In India the conventional media, especially print, is still growing well, but media futurist Gerd Leonhard has a word of caution for this sector. He says India may face the Brazilian situation tomorrow. The South American country was also witnessing the same story until last year when the middle class switched to new media such as the internet and newspapers became obsolete. The Swiss e
RK Dubey took over as Canara Bank chairman early this year bang in the middle of a slowdown. But a few months into his stewardship, his bank made bold to drop its lending rate to 9.95% because of “better efficiencies” while others hung on to rates of 10% and 10.25%. In this interview with B V Rao and Imran Qureshi, he talks about the challenges befo
Can you enumerate key outcomes (from citizens` perspective) of decades of e-governance initiatives in Maharashtra? From citizens` perspective, it is convenience. They should be able to avail government services with the least number of trips to the government office without paying bribes and within a given time frame. Wh
Ratings agencies perform the critical function of assessing the fundamentals and future prospects of corporate houses that continuously seek to raise money from privat e investors or the public. That puts the onus on ratings agencies to get their systems of governance right, both within their own companies and the companies they assess. How do they do it? How do they ensure a rating or grading
Security concerns regarding online data and records are rising with each passing day, and the situation is set to stay that way in times to come. The problem is compounded by newer technologies being introduced: while on one hand may make life easier, they also make security more vulnerable. Altaf Halde, managing director (South Asia) of Kaspersky, a Russian multinational computer secur
Dr Ami Bera is a self-made man and pursued what is called the American Dream. Son of an Indian immigrant couple from Rajkot in Gujarat, Bera is the only Indian American currently serving in the Congress, and third after Dilip Singh Saund and Bobby Jindal to be from the community in the House. During the last week of August, he made his first trip to India after being elected to the House of Rep
Ratings agencies perform the critical function of assessing the fundamentals and future prospects of corporate houses that continuously seek to raise money from private investors or the public. That puts the onus on ratings agencies to get their systems of governance right, both within their own companies and the companies they assess. How do they do it? How do they ensure a rating or grading r
Set up in 2007, Central Railside Warehouse Company (CRWC) is a young organisation by public sector standards. Coming under the department of food and public distribution, the ministry of consumer affairs, it develops and constructs warehouses with the railways for storage of food and other products. The idea is to reduce the logistic expenses and benefit industries. Starting with Bangalore, CRW
Delhi finance and power secretary Shakti Sinha, a 1979 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre, has had an exciting three-decade career. He served on the board of World Bank, advising it on several projects related to developing countries, and worked with the Afghanistan government, helping it prepare national development strategies. He also served as joint secretary to former prime minister Atal
Amitabh Kant, CEO and MD, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, tells Governance Now how the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor development corporation (DMICDC) is implementing the country`s most ambitious project: the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. Building 24 cities from scratch along a 1,483-km railway track, if successfully implemented, the corridor will be Indi
In conversation with Pankaj Kumar, former Punjab director general of police KPS Gill, the man known for eliminating terrorism from Punjab, says what is happening between the two agencies poses a threat to the national security. The CBI is blaming the IB and the two agencies seem to be acting against each other. Don’t you think
From military to corporate sector, ‘scenario planning’ is the in concept now. More so since the 12th five-year plan incorporated possible scenarios to project and forecast the India story. Arun Maira, member of the planning commission and the man behind this idea, stressed on three scenarios so far as the Indian economy is concerned. First, he said, is ‘meddling along&
Dr Arun Gupta, a member of the prime minister’s national council on nutrition, who challenged the market-led solutions provided by the Lancet to tackle the problem of under-nutrition, wonders why the private sector needs to handle issues on the malnutrition front. Edited excerpts: Why are you opposed to this study? We are actually challenging its
Let’s begin with the India story. The last few years have been depressing for the economy. As a rating agency that looks at individual companies – I know you don’t do country ratings – you have a sense of where it is all headed. How is it telling on the investment climate and mood? From a rating agency’s perspective, is it really that depressing or are we o
Too much honesty, says Kautilya in Arthashastra, is not good; in the forests, straight trees are cut first. Who knows this better than Ashok Khemka, the whistleblower Haryana IAS who cancelled a land deal involving Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and was hastily transferred? In the second week of October, India Against Corruption’s Arvind Kejriwal released to t
On April 30, the Karkardooma court in Delhi acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar of all charges in one of the three 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases against him. Kumar, a former MP from Outer Delhi, was accused of murder and instigating a riotous mob that killed five Sikhs in Delhi’s cantonment area on November 2, 1984. Five other people accused in the case have been convicted, three of them
There have been a series of rulings by the supreme court in July to the chagrin of political leadership. While a determined attempt by the judiciary to cleanse politics has been welcomed by people, there are concerns as well. Like, the judgment can be used to foist false cases to disqualify strong electoral opponents. It also means doing another George Fernandes – he fought and won
In an atmosphere where people generally view all government officers with suspicion, it is the activism of a bunch of elderly citizens that has led to the recent landmark ruling from the supreme court that effectively bars any convicted person from participating in polls or even continuing in office either as a legislator or parliamentarian. This organisation is Lok Prahari (www.lokprahar
The pre-monsoon shower pitter-pattered against the car window as I waited at the traffic signal, eager for the light to turn green and the bottleneck to ease up. I had called up Mahasweta Devi, the legendary activist, writer and Magsaysay award winner, the previous day and she had given a green signal for an interview. Like the traffic stuck in the rain at the time, most Indians shy awa
In 2009, she raised more than the proverbial eyebrows when she threw a punch way above her weight, jumping from the pin-striped corporate boardroom she used to move around in to the heat and tumble of politics. She fielded herself against Milind Deora of the Congress and Mohan Rawale of the Shiv Sena, the field being the South Mumbai parliamentary constituency. The well-known David taking o
