Democracy today is changing. It is not a passive exercise anymore where the only participation from citizens was electing governments periodically. Rather, it is proactive today – citizens know more and demand more. In the process, policy formulation is evolving as well. Rece
India has been among the fastest growing economies in the world. World Bank estimated that in the 1960s, approximately 45 percent of Indians lived below the poverty line. This figure came down to around 21 percent in 2011. Furthermore, per capita GDP in India has risen from $83.8 in 1960 to $1,598.3 in 2015. This has made Indians more ambitious. Traditionally, the government distributed the inc
Few knew who Kanhaiya Kumar was before February 9, 2016, a day that saw a protest at Jawaharlal Nehru University which spawned a tsunami which ruthlessly tried to flatten the ideals of tolerance and truth. The university, a rocky island of knowledge in the midst of snooty South Delhi, witnessed the protest by a group of students against capital punishment to the 2001 parliament a
As the participation of women in labour force declines in the country, Sher Singh Verick of ILO explains to Archana Mishra the reason behind this trend, the role education plays and the kind of transformation the country is going through vis a vis women labour force. The participation of women in labour force has declined in India. And we are still not able to f
There is a common thread between the charges of alleged corruption CBI has filed against former public servants – Manmohan Singh (prime minister), Harish Gupta (secretary, coal), Shashindra Pal Tyagi (air chief marshal) – and by the anti-corruption bureau of the Delhi government against Swati Maliwal (chairperson, Delhi commission for women). In each case the investigating agency ha
The demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination that the government announced on November 8, 2016 and the subsequent remonetisation of the economy has affected almost every person in India. It came as a revelation when the media reported that many people in neighbouring Nepal were also adversely affected by the demonetisation of the high value currency notes when they s
Reports of the presence of lead in noodles and potassium bromate in bread and the recent clarification by the ministry of consumer affairs that service charge in restaurants is voluntary are pieces of the same puzzle. Apart from the obvious food connection, these issues mark a growing shift towards consumer protection, sounding the death knell for the principle of caveat emptor.
Sasikala’s elevation as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, exactly 60 days after Jayalalithaa’s death, may bring down the curtains on the power struggle. But, the road ahead is not going to be easy for Sasikala, with fears that the AIADMK may begin to lose the support of its cadres. AIADMK general secretary Sasikala will take over as the chief minister on February 9
US president Donald Trump may have seized the job of running the world’s most powerful government with a promise of bringing work back to American shores, but if international predictions are anything to go by then supporters of Mr Trump should be in for a nasty surprise. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) released its annual World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) rep
Flush with funds after demonetisation, State Bank of India has trimmed its lending rate to revive credit demand. In an interview with Geetanjali Minhas, Rajnish Kumar, managing director (national banking group), SBI, explains how the bank plans to steer its way now. Post demonetisation, what are the challenges faced by banks? Because
SEWA Bharat had initiated a unique pilot project on cash-for-food (that is, cash replacing PDS goods) in Delhi some time ago. However, the basic income pilot project in Madhya Pradesh goes a step beyond that, giving cash to people without any conditions. What was the genesis of this project, what prompted SEWA Bharat to take it up? For many years SEWA has
In the Jammu and Kashmir budget, you have announced a basic income for construction workers, and also mentioned the concept of universal basic income. What was your rationale behind it? My intention is to move to a situation where a whole lot of social sector schemes could be clubbed together. Their funds can be brought under one umbrella and distributed among the benefi
Demonetisation proved that we keep a good account of our money but apparently we lack expertise and motivation in counting maternal deaths, most of which are entirely preventable. Regular and comprehensive data on maternal deaths disaggregated by place of residence, caste, class and religion can help to comprehend the varied dimensions of the problem, wrote William Joe in an article hosted on
Sakshi Malik is the first Indian female wrestler to bag an Olympic medal. The 24-year-old comes from Mokhra village of Rohtak, Haryana. She came into the limelight as an international wrestler after she won bronze in the Junior World Championship in 2010. Then, she went on to win silver in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and a bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championships in
Sahitya Akademi award winning poet Ashok Vajpeyi returned his award in 2015 supporting “the right to dissent”, and was instrumental in the protest against the murder of writers. Vajpeyi, also a retired IAS officer, is not very happy with the Akademi’s style of functioning. As an author, what do you expect from the Sahitya Akademi?
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed has been missing for 100 days now after an altercation with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists and sleuths are still groping in the dark. JNU, the institution known for its robust culture of politics pursued by students, was hit by a double whammy last year – first five of its students were charged with
The dangal is on. The biggest political slugfest of the central government’s term is on, with elections announced in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. All eyes are of course on Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in terms of population, and which happens to wield even more political power. A win in Uttar Pradesh can give prime minister Narendra Modi the
Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, is a great fan of Twitter and other social-media forums. As chief minister, this gave him a tech-savvy image, helping to connect with youngsters. As prime minister, he has taken his love for social media to new heights, asking the ministers and ministries to increase their presence on such platforms. There’s probably nothing wron
There are two kinds of acts from the so-called fringe elements of the BJP: one embarrasses only the secular-liberals but resonates well with the party’s core constituency, and the other embarrasses the party more than the rest. Sakshi Maharaj’s latest rant is of the first type. The KVIC calendar goes into the second slot. Prime minister Narendra Modi h
The Demonetisation, the black money and the benami property, the three vibrant words in the Indian economy, has impacted the life of people across the country. In the fight against black money, prime minister Narendra Modi had already announced that people holding black money and the fictitious assets through unaccounted wealth will be affected. The government notified this with effect from Nov
