Sudha Ragunathan is a renowned Carnatic vocalist and composer. She has performed across India and abroad. Her guru was Padma Bhushan ML Vasanthakumari, known by many as a musical genius and a doyenne of Carnatic music. Sudha’s most fascinating and memorable performance was Vande Mataram at the central house of parliament during the 50th Republic Day celebrations in 2000. She has also
During Prof Parekh’s recent India visit, Ashish Mehta sat down with him for a chat on Gandhi. Here is what they talked: At 82, Baron Bhikhu Parekh remains as sprightly as ever. He is no longer teaching in classrooms but continues his academic pursuits. After ‘Debating India: Essays on Indian Political Discourse’ (Oxford University Press, 2015), he is at work on his next
The Rohingya crisis has jolted the world at a time when people have become somewhat immune to violent images of destroyed cities and persecuted refugees fleeing Syria, Nigeria and Yemen. Apart from heart-rending images floating around on news sites, like that of the moment when a mother discovers her days-old baby has died just after making it across the Naf river to Bangladesh, the reaso
G Bramma’s first film, Kutram Kadithal, won the national award for best feature film in Tamil. It spoke of the need for safe and healthy schooling of children. It also won the state award for best film, and was screened at various national and international film festivals. His next movie, Magalir Mattum, celebrates womanhood, and was released in August. Wha
How did you get the idea to go for ISO certification? What did you want to achieve when you mooted this idea? It is my firm belief that work must be accomplished in an organised manner and give a sense of satisfaction. But one cannot evaluate their shortcomings. Evaluation can only be done by others. When you go for ISO compliance, others evaluate you. Many ti
Privacy is now a fundamental right! But are you baffled by the supreme court’s ruling on Right to Privacy? Centre for Internet and Society’s executive director Sunil Abraham decodes the judgment for us. What does the SC judgment on privacy mean for the common man? Cit
The supreme court has held the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional. This takes us back to the Shah Bano case and the question of reforming the Muslim personal law. Had it not been overturned by Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, how would it have impacted the Muslim society? The year 1986 played a very important role as the issue of triple talaq became
Central Electronics Limited (CEL) was established in 1974 – when the world of electronics was a rarefied field. This public sector enterprise made continuos losses for many years, but for the past four years it has been making profits. Its CMD, Dr Nalin Shinghal, speaks with Praggya Guptaa about this transformation and future plans. How
Dr Kenneth E Thorpe, a professor of health policy and management at Emory University in the US and also the chairman of Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases (PFCD), says that the government alone cannot do everything. “They don’t have the resources and capacity. So we have to find ways to engage private sector,” Dr Thorpe told Governance Now during his visit to India wher
It has been a year since you took charge of the new ministry. What is your biggest worry as in charge of education in India? My first priority – and that reflects my worry as well – is to improve the quality of government schools. It’s a tough job. Unfortunately, government schools which were much better earlier have deteriorated in two decades. That h
India and China are not prepared for a war over Doklam plateau in Bhutan, assessed JNU professor Srikanth Kondapalli, a well-known China expert who is back from Beijing and Shanghai after spending two months there. In a telephonic interview with Shankar Kumar, Kondapalli said both countries will not opt for war as it will be catastrophic and millions would die.
Last year the nation marked the 25th anniversary of the launch of economic liberalisation. Back in those tumultuous days, Yashwant Sinha was an important part of the dramatis personae involved in the reforms process. As finance minister in the short-lived Chandra Shekhar government, he steered the economy during a critical phase, and later, as finance minister in the NDA government, he gave
At 70, Dr Aziz Ahmad, a well-known homeopath and politician now with Congress, still has a busy practice in Abu Bazaar, in old Gorakhpur. During working hours, the lane in which he has a clinic becomes jam-packed with patients and their vehicles. People speak of naming the lane after him. Dr Ahmad takes a dim view of Yogi Adityanath. His wife Talat Aziz was allegedly shot
How do you see the rise of the Bhim Army in Uttar Pradesh? During the last assembly elections in UP, it was a common consensus among many [dalit leaders] that we’d give one more chance to Mayawati. If she comes back, well and good. If she doesn’t, let’s give somebody else a chance. As it turned out, she could not make a comeback. P
Vinay Shankar Tiwari, one among handful of Brahmin MLAs from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the only non-BJP MLA in the nine constituencies of Gorakhpur, shared with Governance Now his idea of an ideal city and also spoke on the Yogi Adityanath government completing 100 days. What do you have to say about &lsquo
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya speaks to Governance now on how the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has fared so far: You have come up with a report card of your 100 days in office after a humungous victory in Uttar Pradesh. Please share with us some of your experiences and achievement. I can
What is the biggest crisis India’s health care sector is going through? It is a loaded question. As you have seen in my book [‘Do We Care: India’s Health System’ Oxford University Press, 2017], whichever party that has been in power at the federal or at the states level has not given due attention to health. The doable thing within the cons
What is the role of CVC in curbing corruption and black money? Unlike many things in life, corruption is not episodic. It is not possible to talk of a completely corruption-free society. Corruption is an aspect of human nature which needs to be controlled and tackled. In India, corruption stems from various sources like systemic corruption – certain departments&
How can we ensure that children taken away from labour will have a better future? By making education a fundamental right. After enacting the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), it is a state obligation to do all that is necessary to get a child to school. Indeed, the amendment to the Child Labour Act, 2016 complemented the RTE Act in
The seventh round of the Syria peace talks will begin on July 10 in Geneva which will be convened by the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. Violence and persecution in places like Syria and South Sudan have displaced a record 65.6 million people worldwide who are either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced, the UN refugee agency said in June. In the meanwhile, t
