Former chief justice of India A H Ahmadi made an interesting observation while defending his decision to dilute charges against Union Carbide executives in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. He said: “There is no concept of vicarious liability. If my driver is driving and meets with a fatal accident, I don’t become liable to be prosecuted under 304-II (of IPC)”. That’s highly
India is placed at 128 in a survey of 149 countries in the global peace index – a ranking of the most peaceful nations of the world. Compared to the survey in 2009, India`s ranking has slipped by seven positions – largely due to increase in number of deaths from organised conflicts, says the report prepared by global think tank on peace – Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP)
Hailing India for leading economic recovery in South Asia, the World Bank has said that India will grow by 8.5 percent in 2010 and 9 percent in 2011. “The recovery of Indian GDP could be even faster than what is projected, but rising interest rates, a small appreciation of the rupee, and continued low growth in high-income countries weigh on the recovery,” said the World Bank in a r
There is a beautiful parable about an emperor who though naked believes that he is wrapped up in a divine cloth. The emperor would get angry and bump off anybody who pointed out his nakedness. But the story would have taken a different turn if the emperor started flaunting his nakedness as a divinity-ordained quality. This is exactly what Sharad Pawar has been doing in the IPL bidding case. The
Indians have the most environmentally sustainable behaviour worldwide, as found by a survey conducted across 17 nations and 17,000 consumers by a National Geographic-GlobeScan research team. The study has found that environment-friendly behaviour among consumers in 10 out of 17 countries has increased over the past year and India has made major contribution among the 17 nations. &ldquo
A government report reveals that people in 49,000 slums around India still live in pathetic conditions. According to the report prepared by the National Sample Survey office (NSSO) “About 49 thousand slums were estimated to be in existence in urban India in 2008-09 - 24 percent of them were located along nallahs and drains and 12 percent along railway lines” Dur
The cash on delivery scheme promoted by the central government through Janani Suraksha Yogana (JSY) has benefited pregnant women, says a new study done by the international medical journal Lancet. The article gives a positive response of the scheme by saying ‘in just 4 years, its beneficiaries multiplied 11-fold, from 0.74 million in 2005—06 to 8.43 million in 2008 -09 (thus coverin
In studying how the mighty institution of the Market functions in India, one can appreciate the wide gulf between organised and unorganised sectors of the economy, which allows the former to batten on the latter. If you are a craftsperson, driver, tailor, sweeper, carpenter, plumber, roadside food vendor, housemaid, rickshaw puller, or private security person, you are likely to be servi
Arundhati Roy, our leading public intellectual, has made a rare clarification. She says she never wrote the phrase “Gandhians with a gun”, used to describe Maoists in an essay she wrote for the Outlook in March. The phrase appeared in the sub-headline and Roy says it was written by the magazine. The Br
Academic-turned-bureaucrat Kaushik Basu, who termed Indian civil servants as "ace drivers caught in traffic jams", feels bureaucratic and farm reforms are must for the economy to grow at the 10 percent rate. However, the former Cornell University economics professor, who joined the government as cheif economic advisor last December, says India`s growth story is more sustainable than C
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the country’s official think tank - the Planning Commission, feels that more than special monetary incentives or packages, the governance change is required to ease the situation in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts. Besides, Ahluwalia also strongly recommends linking fuel prices in the country with global prices as it is essent
As I have been saying over the past few days, the Election Commission is clearly under pressure. They better be. Not only have they stopped making irrational claims about electronic voting machines over the past month, they have begun a clean-up exercise to overcome some of the of EVM security lapses. In a seven-page communiqué to all state CEOs dated May 3, 2010, the Elec
The Pakistani nuclear arsenal has more warheads than the Indian one, says the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The data released by the SIPRI estimates that “Pakistan has at least 10 more nuclear warheads than in India.” The Stockholm based think tank said that there are 22,660 active, inactive and stored nuclear warheads in the
The National Advisory Council has been reconstituted after a gap of four years. Once again Congress president Sonia Gandhi is its chairperson. The NAC was originally set up by a government order in June 2004 to monitor the implementation of the UPA’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The functions of the NAC include the formation of policy of the government and assistance in
In the age bracket of 13-15 age groups, 8.3 percent of girls consume some form of tobacco, said a report prepared by the Union health ministry in India along with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its first Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). (Note: The GATS report is likely to be released in June, 2010) However, young girls around the globe are consuming tobacco often, says
It is a man’s world after all. We even refer to God as he. Even my liberal parents get a headache if one day I decide to come home late, whereas, my male friends wax eloquent about their after-hours escapades, which mostly are a ‘men-only’. Good girls stay in after dark; it’s not safe, you see. I live in the national capital- a city bordering some of the
The movement of ‘very important persons’ or VIPs on Wednesday -- only days after the Mangalore plane crash -- put to risk three commercial flights, with over 450 passengers on board, when they were diverted from Delhi airport, according to a Times of India report. The three flights had been dangerously short of fuel when they were diverted from Delhi to Jaipur airport withou
The Asia-pacific region has more child labourers than anywhere else in the world, said a International Labour Organisation (ILO) report. However, it says that the number of child labourers around the world is on decline. “In absolute terms there is decline of child labour (between the age group of 5-14 years) which is 26 percent - 122.3 million to 96.4 million across the world.”
While the Indian economy has grown in the last one decade, its biggest players lack in charity, compared to those in US and European countries, says a study by Bain & Company. “In the United States, donations totaling slightly more than $300 billion come around 2 percent of the US gross domestic product, in India philanthropic donations accounts to 0.6 percent of India’s G
C Chandramouli, 49, the Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer of 1985 batch, is overseeing the mammoth exercise of counting nearly 1.2 billion heads. He took time off his busy schedule to speak to Trithesh Nandan about Census 2011. Excerpts from the interview: A census is not just a simple head count. Tell us about the process and its implications. The census is
