Questions have suddenly become more important than answers. At least, the campaign for the Uttar Pradesh election showed that amply. Politically correct questions kept being fielded from all sides throughout the poll campaign. The answers were expected from the electorate who had himself a list of questions to ask. Those, however, were conveniently drowned in the din. After a fu
The low-cost computing device, Aakash has captured the imagination of the nation. While the nation seems divided its success or failure, the global community is keenly looking forward to this information and communications technology (ICT) revolution in education happening in India. Aakash is not the first low-cost computing device (so there is no invention per se). The Simputer, which
While Indian economy has grown up since 1991, the participation of women in this economic growth has been negligible and lots needs to be done, says a study by the US-based think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said that India will touch a double digit growth if women get adequate presence in professional life. Citing a UN document, the study mentioned Ind
Ever imagined your teachers speaking about traffic and road norms in class? No? Don’t worry, you might not have learnt road norms as a subject but the chances are that your child might have to study it as part of his/her school curriculum. Mirroring the achievements of the UK and the US, the government has decided to introduce traffic and road norms as a chapter in the subj
The myth of power is self-explanatory: power draws from myths. A sense of reality, on the contrary, acts as a check. Young David’s sling when he took on the giant Goliath, Birsa Munda’s professed power to turn bullets to powder: history is replete with such examples. The steed of power has always galloped on the spur of the moment. Truly speaking, a second thought would
Lt Col (retd) HS Bedi is the founder and chairman and managing director of Tulip Telecom Ltd, which was started in 1992 as software reseller. Today it is a leading player in providing enterprise data connectivity to corporates and has hands-on experience working on e-governance projects across the country. In an exclusive interaction with Pratap Vikram Singh, Bedi talks ab
Some commentators think this government suffers from policy paralysis. Nothing can be farther from truth. The UPA government is working pretty efficiently. It’s a different matter that its initiatives are in the patently wrong directions when not altogether dangerous. Consider NCTC. Or consider the proposal to give a legal backing to the model of code of conduct for electioneering.
When SY Quraishi, supported by his two “peers”, VS Sampath and HS Brahma, who unlike him don’t enjoy constitutional protection, had statues of Mayawati and the BSP’s elephant covered, the three-member Election Commission (EC) trended on Twitter for three days. Images of elephants covered in pink (the colour, by the way, wasn’t chosen by EC) brought t
India ranks in the category of ‘high risk’ countries where poor governance and systemic corruption are the main stay of the government, according to a new study released by the UK-based risk analysis firm Maplecroft. The study also blames India for not taking decisive timely action. “Continuing poor governance is evidenced by the endemic nature of corruption, esp
India has worked at a sluggish pace in trying to meet the millenium development goals (MDGs) and needs to accelerate progress if it has to meet a few of them, says a new report by the United Nations. India will not be able to reduce hunger, under-5 mortality and maternal mortality, said the ESCAP/ADB/UNDP Asia-Pacific MDG Report 2011/12, titled “Accelerating Equitable Achievement
It’s that time of the year again (actually, it is always that time of the year but we don’t notice it). Anyway, the time I am talking about is the one to select books that you are actually going to read rather than (influenced by New Year resolutions) the ones you think you ought to read. For many years now I have planned to read Anna Karenina. It’s in my &lsquo
Dani Rodrik, the Rafiq Hariri professor of international political economy at Harvard University, is known as an original thinker on globalisation and economic development in the academic circles. His enriching analyses on globalisation are reflected in newly published book titled ‘The Globalisation Paradox: Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy can’t coexist’. In
The matter which I wish to highlight is judicial accountability. Judges of the apex court are expected to conform to the highest standards of rectitude and despite an occasional aberration, our apex court commands the highest respect both with the country and abroad. The troubling feature that seems to take away the sheen from the judges is the post retirement engagement of the su
Mohammed Aamir Khan has reasons to be unhappy, feel vengeful and hurt. Instead, he chooses to be grateful with an angelic smile spread across his face. Most of us complain about little inconveniences in our daily life. And here is a man who has been through hell and back but his indomitable spirit has conquered all. Aamir bears no grudge. Sitting at his home in Old Delhi all he c
Twenty-five years is such a long time. That’s the space Salman Khurshid has taken to don a new mask and make his Jinnah-like proposition. One can understand his frustration. But let me assure you, he wasn’t always like that. He was once a suave Class 1 in Jurisprudence from St Edmund Hall, Oxford (later Liu Po Shan Lecturer in law at Trinity College). He was, and some argue still is
Greenpeace tore into the proposal to constitute a central biotechnology regulator, saying that the biotechnology regulatory authority of India (BRAI) bill will reduce the role of state governments to a recommendatory capacity. “This is nothing but a challenge to the federal polity of the country” said RK Mukherjee of the coalition for GM-free West Bengal, which is a coalitio
The group of ministers on aviation recommended on Tuesday that airline companies be allowed to import jet fuel. This has been a long standing demand of some airline companies, Kingfisher in particular. They hope that the direct import of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will help lower their fuel bill by 10-15 percent. However, ground realities may not support these claims. While the l
The proposed food security law is giving finance minister Pranab Mukherjee sleepless nights. Feeding the country should present no small bill, and it is understandable that the man feels a bit daunted. But that shouldn`t be the concern, ideally. Given that the subsidy bill is still far lesser than the tax holidays and subsidies given to the super-rich corporate, all in the name of encouraging i
India’s forest cover has decreased by 367 sq km in the last two years with the maximum amount of forest cover disappearing from the northeast states and Andhra Pradesh. According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI) report 2011 a total of 867 sq km was lost in 12 states and union territories (mainly the northeast), 15 states registered an aggregate increase of 500 sq km.
