land is going to industry. But what if land is not necessary for farming? Though it sounds impossible, it has been done, and done successfully in places ranging from Dubai to Singapore. The man behind this technology, Dr Yuichi Mori, was originally doing his research in membrane technology used in healthcare, which he le
