If you want to know what the Indian government does not want you to know about Swiss banks` operations, let`s begin with some backgrounder. Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) is in a severe crisis over charges of financial frauds, being accessory to money laundering and huge losses in the US. Barack Obama has put pressure on Swiss banks, threatening sanctions on the entire Swiss economy aft
Trafficking in India is largely internal - an intra-national racket with rural areas serving as sources and cities serving as transit points and destinations. The United States has put India on Tier II watch list for the seventh consecutive year in its report saying that India has not done enough to prevent labour trafficking particularly bonded labour. India is one level better
Pawan Kumar Bansal, minister for water resources as well as for parliamentary affairs, is a seasoned parliamentarian. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1984-90, he was elected to the Lok Sabha and now he is in his fourth term in the lower house. In an interview with Sweta Ranjan, he spoke candidly about issues relating to both the ministries he handles.
Bureaucrats have spent a large part of summer discussing who will be the next cabinet secretary. Putting an end to their collective misery, K M Chandrasekhar, the present incumbent, has secured another extension. This gives him a fourth year in saddle. I’m told it’s a record among 28 cab secs that we’ve had, equalled only by Y S Suthankar and B D Pande. Chandrasekhar’s d
It was the same story which is retold in Delhi every monsoon. Just a downpour and the city again came to a standstill. Traffic from the office hubs to residential colonies did not move for hours. Those who wanted to avoid getting stuck in their private vehicles opted for public transport, thus straining the already over-crowded metro trains and buses. Waterlogged roads with just 21.2mm
It is not at all common or usual for a minister to take a principled stand; or having taken it, to stick his or her neck out to defend that position. In that sense, environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh’s position on a few contentious issues is admirable. His refusal to bow to pressure from his cabinet colleagues in the aviation, power and surface transport ministr
Most Indian men are likely to think that their right to a job should supersede that of women during tough economic times. A study by the American think tank – Pew research Centre said that 84 percent of Indian males say that `men should receive preferential treatment when jobs are scarce.’ India is ranked ahead of countries like Pakistan (82 percent), Nigeria (77 percent), E
Sharad Pawar has never been particularly known for giving up anything, least of all power and portfolios. Yet, on Monday, a few days after taking over as the head of the International Cricket Council (ICC), he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to request the latter to “reduce the burden” of his ministerial work. “Burden”, did you say Mr Pawar? The responsi
Financial sector stalwart and HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh speaks on bureaucracy, judiciary, lobbying and other issues. Excerpts from an interview: What makes Deepak Parekh the man at whom the government look up to in the time of crisis? There are many points of views always and there are differences of opinion. Ultimately decisions have to be taken in life
India may be touted as one of the most-preferred medical tourism destinations in the world but a report highlighting its poor surgical facilities may take some of the shine off. A recent study shows that the surgical facilities in India and Pakistan are very poor, as two countries have just 1.3 OTs per 100,000 people. There is an acute absence of basic surgical equipments in the operat
Delhi is the amongst the worst cities in the world when it comes to traffic, says a IBM study - the ‘Commuter Pain Study’. The study says that bad traffic affects the productivity of nearly 40 percent of the city`s commuters adversely. The traffic congestion in cities across the world has increased in the last three years, the study noted. Beijing and Mexico
Money seems to have lost its shock value. Even in a country where 80% of the population lives on less than $2 or Rs 95 a day as per World Bank estimates. Else, why wouldn’t anybody be surprised over the Rs 9 lakh (some papers reported Rs 2 lakh) that the Nagaland home minister Imkong L Imchen was reportedly found carrying in a suitcase at Kathmandu airport? The media duly reported that th
India as well as other countries in the Himalayan river basins - China, Bangladesh and Nepal will suffer huge depletion in water availability on per capita cubic metre basis, says a report. “India is going to face per capita decline from 1730 to 1240, while in China water availability will decline from 2150 to 1860, from 7320 to 5700 in case of Bangladesh and for Nepal it i
It is very sad and alarming to note that only 1,411 tigers are left in the country. Ever since the government came out with the figures, people all over the country have been doing all they can to raise awareness. In fact, most of the tigers die in the rural areas near the national wildlife parks. Does this mean that the forest departments are not able to take care of them? Our needs for skin,
North Indian states - Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi figured among the worst scorers on the Female Security Index (FSI), says a report. This, despite Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi being top-rankers in the ‘Well Being Index’ (WBI) category in the same report. The report also mentioned “some of the states having distr
A news report, in Deccan Herald on Monday, that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) may be about to lose the Rs 1,000 crore Passport Seva Project (PSP) came as a shocker to the entire e-governance community. If it comes true, the development would spell the failure of the second major Mission Mode Project in the
The conduct rules of all government employees, in our country, mandate, that they shall maintain, absolute integrity in their functioning. Unfortunately the conduct rules, which are very unambiguous have been violated both in spirit and letters, both by the bureaucrats and political masters. Indeed, it might appear surprising, that five months, after the Secretaries Committee, de
At Wazirpur village, honour is a flighty commodity. Lost if your sister gets married on her own. And it is reclaimed if your relatives and friends hail that sister`s murder at your hands, on camera. A brother-in-law shot dead is also thrown in as icing. Because, in the fringes of the national capital this has come to mean `honour`. When one was barely done being outraged by the
India is home to 42.4 million widows, most of them living in deplorable conditions, said a report prepared by the Loomba Foundation. The report has also revealed that ‘many of these women and their children are malnourished, exposed to disease, and subjected to slavery.’ According to the report, “the countries with the highest number of widows in 2010 were China with 4
New drugs enter the market every new day and make their way to new markets mainly in developing countries, says a report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Lax regulations, populations in economic transition let drug abuse flourish in such countries. “The global number of people using amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) – estimated at arou
