Harsha Vardhana Singh is the only Indian among the top brass of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Before his current assignment, this Rhodes Scholar with a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford held a series of critical positions: secretary-cum-principal advisor with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), consultant with the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices, the gover
Armed forces world over are modernizing. Three quarters of a century after the World War II, the ordinary soldier – GI Joe as the Americans call him and the Jawan as we know him – is a more lean and mean fighting machine, armed with the technology that has been mindboggingly improving by the hour. He wears a better battle dress, carries a better gun with greater range, more fire pow
The Latin phrase ‘nil nisi bonum’ comes from the famous quote “De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est” (of the dead let nothing but good be said) attributed to Chilon of Sparta (6 the century BC), one of Seven Sages of Greece. In English, it is loosely translated as “speak no evil of the dead” and has served as the guiding principles to the masters of jurispr
Perhaps the greatest irony of Indian politics is the general feeling about accessibility of the Prime Minister’s job. The country is replete with politicians who are ready to take a shot at the nation’s top executive job. The feeling that there is a shortcut to the job is bolstered by the prevailing culture of politics for the past two decades. The irony of ironies is that t
Public policy often embraces a debate on rights versus entitlements. While the argument may continue, there need not be any exception for a person to be able to walk on a street both as matter of right and entitlement. Courts may some day determine that the Right to Life under Article 21 cannot be comprehensive without the enjoyment of a fundamental facility, namely, an enabling environment for
Noting that quota for the disabled in jobs, education and poverty alleviation schemes remains under-utilised, a UN report has recommended adopting a uniform eligibility definition across departments and filling the backlog in vacancies. “While three percent of employment and livelihood schemes are reserved for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), available data reveals that this reser
I think it was Nietschze (unless it was Jack Nicholson in that movie about how defenders of a country had the right to murder people they did not agree with) who said, “You cannot handle the truth…” For years I assumed that Bollywood movies invested in fantasy, playback singing and the living-happily-ever ending because producers assumed that audiences could not handl
A visibly upset Anna Hazare supporter recently cried crow that she felt cheated. A slight nudge was sufficient for her to pour her heart out that her unflinching support was for the legitimate fight against corruption. She signed-up to restore people’s belief that their voice mattered and had taken time off her work for a movement - one that was apolitical and one that she believed its le
I am not an admirer of the soap opera entertainment dished out by Indian TV channels but a chance viewing of the Zee TV offering “Afsar Bitiya” led me to watch a few episodes of the serial which portrays the travails of a young block development officer (BDO) somewhere in Bihar. There are obvious flaws pertaining to details and the BDO has been wrongly shown to be carrying out regul
After Anna Hazare and other members of his Team broke their fast at the Jantar Mantar on Friday evening, I too decided to leave the venue. As I stood waiting for an auto to drop me to the nearest metro station, an autowallah standing right outside the barricaded area agreed to drop me at the station. As he drove he asked me, “Madam, do you think corruption will ever end in our country?&rd
It is singularly unfortunate that Team Anna has been pushed into contemplating a political party. Whether they finally take that call or decline it might depend upon their reading of the public mood. But it bodes ill for civil society in India. Team Anna has a fan following as much as it has its critics. But none can dispute their constitutional right to campaign, agitate and mobilize public op
Some key leaders of the microfinance sector came together in October 2009 to set up Micro Finance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory national organisation of the RBI-regulated MFIs. MFIN strives to promote the key objectives of microfinance and establishing guidelines for responsible lending and client protection in this sector. Alok Prasad, CEO of MFIN, is a veteran public
India is not alone in the unsatisfactory outcome of reforms in the power sector. A recent review of transition economies in Europe has observed that “power sector reforms in the transition economies have proven difficult. The current sectoral performance portrays that formulated policies did not effectively understand the functioning of market economy and the reform process itself largely
Who is Anna Hazare? Which section of civil society does he represent? What is he fasting for this time? Will Anna enter politics, form a political party or just support ‘clean’ candidates of other political parties? Does Anna believe in democracy and parliamentary procedures, and respect the constitution? Does he endorse the call of core members of his India Against Corruption team
Western media has described Monday’s failure of northern grid as the world’s worst power crisis in recent years. We will wait for another day to see what they have to say now after we achieved the feat again in less than 24 hours – this time on a much larger scale. Tuesday’s failure of northern, eastern and northeastern grids have plunged over 19 states into darkness. Wh
Electoral reforms have been a topic of discussion for several years now. The provocation for this particular piece is the 52nd report of the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice, in whose jurisdiction the election commission of India (ECI) falls. The report, presented to the Rajya Sabha and laid on the table of the Lok Sabha on May 21, is actually on the demand for grants for 201
By questioning every established institution, Anna and his Team A are on a suicidal path. But there`s no law to stop them. Hence the tragic derailing of the war against corruption. Attempting to commit suicide by a person is an offence under the Indian penal Code. But what if some persons are causing a movement to commit suicide? We still don’t have a law to deal with such
Anil Swarup is director general, labour welfare, with the ministry of labour and employment. He heads the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), the flagship programme of the ministry. In an interview with Samir Sachdeva, Swarup, an IAS officer (Uttar Pradesh cadre, 1981 batch) speaks about achievements of RSBY and how the use of information technology and smart cards has helped beneficiaries.
In all fairness, it is the underarm that matters. So they say. Those who set our social agenda (i.e. the advertising and marketing people) have spoken. And their verdict is clear – keep your underarm fair and you will land the man of your choice. So far they have been silent on men keeping their underarms fair and landing the women of their choice. But like that other fairness cream, it i
Just as the euphoric hype over India’s chances of a few medals in London Olympics (which opens in a couple of days) was building up, a newspaper story of Santhi Soundarajan, India’s silver medallist in the 800 metres event at Doha Asiad in 2006, has burst the bubble. Santhi, celebrated for her second place in a tough field, was cast out after she failed a sex test. Stripped of her m
