With the list for 100 smart cities mostly in, the stage 1 of Smart Cities Mission is over and the cities are readying for the challenge round as part of stage 2. At this first milestone, it may do the project some good to check if we are on the right track and if any course correction could be useful. First thing first: is the state-wise distribution of cities on the list reading
The IT taskforce, set up by the ministry of road transport and highways, has been on its toes over the last six months. While the 10-member committee crisscrossed the country, visiting major cities and ports, meeting experts and citizen groups, it launched a nationwide initiative, #ITForParivahan, for inviting suggestions from various stakeholders in transportation sector and public at large.&n
After seemingly meandering off target for a while, the Modi government has in a bid to expedite investment in the Indian market, reverted to its development focussed agenda by facilitating simpler foreign direct investment norms for 15 major areas, including focal sectors such as defence, mining, civil aviation, broadcasting and agriculture. In a notification last week, the Centr
People of Bihar have sharp political acumen, and people of (the rest of) India can learn a thing or two from them, said Narendra Modi during one of his 31 rallies in the state. They have given their verdict now. Earlier this year, people of Delhi too had given their verdict, but they are apparently a special case even if the national capital is the very microcosm of India in most senses.
A constitution bench of the supreme court quashed the 99th constitution amendment and the law enacted to set up the national judicial appointments commission (NJAC) by a 4:1 majority on October 16. While the judgment protected the primacy of the judiciary in appointment of judges, an outburst by the lone dissenting judge discredited the 1993 collegium system, making it incumbent on
Close to a century ago, Rabindranath Tagore returned the title of knighthood to protest against the Jalianwala Bagh massacre. He wrote to Lord Chelmsford, the viceroy of India: “The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part wish to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen,
There has been abundant criticism following the budgetary cuts imposed on social sector programmes in this year’s budget, with socialist evangelists terming them as an attack on the welfare state. Understandable, because we continue to measure our commitment to the welfare state in terms of budgetary allocations and expenditures, and not on proper utilisation and outcomes. To what extent
In July 2013, the supreme court directed the election commission to frame guidelines on the contents of manifestos after noting that freebies announced by political parties shake “the root of free and fair elections”. Though guidelines have now been put in place, the state of affairs virtually remain the same with parties in fray continuing to promise freebies with scope for violati
In the second decade of 21st century, the world’s largest democracy which is also a secular country witnessed a case of lynching over rumours. A mob of locals beat 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq to death and severely injured his 22-year-old son upon hearing rumours that the family was eating beef. The killing of Akhlaq in Bisara village of Dadri, 45 km from Delhi, can be considered a turning
In the present era of slowing aggregate demand and increasing market uncertainties, regional economic cooperation among countries provide some sort of relief to them. Currently, there are three mega ‘regionals’ under negotiation: the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership of the Asia and the Pacific (RCEP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and In
With the Bihar elections round the corner, there is animated debate about its probable outcome. These elections will be an acid test for the leadership of the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Nitish Kumar, the leader of JD(U), faces multiple problems of anti-incumbency, credibility, organisational acumen and leadership after ruling for 10 years. While Lalu Prasa
Haryana is defending its law that bars illiterates and school dropouts from contesting panchayat elections. While the state government is trumpeting the law as a means to guarantee an ‘educated’ leadership to ensure good governance at the panchayat level, the law raises fears of aggravating the challenges inherent to Indian democracy. At a time when reservation is sti
The picture of cracked and burnt-out feet, with a missing toe, on the cover of Harsh Mander’s new book ‘Looking Away: Inequality, Prejudice in New India’, does one thing convincingly: it mocks the ‘invisible hand’. Radha, a girl probably
Undeniably, Gandhi had a moral force unparalleled in recent times. For comparable examples of moral greatness, people often go back by centuries – to Jesus Christ and similar names. The crucial difference, however, is that nearly all great religious figures and spiritual teachers come with some supernatural element; grace from above and so on, which granted them enlightenment. They were n
The memories of the day are still intact in my mind when my brother Subhash sacrificed his savings to pay my school fees. Instead of buying shoes, he wore casual slippers in the scorching summer heat. Whenever I saw him in his slippers, it would remind me of his sacrifice he made for my studies. This was when I had decided not to let his sacrifice go in vain. Sometimes I used to ponder over our
Sixty-seven years ago when the drafting committee led by Dr BR Ambedkar suo motu introduced the phrase ‘other backward class’ (OBC) in the constitution, questions were raised as to who would be grouped in these classes. While Dr Ambedkar convinced the constituent assembly members that the decision be best left to the discretion of governments in future, the Patel-like agitations for
Old computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, television sets, all need to be discarded at some point. The end-of-life of such products needs proper waste management system. This is important since such devices contain over 50 types of hazardous materials. These include heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury and toxic chemicals like poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and brominated flame retarda
In the midst of the 2014 election campaign, a ‘new’ information was being widely circulated on social media: the ancestors of the first Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, were Muslims. According to this ‘revelation’, Nehru was the great-grandson of one Ghiyasuddin Ghazi who apparently took a Hindu name during the 1857 uprising to save his life. It was a clear attem
With death sentence becoming an exception, there may be an urgent need to revisit the scheme of punishments to keep deterrence intact, as the next most stringent sentence of life imprisonment generally gets reduced after remission to a jail-term of mere 14 years or a little more.
The big cogs in the Digital India juggernaut have started to move. As a great first step, 100 smart cities have been identified. For the number enthusiasts, the five states with the largest number of future smart cities would be Uttar Pradesh at 13, Tamil Nadu (12), Maharashtra (10), Madhya Pradesh (seven) and Karnataka and Gujarat at six each. And yes, as one would already know, each state and
