The prime minister’s last letter to Anna Hazare wherein he had reiterated his commitment to deal with the issue of graft seriously wasn’t mere lip service. Just that his government seems to have begun it from Team Anna members only. In April, father-and-son lawyers Shanti and Prashant Bhushan faced allegations, long since discredited, that they undervalued property to
Kiran Bhatty is the national coordinator of the Right to Education Act with National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). She has worked in the field of education for several years and was earlier associated with the UNICEF. In an interview with Jasleen Kaur, she talks about the post-facto social audit, a pilot project, which is being conducted in 10 states, and of implementat
Justice (retired) Markandey Katju, the new chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI), is unhappy with the state of the India media – both the print and the electronic ones. In his interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN, he says the media is not working for the interest of the people; is very often anti-people; sometimes it divides people; promotes superstitions; publishes paid news and
Since May 15, the ‘Indignants’ movement in Spain followed by ‘Occupy Wall Street’ demonstrations in the US, street protests have spread and plans are afoot to take them to 951 cities in 82 countries. It is against corporate greed and biting cutbacks in welfare measures. The root cause is really the increasing disparity in income and blatant display of unproductive expend
I must admit that I have found the intent of AK Ramanujan’s essay patently un-Indian not only because of the tone set by the Romila Thapar’s undesirable comments quoted by Paul but also because it seems that there is a sinister design to place a few exceptions and rare extremes in such a manner that they just appear to be five simple examples and thoughts on the 300 Ramayanas. After
The approach paper for the 12th five year plan (2012-17) has come under sharp criticism from the civil society groups, led by New Delhi based civil society organisation, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), which tracks government`s social sector policies. “The approach paper fell short of expectations. There is a sense of discomfort and a sense of dissatisfaction. We again went to GDP le
The slugfest between the centre and the Uttar Pradesh government continues on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREG) scheme in the state. After Jairam Ramesh’s letter to the UP government last week, Mayawati has accused the rural development minister of playing politics. With the state elections around the corner, Mayawati has rubbished Ramesh`s allegations by attribut
Despite Gujarat`s impressive growth rate, the state trails less developed ones like Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam when it comes to malnutrition. A new report places Gujarat at the thirteenth position on a list of states based on hunger. “Among the industrial high per capita income states, Gujarat (69.7 per cent children up to age 5 anaemic and 44.6 per cent malnouri
Anna Hazare has announced that he will continue with his maun vrat, vow of silence, citing health reasons for his decision. The veteran Gandhian has said that silence helps him recover from swelling in his feet. No, Digvijay Singh hasn’t issued a comment on Anna’s statement yet. But he will. He always does. Nobody knows what his real job is, but this one he performs w
The equations of electoral arithmetic can confound even the most profound of mathematical geniuses. Numbers are the bedrock of any exact science and there is no science as precise as mathematics. That is till it mingles with the rough and tumble of the dust bowls of heartland politics. Then blurriness replaces precision, numbers throw up unexpected combinations and bizarre marriages get pulled
“I am sure you are not bothered about the price rise and inflation because you have seriously taken your party’s slogan to heart which talks about aam aadmi (common man) and not aam aurat (common woman). Obviously the hardships caused by inflation and price rise largely affect women, hence you are genuinely not bothered to check it.” This was Gujarat chief minister Narendra Mo
Sanjay Nirupam, who represents the Mumbai North constituency in Lok Sabha, is in once again in a verbal duel with Uddhav Thackeray, on the controversial issue of ‘outsiders’ in Mumbai. Niruapam hails from Bihar’s Rohtas district and typifies both the promise and challenge of present-day Mumbai. In an exclusive conversation with Governance Now earlier, Nirupam shared his pe
1. Amend Rule 125A of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to provide for a ban for ten years in the first instance to any candidate withholding or providing incorrect information on Form 26 as prescribed under Rule 4A of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. A second offence should lead to a life ban. 2. Amend Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 to provide for the following:
Just when you thought it was safe to go out into the playgrounds again comes the news of a brand new fear – playgrounds might be too safe. What fear of injury hasn’t already removed from many playgrounds around the world – tall slides and high climbs, for instance – fear of litigation is steadily removing. No one has sued a park for its sandbox as far as I know, but all
With institutional healthcare being prohibitively expensive, more women in rural India are choosing to deliver at home than in hospitals and healthcare facilities, says a new report brought out by Chittorgarh-based NGO, Prayas, in partnership with Oxfam India. The `Study of the trends in out-of-pocket payments in healthcare during National Rural Health Mission period (2005-2010)`, rele
Simone de Beauvoir, an outstanding novelist, feminist and companion of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Mandarins, which evoked an eternal dilemma for an intellectual or a public person about how to be truthful. When the dilemma is a choice between defence of an ideology and commitment to one’s conscience, how does one resolve it? The p
Thomas Friedman in `The World is Flat` talks about how laying down of optical fiber across the globe has provided people in developing world with level playing field, to stand at par, to share, to collaborate, to compete with their counterparts in the West. He lists ten factors which have led to the flattening of the world which, summarily, could be described as the innovation and advance
Anna Hazare and his team of civil society representative’s ongoing fight against corruption can on various levels be compared to the popular television show Bigg Boss. Let us assume the Bigg Boss house as a microcosm of democratic India. The lead actors in this house can be identified as the mainstream political parties being the Congress and BJP, with the smaller/regional political parti
After great expectation comes great disruption. This unenviable cycle of economy seems complete when there is a raging debate in the world over validity of the growth model. The wealth generated by the aggressive growth model may have led to expectations of comfortable and uncompromising rich lifestyle. But it entails a heavy cost on society. A World Bank report released in Octob
The sculptors in Uttar Pradesh are at peace now. They don’t need to see any goddess in dreams for inspiration. They see one in person: a goddess with a handbag. The innumerable statues ordered in bulk of the fastidious deity have honed their dexterity to a clinical precision, reducing the whole creative process to a matter of an indolent ease for them. If the luck favours them in the asse
