Is the freedom of expression being systematically suppressed in recent years? I do believe that there is a constant effort to do that, which is depressing. A free-thinking society signals growth, equality and development. But the changing scenario certainly puts a question mark on these. Is political intervention a reason for this shift?
National Trust is part of the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities under the ministry of social justice and empowerment. It works in particular for the welfare of people with four intellectual disabilities. Purnima Sharma spoke to its joint secretary and CEO CK Khaitan on how it is trying to bring change in the lives of persons with disabilities, or PwDs.
Ten years ago, Laxmi was only 15 when a self-styled lover had thrown acid on her face to avenge her for ignoring his romantic overtures. The acid had left Laxmi’s face scarred and also inflicted deeper psychological wounds. However, soon Laxmi met many other women with si
Why do you say that the Badals have used power to consolidate their personal businesses? What would you do about it if you come to power? In Punjab, it is public knowledge that the Badals have looted and robbed the state. They have completely monopolised the busin
Dr Najma Akbarali Heptulla, a former long-serving deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha, heads the minority affairs ministry. She is one of the only two Muslim faces in the Modi government, but she denies feeling alienated in the BJP, which seems to have a pro-majority image. In conversation with Sweta Ranjan, Dr Heptulla states that the image of her party is absolutely clean and it is determin
On the occasion of Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary, January 23, the Modi government de-classified 100 files relating to the great freedom fighter. Two days later, his grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose joined the BJP at a rally in Howrah, in the presence of party president Amit Shah. Bose then said, “I believe that it is only the BJP that can realise the vision of Netaji, Swami
A Swedish citizen, an American green-card holder and a Bengali at heart craving to live in India; award-winning Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen wears many hats. So, when she agreed to meet me in New Delhi for a luncheon interview, I was wondering if I should be prepared to host a stereotype Bengali. Not taking chances, I checked the menu of Eau De Monsoon at Le Meridian
When I sat down to write about my struggle of getting an admission in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), one thing clearly struck my mind: in this country the rules, regulations and laws are interpreted in such a negligent and covert manner that they could entail many possibilities of manipulation by public servants and administrators. One such manipulation of the law was played on me.
The supreme court is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) questioning the ban on entry of women of the reproductive age in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The PIL was filed in 2006 by Indian Young Lawyers’ Association in the midst of a raging controversy over temple authorities conducting ‘purification’ rituals and attempts being made to prosecute Kannada actress Jaimal
Long before the JNU row, renowned author Arundhati Roy who was once booked under the sedition law (which failed to stand up to judicial scrutiny) felt that justice is a thing which is o
Now go and bury it,” said major general Ian Cardozo, then a major with the 5 Gorkha Rifles, during the 1971 Indo-Pak war that led to liberation of Bangladesh. He had accidently stepped on a mine that had blown one of his legs. Aware that the wound may spread fast and cause more damage he chopped off the mutilated leg using khukri and handed it over to his batman to bury it. He was operate
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where I spent a decade studying and researching history, is in the news all over again. I remember, in those days, a leading English language national daily would advertise itself as being an indispensable part of the breakfast served at JNU every mo
Are you shocked that police are on the campus, somebody is behind bars without clear evidence and somebody else is not behind bars despite clear evidence? Are you shocked that after intolerance led to a killing and discrimination to a suicide, there is no end in sight for the harvest of hate? Ashis Nandy, our preeminent critic in the public sphere, did foresee a difficult times w
In 1991, the Reserve Bank of India had to open its vaults and allow 67 tonnes of gold to be airlifted out of India, which was pledged with different banks abroad to raise a loan of $600 million. The money was meant to save the country from defaulting on repayment of the IMF loan. Also, at that time, Delhi had foreign currency reserves to cover just three weeks of imports. The gol
Eminent Odissi danseuse Sonal Mansingh is also proficient in other dancing styles like Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Chhau. Besides, she is a well known choreographer and social activist. Her dancing career began in Mumbai in 1962. Over the years she won international recognition and was conferred with many awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padma Bhushan (1
Allowing only odd- and even-numbered cars on odd and even days respectively was one of the most disruptive policy interventions by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) . The success or failure of the 15-day pilot is argued with less evidence. The emotional tone is rather high when one talks about reduction of traffic and air pollution due to this formula. Though the pollution level remained constant, it r
Tamil Nadu has managed to prevent any outbreak of epidemics after the once-in-a-century kind of floods in Chennai and neighbouring parts. Dr J Radhakrishnan, a 1992 batch IAS officer who is the state health secretary, was well prepared for the task, with his much-praised work as collector of Thanjavur and Nagapattinam in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami. Former US presiden
In October last year, the Akhilesh Yadav government faced a major embarrassment when the Allahabad high court annulled the appointment of Anil Yadav as chairman of the UP public service commission. It was acting on a PIL that brought to light his criminal antecedents which had been suppressed by police. This, however, failed to stop Akhilesh’s penchant for placing people of his comm
It’s a disturbing sociopolitical vacuum that he is trying to fill – a void that has been created after the demise of farmer leaders like Charan Singh and Mahendra Singh Tikait. For Yogendra Yadav, former Aam Aadmi Party member, this is the moment in history when farmers need to be organised more than ever. In an interaction with Shubhendu Parth he talked about the severity of th
Status Paper on government debt has been released. According to it the overall liabilities of the central government are on a medium-term declining trajectory with the governments debt portfolio characterized by prudent risk profile. The fifth edition of the status paper was released on Wednesday. Since 2010-11, the central government has been bringing-out an annual
