The law minister announced recently that the government would soon bring in a constitution amendment bill to change the system of appointment of judges to higher judiciary, the supreme court and the high courts. But focusing only on higher judiciary is akin to counting the trees and missing the forest. Several issues come up if we look at the forest – of appointments. The f
When a country of billion people takes pride in a few medals it wins in the Olympics, it explains why mediocrity is so deeply steeped in our culture. A large number of tribal communities have a huge stamina, are very athletic and can be powerful sportsperson. But even in the skills in which they are good, they don’t get the premium attention and resources. It might look surprising that Ma
That illegal immigration of Bangladeshis to Assam is a serious problem is an undisputable fact. Assam shares a 272-km border with Bangladesh and most of the stretch is still unfenced. The large scale infiltration from the other side of the border is not only threatening to demographic profile of Assam but also its cultures. Though the exact number of illegal immigrants is not known, generally i
Environment watchdog Greenpeace sought an immediate moratorium on new coal projects in the country citing evidences that the mining threatened forests and wildlife. “From 2007 to 2011, the coal mine lease area and coal production capacity have nearly doubled compared to pre-2007 levels” said Greenpeace campaigner Ashish Fernandes. Greenpeace’s report titled, &l
Why does Mamata Banerjee want to say it a thousand times that favourable verdicts are given in return for money. The Calcutta high court has admitted a contempt plea to make her see reason. Question is why is Mamata so keen on taking on the judiciary and why now? The central government is working overtime to have the Judicial Standards & Accountability Bill, 2010 (“judi
Typically, the mention of Assam leads to an image of serene green landscape with people of multiple ethnicities accommodating each other under a broad understanding of mutual co-existence. But, of late, Assam has been in the news for all wrong reasons – the moral degradation of urban youth and community indifference as reflected by the infamous Guwahati molestation; and now ethnic violenc
Harsha Vardhana Singh is the only Indian among the top brass of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Before his current assignment, this Rhodes Scholar with a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford held a series of critical positions: secretary-cum-principal advisor with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), consultant with the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices, the gover
Armed forces world over are modernizing. Three quarters of a century after the World War II, the ordinary soldier – GI Joe as the Americans call him and the Jawan as we know him – is a more lean and mean fighting machine, armed with the technology that has been mindboggingly improving by the hour. He wears a better battle dress, carries a better gun with greater range, more fire pow
The Latin phrase ‘nil nisi bonum’ comes from the famous quote “De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est” (of the dead let nothing but good be said) attributed to Chilon of Sparta (6 the century BC), one of Seven Sages of Greece. In English, it is loosely translated as “speak no evil of the dead” and has served as the guiding principles to the masters of jurispr
Perhaps the greatest irony of Indian politics is the general feeling about accessibility of the Prime Minister’s job. The country is replete with politicians who are ready to take a shot at the nation’s top executive job. The feeling that there is a shortcut to the job is bolstered by the prevailing culture of politics for the past two decades. The irony of ironies is that t
Public policy often embraces a debate on rights versus entitlements. While the argument may continue, there need not be any exception for a person to be able to walk on a street both as matter of right and entitlement. Courts may some day determine that the Right to Life under Article 21 cannot be comprehensive without the enjoyment of a fundamental facility, namely, an enabling environment for
Noting that quota for the disabled in jobs, education and poverty alleviation schemes remains under-utilised, a UN report has recommended adopting a uniform eligibility definition across departments and filling the backlog in vacancies. “While three percent of employment and livelihood schemes are reserved for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), available data reveals that this reser
I think it was Nietschze (unless it was Jack Nicholson in that movie about how defenders of a country had the right to murder people they did not agree with) who said, “You cannot handle the truth…” For years I assumed that Bollywood movies invested in fantasy, playback singing and the living-happily-ever ending because producers assumed that audiences could not handl
A visibly upset Anna Hazare supporter recently cried crow that she felt cheated. A slight nudge was sufficient for her to pour her heart out that her unflinching support was for the legitimate fight against corruption. She signed-up to restore people’s belief that their voice mattered and had taken time off her work for a movement - one that was apolitical and one that she believed its le
I am not an admirer of the soap opera entertainment dished out by Indian TV channels but a chance viewing of the Zee TV offering “Afsar Bitiya” led me to watch a few episodes of the serial which portrays the travails of a young block development officer (BDO) somewhere in Bihar. There are obvious flaws pertaining to details and the BDO has been wrongly shown to be carrying out regul
After Anna Hazare and other members of his Team broke their fast at the Jantar Mantar on Friday evening, I too decided to leave the venue. As I stood waiting for an auto to drop me to the nearest metro station, an autowallah standing right outside the barricaded area agreed to drop me at the station. As he drove he asked me, “Madam, do you think corruption will ever end in our country?&rd
It is singularly unfortunate that Team Anna has been pushed into contemplating a political party. Whether they finally take that call or decline it might depend upon their reading of the public mood. But it bodes ill for civil society in India. Team Anna has a fan following as much as it has its critics. But none can dispute their constitutional right to campaign, agitate and mobilize public op
Some key leaders of the microfinance sector came together in October 2009 to set up Micro Finance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory national organisation of the RBI-regulated MFIs. MFIN strives to promote the key objectives of microfinance and establishing guidelines for responsible lending and client protection in this sector. Alok Prasad, CEO of MFIN, is a veteran public
India is not alone in the unsatisfactory outcome of reforms in the power sector. A recent review of transition economies in Europe has observed that “power sector reforms in the transition economies have proven difficult. The current sectoral performance portrays that formulated policies did not effectively understand the functioning of market economy and the reform process itself largely
Who is Anna Hazare? Which section of civil society does he represent? What is he fasting for this time? Will Anna enter politics, form a political party or just support ‘clean’ candidates of other political parties? Does Anna believe in democracy and parliamentary procedures, and respect the constitution? Does he endorse the call of core members of his India Against Corruption team
