National reporter (NR): So, are you going to accept the laptop next week? Regional reporter (RR): Yes, of course. In fact, I believe chief ministers across the states should learn a lesson from Assam. Tarun Gogoi is the only one who thinks for the welfare of journalists. NR: Really? Why do you think he is giving laptops to 2, 000 of us just days before elections? RR: He
Non-violent agitation, so remarkably pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi, has long lost its edge and in today’s India only Nandigram and Singur jolt the establishment out of its self-induced stupor. However, in a marked departure from ‘if you want the government to hear your voice, pick up the gun` discourse, a few thousand farmers from the land of Gandhi have forced the government
It is that time of the year when lawyers across India ask for a reprieve of an unusual kind. Unable to bear the searing heat of the Indian summers, the community seeks special provisions that would enable them do away with the black coats or robes. This has been a longstanding demand of various state bar associations. Despite a specific exemption in the Bar Council of India Rules itself
India`s impressive economic growth has not led to reduction in undernutrition among its children, according to a Harvard study that said the government should use its growing revenues for direct investments in aid like food stamps to address the problem. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study analysed malnutrition by region in India. It said undernutrition was worst in the poo
Twitter was started on 21st March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. All of them were in their early thirties when they started Twitter. Now Twitter has close to 200 million subscribers who generate 140 million tweets a day. Twitter has changed the way top statesmen as well as organizations share information. It has added to democr
Gone are the days when teachers and students used to be on the opposite sides of the table. At Delhi University they seem to have joined hands against the vice chancellor. The topic of disagreement is the semester system being introduced in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In this system a year will be divided into two to three semesters each of four to six months. It will make s
Transparency and governance issues plague the microfinance sector, according to a new report on microfinance institutions (MFIs) released by Sa-Dhan, a conglomerate of over 250 MFIs. In the first systematic attempt to collate and analyse social performance data of the MFIs the report has done some serious soul-searching for the sector. It says, “Information asymmetry between lender and bo
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced a rollback of the five percent service tax on healthcare which was proposed in this year’s budget. The budget had proposed that a five percent service tax will be charged on the services offered by private, centrally air-conditioned hospitals with more than 25 beds strength and on all diagnostic centres. The healthcare
Aruna Roy, a Magsaysay award winner former bureaucrat, was closely involved in the drafting of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As a member of the UPA`s National Advisory Council (NAC), among other things, she has been conveying to the government the views of civil society on the proposed changes in the transparency act. On the sidelines of 3rd national convention of National Campaign fo
Airline food. No two words cause such a sharp intake of breath and competitive storytelling as these two. In ‘Remembrance of Things Past’, it is a piece of cake that opens the floodgates of memory; the aeroplane had been invented in the author Marcel Proust’s time, but there is no record of his having taken a transatlantic trip on an airliner which serves six different types o
Back against the wall with the opposition holding Wikileaks cables on the cash-for-votes scam to its head, the UPA government really needed a hero or a miracle to save face in Parliament today. None came to its rescue. This is one dragon which even that aging Galahad of the Congress - Pranab Mukherjee - failed to slay. Mukherjee`s three-point rebuttal was as weak a defence as
Even with its Telangana trouble, Andhra Pradesh has been the most conducive state for economic freedom. While Tamil Nadu topped the list and Gujarat came second in the rankings published in the `Economic Freedom of States of India 2011`, Andhra Pradesh improved its past ranking by four places, landing the third spot. The state had been placed seventh in the previou
One is perpetually amazed at Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s propensity to keep hitting the headlines. Perhaps Major General IS Singha was blissfully ignorant of a section of the media’s proclivity to examine with a microscope anything pertaining to Modi. The biggest mistake he made was to invite Modi to inaugurate “know your army” programme. Nothing wrong in that
“King’s Speech” is the talk of the town. The movie has won four Oscar awards. “Based on the true story of King George VI, ‘The King’s Speech’ follows the Royal Monarch’s quest to find his voice,” says its official website. It provides as good an occasion as any for a few words on the power of words in
Since his appointment as secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy in July 2008, Deepak Gupta, an IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre (1974 batch), has been striving to create awareness among the masses about solar energy. He cherishes the dream of “Gaon gaon bijli, ghar ghar prakash, akshaya urja se desh ka vikas” (electricity in all villages, light
Gandhi was a vaishnav jan. So were his followers then. Today we have a gallery of Vaishnavi jans – the patrons of the PR agency called Vaishnavi, run by Niira Radia. They all last came together on one platform in Vibrant Gujarat in January, praised Narendra Modi and at least one of them said he was the third greatest Gujarati after the Mahatma and Dhirubhai Ambani. Obviously, it’s t
So I am flying back to Dubai yesterday and this man next to me is a professor and he hates cricket. I ask him why he hates it, I mean you might not like the game but why do you have to actively hate it. “Complete nonsense, two men standing in front of sticks and eleven others hanging around and millions watching, what a waste of manhours,” he says. &ld
While Indian women in politics have many global records to their credit, the country lags far behind the rest of teh world when it comes to the particpation of women in politics. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit may have been the first female president of the United Nations General Assembly and Indira Gandhi may have been one of the very few female heads of state in power for more than a decade with the t
The other day, my 85-year old uncle called from Lucknow. My father had told him that India Strategy Group was assisting Governance Now in Gov2.0. Never a great fan of government, his former employer, Uncle asked wryly what "Gov2.0" meant. As many of us handle the elder generation, I carefully skirted the question and focused on his medicines and morale. But yesterday evening, my fathe
Politicians love to hand out doles to the poor. That keeps the poor happy and the vote bank intact. Therefore, there is little incentive to go for fundamental changes that obviate the need for it. The UPA government is no different. In this year’s budget, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee promises a major policy shift in the subsidy regime. He has set up a task for
