Osama bin Laden is dead. Much before the news broke, his spectre haunted the world - feeding our collective imagination of terrorism. The 9/11 attacks demonstrably proved that no one was immune, not even the might US of A. He mocked us from news broadcasts (via the imfamous videotapes) even as he reiterated his "Death to US, Israel" sermon. Sometime, Kashmir and India found mention in
Discrimination can take many forms. An opinion piece in the New York Times some time ago spoke of the gender discrimination at the Oscars since there are separate categories for men actors and women actors. Why not bring them together, suggested the writer, because after all, no one would take kindly to another kind of discrimination which pit Morgan Freeman, for example in a group comprising W
Given the diversity and plurality of Indian society, Indian models of innovations cannot but reflect its culture of resistance, redefining the context and rebuilding the connections among different streams of ideas. Akbar tried to synthesise the good practices of different religions in what he called as ‘deen-e-ilahi’ and he failed. Maybe, if he had tried to nurture the secular inst
The UPA has succeeded in putting the draft report of the public account committee (PAC) in limbo. That was only expected: after all, the committee headed by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi had focused on the role of the prime minister’s office (PMO) in the 2G scam. No wonder, then, that the Congress and DMK members in PAC did what they did – with or without the help of SP and BSP.
C1 India has become synonymous with e-procurement in the country. How did you manage this feat? We started off as a franchisee of Commerce One, a $30 million American company focused on private sector procurement automation. When we came to India, we saw that the private sector was still not geared to automate and make its procurement system transparent enough. But we sa
It has cost and continues to cost the economy tens of billions of dollars. It has immiserated the poor. It should come as a surprise to no one, and yet, with each revelation, senior officials express consternation. Federal min
I feared this ever since Anna Hazare started mobilising us against corruption. It has happened to all previous torchbearers against any kind of corruption in India. Those who showed courage to question the powerful have ended up on the side of sufferers. Be it the Tehelka expose, cash-for-votes revelations in parliament, the L N Mishra whispers, the Bofor issue, the fodd
Discrimination can take many forms. An opinion piece in the New York Times some time ago spoke of the gender discrimination at the Oscars since there are separate categories for men actors and women actors. Why not bring them together, suggested the writer, because after all, no one would take kindly to another kind of discrimination which pit Morgan Freeman, for example in a group comprising W
Two Indian cities have made it to the list of top global cities index by the Annual Citi/Knight Frank Wealth Report and the next decade is likely to witness significant improvements from emerging market cities particularly in the Asian behemoths. New York has topped the overall cities index ranking, followed by London and Paris. New Delhi and Mumbai were ranked 37 and 38 in the c
So now girls have to wear skirts to play badminton. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) expects Saina Nehwal to do a Maria Sharapova and Jwala Gutta to do a Serena Williams for the sport. It is quite a peculiar situation where women, instead of being asked to dress `conservatively` as they usually are especially in India, are being asked to dress, ah
The dirty tricks department of the Congress and the government it leads is out in the full force. Look at the speed with which it has acted to discredit Anna Hazare and his associates in the drafting committee on Lokpal bill personally. The real motive is to discredit the anti-corruption crusade and through it, the move to set up the Lokpal. In quick succession, property deals an
Congo, a central African country, recently got its first rehabilitation centre, called `City of Joy`, for rape victims. Congo is ripped with ethnic conflict and mass rape has been a characteristic of the eastern part of the country, reports Reuters. According to the United Nations estimates, at least 160 women are being raped every week in Congo`s eastern provinces of no
Delhi government’s proposal for cash transfer instead of providing rations through public distribution system (PDS) has no takers in the city`s slums. “Ninety – nine percent of Delhi’s slums want an improvement in the PDS system and not cash transfer,” said a new survey. This report came in the wake of Delhi government’s proposal for replacing
Anna Hazare ended his hunger strike by lauding the victory of the people and stated that the real fight begins now. One can say with reasonable certainty that the fight Hazare was referring to had perhaps nothing to do either with the controversy that has emerged regarding the constitution of the joint committee or with the crossfire being exchanged between the opposition party, the ruling gove
Start with the premise that we are all corrupt. Everyone of us. If we don’t do that, we can never win. It is just that we are petty in our corruption so we resent it when the experts rake it in and we don’t. Corruption is an absolute. You cannot be partly corrupt, like you cannot be partly pregnant. So, whether you buy a cinema ticket in black or get your administrative pa
Dear Anna, I saw you on TV sitting at Jantar Mantar. You were on a fast that time. How are you now? I would like to congratulate you for creating a sense of awareness among people and making them stand for themselves. I too kept a fast on the very first day of the movement. But, I am sorry, I discontinued it. You must be thinking “why?” Anna, let me clarify my stand
PRS Legislative, a Delhi-based thinktank dissects the Lokpal Bill for us while commenting on engaging policy-makers and providing a context in retrospective context for the Anna Hazare protest and it draw for the middle-class. Here are the relevant links. All about the Lokpal Bill
