Governance Now

AAP’s uncertain future, irony of being Advani, and an author seeks freedom of speech

Here is a list of stories from our magazine and website that you must read over the weekend

GN Bureau | April 22, 2017


#farmers   #Odisha   #BJP   #LK Advani   #author   #Githa Hariharan   #Aam Aadmi Party   #AAP   #weekend stories   #Tamil Nadu   #drought  


The Narendra Modi- Arvind Kejriwal antagonism has always been about two different kinds of populism. While it may not play out in a municipal election, the fact remains that a Kejriwal chastened by Goa and Punjab faces a mid-term test in the municipal elections. For a politician harbouring intentions of becoming a prime minister, it’s ironical that municipal elections in Delhi may prove a test of his political viability.
 
The ideology of Hindutva has been around since the early decades of the 20th century, but it was former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani who gave it political currency. Today, it has become the default ideology for the nation, but, as the Supreme Court puts him in the dock for conspiracy in the Babri demolition case, the man himself has nothing left but the loneliness of a futile long-distance runner in his last lap.
 
In 2015-16, over 200 farmers committed suicide in Orissa. This year, five have taken their lives in quick succession. About 83 percent of farmers in Odisha are small and marginal farmers. Then there are landless labourers who till others’ land as share-croppers. But these share-croppers hardly get any benefits from the government. The agro-policies of the state should centre on small and marginal farmers, and tenancy laws should be amended to allow landowners to lease their land for farming to others without the fear of losing their land.
 
Our cultural spaces are in a bad state – and this affects the writing, publishing and reading of literature. Over the last few years, we have seen far too many cases of the self-appointed thought police intimidating writers. From the Tamil writer Perumal Murugan to the young Kannada poet Huchangi Prasad, right-wing groups have hounded, or physically attacked, our writers for doing what they should: picking up a pen and writing imaginatively about the India they know. And in the case of the scholar and translator MM Kalburgi, the attack was fatal.
 
Tamil Nadu is facing its worst drought in over 140 years and desperate farmers are killing themselves. There are 3,600 tanks in the state and all of them are bone dry. The tanks went dry within a month of the 2015 floods. In February this year, the Chembarambakkam lake, which is one of the sources of drinking water for Chennai, recorded water that is barely 10 percent of its capacity.
 
 
 
 

Comments

 

Other News

PM`s first decisions from Seva Teerth reflect spirit of Seva

In his very first set of decisions after shifting to Seva Teerth, the new address of the PMO, PM Narendra Modi signed important files relating to decisions that reflect the spirit of Seva. These decisions touch every section of society: farmers, women, youth, and vulnerable citizens. 1.

AI@Work: Driving productivity, jobs, and innovation

Key Takeaways     India ranks 3rd in Stanford University`s 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Ranking.     Data infrastructure, entrepreneurship and demography are key enablers for AI adoption.     In India the relative penetration of AI skills was 2.5 ti

Urban Blind Spot: Animals, governance, and the cost of ignoring coexistence

India’s cities are expanding at an unprecedented pace, absorbing people, infrastructure, and economic activity at scale. What urban governance frameworks have been slower to absorb is a reality already playing out on the ground: animals are an inseparable part of urban life. From community dogs and p

How India uses AI in the field of culture and languages

* India is institutionalising AI for culture and languages through national platforms such as BHASHINI, Anuvadini, Gyan Bharatam and Adi Vaani etc. * AI is being used to make cultural and knowledge assets usable by digitisation of manuscripts, translation of academic content, and in

India improves position on Network Readiness Index

India has improved its position by four slots and is now placed at 45th rank in the Network Readiness Index 2025 (NRI 2025) report prepared by Portulans Institute, Washington DC.   The report, released on February 4, maps the network-based readiness landscape of 127 economies based on th

Framework for India-US Interim Agreement announced

India and the United States on Saturday announced they had agreed on an interim framework for an interim trade agreement, indicating a broad roadmap of the opening of the markets and reduction in trade tariffs on both sides. In a message on X, prime minister Narendra Modi said, “Great


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter