The arrest of JNU students under section 124A of the Indian penal code (IPC) for protesting against the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru has kicked off a debate over the relevance of the colonial provision in a democracy. While it would not be tough to justify the arrests given the broad ambit of the law introduced by the British to deal with freedom fighters, it may not be eas
On the occasion of Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary, January 23, the Modi government de-classified 100 files relating to the great freedom fighter. Two days later, his grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose joined the BJP at a rally in Howrah, in the presence of party president Amit Shah. Bose then said, “I believe that it is only the BJP that can realise the vision of Netaji, Swami
When I sat down to write about my struggle of getting an admission in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), one thing clearly struck my mind: in this country the rules, regulations and laws are interpreted in such a negligent and covert manner that they could entail many possibilities of manipulation by public servants and administrators. One such manipulation of the law was played on me.
The supreme court is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) questioning the ban on entry of women of the reproductive age in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The PIL was filed in 2006 by Indian Young Lawyers’ Association in the midst of a raging controversy over temple authorities conducting ‘purification’ rituals and attempts being made to prosecute Kannada actress Jaimal
Now go and bury it,” said major general Ian Cardozo, then a major with the 5 Gorkha Rifles, during the 1971 Indo-Pak war that led to liberation of Bangladesh. He had accidently stepped on a mine that had blown one of his legs. Aware that the wound may spread fast and cause more damage he chopped off the mutilated leg using khukri and handed it over to his batman to bury it. He was operate
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where I spent a decade studying and researching history, is in the news all over again. I remember, in those days, a leading English language national daily would advertise itself as being an indispensable part of the breakfast served at JNU every mo
In 1991, the Reserve Bank of India had to open its vaults and allow 67 tonnes of gold to be airlifted out of India, which was pledged with different banks abroad to raise a loan of $600 million. The money was meant to save the country from defaulting on repayment of the IMF loan. Also, at that time, Delhi had foreign currency reserves to cover just three weeks of imports. The gol
Allowing only odd- and even-numbered cars on odd and even days respectively was one of the most disruptive policy interventions by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) . The success or failure of the 15-day pilot is argued with less evidence. The emotional tone is rather high when one talks about reduction of traffic and air pollution due to this formula. Though the pollution level remained constant, it r
In October last year, the Akhilesh Yadav government faced a major embarrassment when the Allahabad high court annulled the appointment of Anil Yadav as chairman of the UP public service commission. It was acting on a PIL that brought to light his criminal antecedents which had been suppressed by police. This, however, failed to stop Akhilesh’s penchant for placing people of his comm
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) finally confirmed on January 25 that 2015 was the warmest year since record-keeping began in the late 19th century. The confirmation came five days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the UK Met Office released their data declaring that last year smashed a
The debate on our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, has started once again. Controversial BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in December wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi urging him to replace the wordings of the anthem with what Subhas Chandra Bose had incorporated in the Indian National Army anthem. According to Swamy, the national anthem was originally composed to praise the British king
The growth rate of GDP in the country was 7% during the second quarter of 2015, lower than the 7.5% growth recorded in the preceding quarter. It was also lower than government estimation of 7.4% in the current financial year but higher than the 6.7% growth logged in the corresponding quarter of 2014. Even the government had started spending in the beginning of this fiscal year but the GDP numbe
After a break they are back. aliens, ghosts, cobras, witches and haunted houses have occupied a lot of space on a section of news channels. Thanks to modern technology, TV editors can create news on editing machines. It is not that professional editors are not around, but they too are less bothered about checking facts and sticking to truth. Their primary duty, it seems, is to deliver televisio
‘Governance’ consists of traditions and institutions by which authority is exercised in a country. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the dignity of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social chemistry among them
Prime minister Narendra Modi has identified eight key thrust areas for governance. In a year-end meeting, he gave the secretaries to the government of India two weeks to translate that political vision into an action plan. The defined objective is to bring about ‘breakthroughs rather than incremental change’ by encouraging convergence and breaking down silos. Execution is to be impr
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2000 faced criticism for allowing juveniles of mature age get away with light punishment even after committing heinous offences but the new law enacted to replace it raises more questions than it has answered. Though the government may have rightly decided against going back to the pre-2000 era by reducing th
The waters are yet to recede, there’s a foul odour in the air, and people walk through black slush and clumps of water hyacinth dragged in by the waters that flooded Chennai. This, in an area barely 500 metres off a state highway. Hundreds of such places were affected and entire livelihoods washed away when angry sheets of rain pelted down on the city and excess water wa
Traditional Indian hockey, played on natural grass, is passé. Perhaps, this development was missed by many as only a few could care giving the game a few moments of their attention. Synthetic surface called AstroTurf is the ‘in thing’ and hockey on natural grass is a matter of the past. The wizards of Indian hockey and their techniques have been long forgotten. Modern-day hoc
Enacted in the year 1860, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalises homosexual sex even between consenting adults and the punishment may extend to life imprisonment. The Naz Foundation in 2001 challenged the validity of the section and brought several questions to the forefront. It approached the Delhi high court with a plea stating that the section be declared constitutionally in
Despite prime minister Narendra Modi’s serious efforts, people of Bihar have once again shown full confidence in Nitish Kumar. He has emerged as a ‘giant killer’ and a new hope in the anti-BJP spectrum of Indian politics. Indicating his new status, anti-BJP leaders from various states were present when he took oath on November 20 for the fifth time. But after all the jubilatio
