Chuck Tatum, alias Kirk Douglas, would appreciate the urge. The ruthless reporter, who refused to let go of an opportunity to dig himself out of a professional hole – in the Billy Wilder classic Ace in the Hole – might even salute the enterprise, if not quite the style. According to reports from Jammu & Kashmir’s Poonch district, a special police officer and
You can’t grab protest realty. That is UPA’s holier-than-thou rejoinder to Team Hazare’s request for permission for a month-long protest in support of the Jan Lokpal bill at Jantar Mantar. Delhi Police, in its letter to the protesters, said that no single organisation can be allowed to usurp and lay exclusive claim to the top protest hub. Now, there may be as ma
About one third (31) of the top 100 companies in India report on corporate responsibility (CR) performance and 52 percent of these reporters provide reference to their sustainability strategy, KPMG has found in a recent survey. The survey included the top 100 listed companies in India by revenue. KPMG examined information disclosed publicly by these companies to discern emerging
Some years in the “24-ghante-mein-duniya-khatm-ho-jayegi (DKHJ)!!” news channel convinced me that ‘the end of the world’ is a journalistic bogey. When the US debt crisis was rocking our boat, I therefore bet that the official $14.3-trillion cap will be raised, Obama will concede a cut in spendings, and he’ll wangle from the Republicans a small rise in taxes.
When Kesar Singh Rathor reached his first posting at Akha Dungri about 20 years ago, there was no school building. He used to teach in the houses of the local community members. Many kids would come without taking a bath or even proper clothes on. He would cut their hairs, nails and take bath with them in the river nearby. Slowly and slowly, kids were encouraged to take school attendance more s
The seed bil 2010 discussed in parliament on August 4 has several lacunae and will not serve farmers interest, says CPI(M) lok sabha MP and chairman of parliamentary standing committee on agriculture Basudeb Acharia. Acharia wants a seed liability bill along the lines of nuclear liability bill which will fix responsibility on the companies promoting genetically modified seeds in case of any set
A report by the Greenpeace India said that use of glyphosate-based herbicides poses risks to human health as well as environment. The report accused multinational biotech companies - Monsanto, Pioneer and Dow Agrosciences of aggressively pushing for herbicide tolerant GM crops in India. “Monsanto has been trying to introduce herbicide tolerant GM maize in India. Presently GM maize
In the next few days, the supreme court has to decide its next move on the gang rape of Bellary district in Karnataka. On the court’s table is the question whether or not to uphold its decision to ban all mining activity in the area. At the time of writing, the court’s central empowered committee (CEC) has recommended the creation of a high-powered committee under additional PCCF De
When he was appointed HRD minister, Kapil Sibal was a man with mission. He wanted to change the entire education system and was even quick to come up with a blueprint for education reforms at all levels. But more than two years down the line he has only managed to give the right to every child to free and compulsory education. The minister though worked on various
Welfare schemes for minority communities have not achieved much, findings of a survey by the centre for equity studies (CES) say. The survey report holds that the government has underutilised funds earmarked for the schemes. “Government departments have not been able to spend even the limited funds for minorities,” it says. The dismal utilisation of the muti-sectora
When Anna Hazare’s supporters conducted a ‘referendum’ right in union minister Kapil Sibal’s constituency, they found that 85 percent people in Chandni Chowk do not agree with the government stance on the Lokpal bill. That is one conclusion of this first-of-its-kind exercise. The more interesting conclusion is this: Sibal as MP is supposed to represent his constituency&r
Changes taking place in the world economy are likely to catapult the Asia-Pacific region as the centre of gravity of the world economy with China, India and Indonesia emerging as the growth poles for not only the region, but also the entire world. However, there are some important challenges on the way for this transformation to take place. Focusing on inclusive development and deepenin
While India firmly hedges it bets on a high growth rate, the world is far from seeing it as the next global investement destination, warns a new report released on Tuesday by the United Nations conference on trade and investment (UNCTAD). India has dropped six places in the global trade body`s 2010 rankings of highest foreign direct investment (FDI) compared to the 2009 list. &l
Some years ago, Amitabh Bachchan was voted the Greatest Actor Ever to Wear Greasepaint in the History of Cinema on Planet Earth, or something like that. Sir Lawrence Olivier came second in this selection on the BBC website open to all citizens of the world. And Govinda made it to the Top Ten ahead of Marlon Brando. Mickey Mouse didn’t make it, Homer Simpson did. Last week came the cheerfu
One of the most important characteristic features of the innovation ecosystem emerging in India is that a lot of good ideas are found in small institutions in small towns. The connect between the real-life problems and the pursuit of their solutions seems quite high in such places. In Gujarat, the cooperation between techpedia.in of the Society for Research and Initiatives for Su
India is big on theory when it comes to development and poverty reduction, says international political economist professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann. He says the approach should be pragmatic, not theoretical. The French economist, working in Switzerland for over 13 years, favours philosophers running the country - in line with philosopher Plato`s beliefs. In an interview with Trithesh Nandan
His focus, he said, would be a successful rollout of the national rural livelihood mission (NRLM), a restructured form of rural development ministry’s Swarnjayanti Grameen Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY) and an effective implementation of the rural development ministry’s schemes in the left wing extremism (LWE) affected regions. No doubt, NRLM, with stated objective to reach out to
Broadly speaking, there are two categories of information which a public authority has to provide under the Right to Information (RTI) Act - information sought by the applicant by filing application under the act and information made available suo-moto (without somebody asking for it). While the situation appears to be somewhat fine with the former category, it is the latter whic
A new social audit belies the government`s claims of working towards social inclusion. A study by Delhi-based Social Equity Watch claims that dalits, tribal people and minorities are denied key infrastructure facilities at the village level itself. It also says that these facilities generally serve the general and backward castes (BC) people better. “The schedule castes (SCs), sch
An afternoon class is on in a primary school. Children are reciting the second chapter of Bhagvad Gita, in the Gujarati poetic translation by Kishorelal Mashruwala, a close associate of Gandhi. I am not sure if it was the third standard or the fourth, but much of the details are fresh in my mind. The music teacher’s voice, the rhythmic recitation, all of us getting supremely bored and wai
