The democratic society can measure its success in decentralising and opening up the decision making processes by the extent to which it invites and welcomes open social criticism. Unfortunately, the team of Anna Hazare, the government, other institutions and everybody seems to believe that the entire truth is on their side. Willingness to discuss, debate and learn to create innovative solutions
Governor Martin Joseph O’Malley of Maryland, United States witnessed some of the fiery debate on FDI in multi-brand retail while he was in India on a seven-day visit. The governor was here leading a 100-member delegation for initiating business and economic development ties. The group consisting of businessmen, educationists and elected officials was the largest ever in it league to have
India scores a stinking, low rank of 95 in the list of most corrupt nations, released by Transparency International. This comes against the backdrop of a series of scandals and the heated debates over Lokpal. “India is perceived to be getting worse … more and more people are willing to speak out against it,” said the report released on Thursday. However,
Last week, hundreds of students and faculty from diploma engineering students from Parul Polytechnic Institute, LCIT Bhandu, Hashmukh Goswami college of Engineering, Govt polytechnic Surat etc., part of GTU were provided a national platform to showcase their talent through SRISTI`s techpedia.in. DG CSIR, Dr Samir Brhamchari, VC GTU and many other senior colleagues interacted with the students a
In an article dated July 18 in the New York edition of The New York Times — an American newspaper of global repute — the reporter wrote of Kerala chief minister Oomen Chandy: “In an India beset by kickback scandals at the highest reaches of government, and where petty bribes at police stations and motor vehicle departments are often considered a matter of course, Oommen Chandy
Renewable energy may be the light at the end of the tunnel for 1.4 billion people who have no access to electricity, according to an UN agency. It also states that 85 percent of this 1.4 live in rural parts of developing countries. In South Asia alone, 42 percent of the population lives in the dark. The `Technology and Innovation report 2011`, released on Tuesday by the United Nati
The slap on Sharad Pawar’s face reverberated in parliament last week. Before the Lok Sabha met on Friday last, several members went across to Pawar, who was seated in his usual first-row chair, as a gesture, which looked weird, more like him taking a guard of dishonour. Speaker Meira Kumar said the house strongly condemned the unfortunate incident of assault on the agricult
The union government’s insistence on keeping the names of 700 entities holding secret accounts in HSBC Bank in Geneva close to its heart reflects how sincere it is about fighting the black money menace. Not only did it grudgingly admit to having received the information from the French government after the media went public, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee justified it saying that the g
It’s like broth you serve after agonizing for too long. Or having several cooks for the job but none really in charge. In cricketing terms, a bit like Tendulkar now having to face a billion of us after making 94. Therefore, to be fair, a huge legislation of this nature was thus bound to fall short of expectations. As cleared by the union cabinet on November
At a time when a minister gets slapped for high inflation and the government faces daily flaks for doing nothing to bring the prices down for three years in running comes the hoopla over FDI in multi-brand retail. The cabinet, in a late night decision on Thursday, cleared
India remains core to world food security plans, says David Phiri, head, policy assistance support service of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In an interview with Trithesh Nandan, he justifies the high food prices but laments that Indian farmers are not benefitting from it. Edited excerpts… What ails Indian agriculture from Food and Agriculture Organisati
At a time when a minister gets slapped for high inflation and the government faces daily flaks for doing nothing to bring the prices down for three years in running comes the hoopla over FDI in multi-brand retail. The cabinet, in a late night decision on Thursday, cleared
Professor Arvind Panagariya wrote an article titled “The Child Malnutrition Myth,” in Times of India on October 1, 2011 (see link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-01/edit-page/30230007_1_underweight-children-maternal-mortali
The towering statues of Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, Uttar Pradesh’s first chief minister, and his disciple Chaudhary Charan Singh on the front lawns of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha are unique reminder of the state’s distinct political culture and legacy. Pant had also served as the prime minister of the United Province in the pre-independence era and wielded considerable influence
Every word is deeply marinated in history. Peel it and you will uncover a spell-binding story. Emden is a city in Germany best known for Volkswagen’s factory producing its high-end car Passat. Emden is as German as Bavarian sausages Weisswurst. But when you hear many a grandmother in Tamil Nadu warn prospective victims about their particularly destructive grandchild saying “Paar Emd
Call for Articles, Innovative Ideas on “Mobile Application for Public Services” for publication in special issue of Governance Now on mobile governance to be released during e-GovWorld 2012 scheduled on January 19-20 at New Delhi, India Dear Stakeholders, As you are aware, department of information technology, government
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has disarmed her opponents, leaving them with no other option than saying "touché". The UP cabinet has endorsed a proposal for the division of UP into four smaller states: Poorvanchal (eastern UP), Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh (central UP) and Paschim Pradesh (western UP). This is being seen as her masterstroke to beat t
Till the media was praising F1, giving acres of free publicity to his team, Sahara Force One, Vijay Mallya, was an indulgent accomplice. No sooner the spotlight shifted to disastrous Q2 results of Kingfisher Airlines, the embattled king of good times can’t stop his tweeting diatribe. On November 14, as the tax payer worried whether her money would be thrown into the voracio
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. So had Alice down a rabbit hole to reach a phantasmagoric world she truly belonged to. But both their falls had nadirs. There was a thud and it ended. But the UPA government’s fall into the spectrum of the 2G scam is unending. There have been several lows and none the lowest. What began with just the government’s hesitation in auctioning the 2G spectr
NC Saxena, a highly influential member of the national advisory council (NAC), has criticised the planning commission for ignoring the issue of hunger in the draft approach paper of the 12th five year plan (2012-17). “If you look, hunger does not exist in the draft approach paper, basically ignored by the planning commission for the next plan,” Saxena said at a national cons
