The indefinite fast by 72-year-old social activist Anna Hazare is the beginning of a new phenomenon, which is, insistence of the civil society to have a decisive say in the way laws and policies are framed and finalised in the country. His fight is as much to bring about this shift as to fight corruption. For quite some time, civil society activists, including some of the Nationa
The Indian captain may be receiving a gleaming red Ferrari 599. But as he plans to scorch the streets of Ranchi, his financial planners would be well advised to apportion 30 per cent of the estimated $600,000 price tag as income tax. That’s a cool Rs 1-crore by way of tax that MSD will have to pay under Section 56 of the Income Tax Act (ITA) for the custom-built gift, as income from other
There has been a great deal of debate around how should have the international community responded to the Libyan situation? Differences arise because there isn’t a consensus that may legitimately be termed "international". A few major powers support the military intervention but then there are other nations that have condemned it and called for a ceasefire. India is one of them
A United Nations (UN) report has lauded India’s act in the extending development aid to least developed countries (LDCs) ahead of the major conference on these countries next month in Turkey. “Over the last decade (2000-2009), emerging market economies such as Brazil, China and India have increased their role in development aid and are engaging with LDCs in much more substan
At first look, the attempt by both the planning commission and the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to press for fixing the minimum support price (MSP) for “minor forest produce” seems a timely and appropriate step to empower the tribals. But both seem to have missed the simple fact that they have been violating the law of the land for 15 long years. The Pa
When television coverage of cricket first went live, the theory was that the action would be shown from the perspective of the man in the best seat in the stadium. This was usually a war veteran with fading memory who sat directly behind the bowler’s arm. The advantage was that he could follow the swinging or spinning ball when the batsman faced him. The disadvantage was, since the c
India`s industrial sector, according to United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido), is quite energy efficient - despite being one of the ten worst polluters among industrial nations of the world (according to an unrelated research). “In the last ten years, India’s manufacturing output grew by seven percent average per annum while industrial energy cons
I was wrong. The ministry of information and broadcasting didn’t stand firm after all. Ambika Soni, the I&B minister, bought peace with the news channel licencees she lampoons in private moments. She intervened for the second time and told the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it couldn’t leave our worthy news channels out in the cold in the finals of the world cup.
Thousands of students in arts, commerce, science and technology must be planning an engagement with their dreams in the summer of 2011. I hope that I can persuade some of them to take out a week or two if not months to understand the creative spirit in the rural and urban informal sector as well as among the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises). Some of the industrial clusters have i
Kadviben, Rudiben and other villagers from Mahuva in Gujarat would have had little hope when they came together to protest a cement factory coming up on the piece of land where a check dam had come up. After a supreme court stay on construction, this motley crew of protesters have become the proverbial beacon of hope for people’s movements across India. The Nirma group sign
It is raining freebies in Tamil Nadu. Both the main political parties, the DMK and the AIADMK, have promised free laptops, mixies, grinders etc in their manifestos. Such promises may gladden the heart of voters of Tamil Nadu, but the key questions to ponder are: one, don’t these constitute electoral malpractices, and two, can these be described as serving “public purpose” to j
National reporter (NR): So, are you going to accept the laptop next week? Regional reporter (RR): Yes, of course. In fact, I believe chief ministers across the states should learn a lesson from Assam. Tarun Gogoi is the only one who thinks for the welfare of journalists. NR: Really? Why do you think he is giving laptops to 2, 000 of us just days before elections? RR: He
Non-violent agitation, so remarkably pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi, has long lost its edge and in today’s India only Nandigram and Singur jolt the establishment out of its self-induced stupor. However, in a marked departure from ‘if you want the government to hear your voice, pick up the gun` discourse, a few thousand farmers from the land of Gandhi have forced the government
It is that time of the year when lawyers across India ask for a reprieve of an unusual kind. Unable to bear the searing heat of the Indian summers, the community seeks special provisions that would enable them do away with the black coats or robes. This has been a longstanding demand of various state bar associations. Despite a specific exemption in the Bar Council of India Rules itself
India`s impressive economic growth has not led to reduction in undernutrition among its children, according to a Harvard study that said the government should use its growing revenues for direct investments in aid like food stamps to address the problem. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study analysed malnutrition by region in India. It said undernutrition was worst in the poo
Twitter was started on 21st March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. All of them were in their early thirties when they started Twitter. Now Twitter has close to 200 million subscribers who generate 140 million tweets a day. Twitter has changed the way top statesmen as well as organizations share information. It has added to democr
Gone are the days when teachers and students used to be on the opposite sides of the table. At Delhi University they seem to have joined hands against the vice chancellor. The topic of disagreement is the semester system being introduced in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In this system a year will be divided into two to three semesters each of four to six months. It will make s
Transparency and governance issues plague the microfinance sector, according to a new report on microfinance institutions (MFIs) released by Sa-Dhan, a conglomerate of over 250 MFIs. In the first systematic attempt to collate and analyse social performance data of the MFIs the report has done some serious soul-searching for the sector. It says, “Information asymmetry between lender and bo
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced a rollback of the five percent service tax on healthcare which was proposed in this year’s budget. The budget had proposed that a five percent service tax will be charged on the services offered by private, centrally air-conditioned hospitals with more than 25 beds strength and on all diagnostic centres. The healthcare
Aruna Roy, a Magsaysay award winner former bureaucrat, was closely involved in the drafting of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As a member of the UPA`s National Advisory Council (NAC), among other things, she has been conveying to the government the views of civil society on the proposed changes in the transparency act. On the sidelines of 3rd national convention of National Campaign fo
