The gallows in my garden, people say, Is new and neat and adequately tall; I tie the noose on in a knowing way As one that knots his necktie for a ball; But just as all the neighbours - on the wall - /Are drawing a long breath to shout “Hurray!” The
The shocking revelation of the prolonged sexual abuse of a 12 year old school-going girl (and her two younger brothers) by the driver of a private cab is just a pointer to a much larger and more serious problem, suggests a survey of the young girls. The survey found that and 69 percent of the girls surveyed felt cities offer an unsafe and insecure living environment and 74 percen
Don’t mess with us. Don’t dare call the mess at Commonwealth Games village mess. Don’t forget your diplomatic manners as guests even if we do not begin to understand ours as the host. Don’t forget we are among the largest markets in the world. India is repeatedly sending out such not-so-covert messages to the foreign contingents that have started arriving for the
India is the third most powerful nation in the world, an official US report says. India is placed after the US and China in the power list. The new report by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the European Union`s Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) was released this week. The report titled ‘Global Governance 2025’ predicts India’s p
Two United Nations report on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have called for greater cooperation among the countries around to world to meet anti-poverty goals while a British think tank report talked about considerable progress made by India on meeting MDGs. Here are three reports. United Nations report The UN report talk
K N Govindacharya, a nearly-forgotten ideologue of Hindutva, can justifiably claim credit for having introduced some new words in the Indian political lexicon. He had used the expression “chehra (face), chaal (conduct) and chartitra (character)” to emphasise that the BJP was a status-quoist political party not interested in social transformation. Ironically, Prime Minister Manmohan
India’s budgetary allocations for achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is inadequate, says a new study. “In its last two budgets, the Union Government had taken an expansionary fiscal stance to deal with the challenges emerging from the global financial crisis during 2008-09 and 2009-10. However the 2010-11 Budget underscores its intent to revert to the path
India’s budgetary allocations for achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are inadequate, says a new study. “In its last two budgets, the union government had taken an expansionary fiscal stance to deal with the challenges emerging from the global financial crisis during 2008-09 and 2009-10. However the 2010-11 budget underscores its intent to revert to the pat
If infrastructure is the edifice on which India`s dream double-digit GDP growth rests, roads are its backbone. Surface transport and highways minister Kamal Nath is leading the mammoth exercise of strengthening that backbone with his own dream within a dream: to build 20 km of roads every day. In this exclusive interview with Sweta Ranjan, the no-nonsense minister takes on questions about his p
Whenever the CPI (Maoist) engages the paramilitary and police forces resulting in some killings the media, particularly the electronic media, goes gaga about it for two or three days. TV channels conduct high-pitched debates scorning Indian Maoists as terrorists to be bumped off using even the army and air force. But when the operating security forces kill adivasis and Maoists among them, the n
India`s tiger conservation policy, under Project Tiger, has been the most successful programme towards conservation of the big cat, according to a new study. “Beginning in the early 1970s, conservation initiatives helped establish a large number of tiger reserves, particularly in India, Nepal, and, to a lesser extent, in Thailand, Indonesia, and Russia,” the study sai
My wager: The unthinkable may happen. That too in Bihar. Without much noise, new chief election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi has armed himself with tools that give him a fighting chance against illicit polling expenses, arguably the core malaise afflicting our elections. It is common knowledge that the prescribed limit of Rs 10 lakh per assembly candidate is flouted openly.
The BJP’s state of affairs is akin to a rudderless ship drifting aimlessly in a turbulent sea. While party stalwart L K Advani advises caution on the prospective Ayodhya verdict by the Allahabad high court, a section of the BJP leaders backed by the RSS-VHP has been aggressively strident. Similarly, if a section of the moderate BJP leaders seems keen to keep the BJP-JD(U) a
R Bandyopadhyay, secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), is focused on bringing in contemporary management practices into Indian industry. The 1974 IAS officer of West Bengal cadre served as secretary of the department of public enterprises, where the number of navratna companies grew from 12 to 18 during his tenure. At MCA, ever since he took over last September, Bandyo
India`s economic growth may or may not be a white elephant but the slum population in the country is reaching a mammoth size. The slum population has risen by as much as around 23 percent since 2001, says a new study prepared by the government of India. The government committee headed by Dr Pranob Sen, principal adviser, Planning Commission found that there has been a gro
Indian Constitution is all-encompassing, it has provisions for all. In fact the Indian Constitution is said to be one of the most sought after, when it comes to enactments, provisions and mandates. India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1992; it is under this that the provisions for entitlement of child rights and their enactment started coming into pictu
e-Governance applications in the recent past have demonstrated the important role that information and communication technologies (ICT) play in the realm of development. ICT is being increasingly used by the government to deliver services of central agencies (like district administration, cooperative unions, and state and central government departments) to the citizens at their doorstep.
Contrary to what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh believes on the issue of distributing food to the poor, over 60 percent Indians want the government to help the hugry with free foodgrains, an opinion poll released on Tuesday has found. "More than six out of 10 feel that the government should distribute free food to prevent abject poverty,” said Whypoll, an opinion poll c
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma attended 42nd India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Economic Ministers Meet at the beach resort city of Da Nang in Vietnam. The minister discussed the progress made in implementing the trade in goods agreement and proposed trade pact in services and investments. While talking to PTI, he also mentioned about his unscheduled meeting
If firmness is shorn of political posturing and bravado, it is taken rather seriously. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar successfully proved in the hostage crisis that a mature, sagacious political conduct, not irrational flamboyance, is a rewarding recourse in statecraft. There is no doubt that as the hostage crisis unfolded the Nitish Kumar government was walking on a razor edge. But, de
