Think of all possible ways to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Your list is not likely to include a big-budget, grandiose ‘temple’ that will also be a sort of club for industrialists. And that’s what is coming up in the capital of Gujarat. But, then, this is none other than chief minister Narendra Modi’s way of paying tribute to Gandhi. The 34-acre project is going
Minister for communication and IT A Raja was to travel to Estonia to learn lessons in e-governance with a 26-member delegation but he had to cancel his trip as he did not get permission from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The delegation had three MPs and 22 officials as well. It was strange that the minister who had no time to attend the 13th annual conference on e-governance
Indian immigrants have surpassed the Chinese to become the third largest (after Mexican and Filipino) immigrant group in the United States, a Washington based think-tank said in a report. The US is now home to 1.6 million (16 lakhs) people mainly concentrated in California and New Jersey, said the report. According to the study by the Migration Policy Institute “Indian immigratio
The first commissioned survey on the government civil servants reported that one-third of the officers wanted to quit their jobs. The civil servants also said that corruption exists in the system. The survey was based on a questionnaire sent to 18,432 civil servants across the country. Only 4808 responded which is 26 percent of total work force. The Centre for Good Governa
If the future is bleak, turn to history. That seems to be the only intellectual diversion the BJP leaders have these days, that is whenever they are free of internecine feud. In a gathering of some BJP chief ministers and senior leaders in Mumbai, ostensibly to attend a workshop on good governance, it was the turn of the redoubtable Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to give delegates a lesso
If Bollywood mirrors popular culture, trigger-happy cops backed by an insidious state have always been portrayed as saviours. Consider the plot of any movie like ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ or ‘Wednesday’: a meticulous conspiracy to promote violence is not only regarded as an effective antidote to rising criminality or extremism but also finds approval of the state and society. Th
The condition of sanitation arrangements in Mumbai`s local trains` network offers no comforts to its to its citizens, says an Observer Research Foundation (ORF) report. The recently released study shines the light on the appalling condition of sanitation at Mumbai’s 109 suburban railway stations where people – especially women commuters – often are forced to avoid going to
Former chief justice of India A H Ahmadi made an interesting observation while defending his decision to dilute charges against Union Carbide executives in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. He said: “There is no concept of vicarious liability. If my driver is driving and meets with a fatal accident, I don’t become liable to be prosecuted under 304-II (of IPC)”. That’s highly
India is placed at 128 in a survey of 149 countries in the global peace index – a ranking of the most peaceful nations of the world. Compared to the survey in 2009, India`s ranking has slipped by seven positions – largely due to increase in number of deaths from organised conflicts, says the report prepared by global think tank on peace – Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP)
Hailing India for leading economic recovery in South Asia, the World Bank has said that India will grow by 8.5 percent in 2010 and 9 percent in 2011. “The recovery of Indian GDP could be even faster than what is projected, but rising interest rates, a small appreciation of the rupee, and continued low growth in high-income countries weigh on the recovery,” said the World Bank in a r
There is a beautiful parable about an emperor who though naked believes that he is wrapped up in a divine cloth. The emperor would get angry and bump off anybody who pointed out his nakedness. But the story would have taken a different turn if the emperor started flaunting his nakedness as a divinity-ordained quality. This is exactly what Sharad Pawar has been doing in the IPL bidding case. The
Indians have the most environmentally sustainable behaviour worldwide, as found by a survey conducted across 17 nations and 17,000 consumers by a National Geographic-GlobeScan research team. The study has found that environment-friendly behaviour among consumers in 10 out of 17 countries has increased over the past year and India has made major contribution among the 17 nations. &ldquo
A government report reveals that people in 49,000 slums around India still live in pathetic conditions. According to the report prepared by the National Sample Survey office (NSSO) “About 49 thousand slums were estimated to be in existence in urban India in 2008-09 - 24 percent of them were located along nallahs and drains and 12 percent along railway lines” Dur
The cash on delivery scheme promoted by the central government through Janani Suraksha Yogana (JSY) has benefited pregnant women, says a new study done by the international medical journal Lancet. The article gives a positive response of the scheme by saying ‘in just 4 years, its beneficiaries multiplied 11-fold, from 0.74 million in 2005—06 to 8.43 million in 2008 -09 (thus coverin
In studying how the mighty institution of the Market functions in India, one can appreciate the wide gulf between organised and unorganised sectors of the economy, which allows the former to batten on the latter. If you are a craftsperson, driver, tailor, sweeper, carpenter, plumber, roadside food vendor, housemaid, rickshaw puller, or private security person, you are likely to be servi
Arundhati Roy, our leading public intellectual, has made a rare clarification. She says she never wrote the phrase “Gandhians with a gun”, used to describe Maoists in an essay she wrote for the Outlook in March. The phrase appeared in the sub-headline and Roy says it was written by the magazine. The Br
Academic-turned-bureaucrat Kaushik Basu, who termed Indian civil servants as "ace drivers caught in traffic jams", feels bureaucratic and farm reforms are must for the economy to grow at the 10 percent rate. However, the former Cornell University economics professor, who joined the government as cheif economic advisor last December, says India`s growth story is more sustainable than C
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the country’s official think tank - the Planning Commission, feels that more than special monetary incentives or packages, the governance change is required to ease the situation in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts. Besides, Ahluwalia also strongly recommends linking fuel prices in the country with global prices as it is essent
As I have been saying over the past few days, the Election Commission is clearly under pressure. They better be. Not only have they stopped making irrational claims about electronic voting machines over the past month, they have begun a clean-up exercise to overcome some of the of EVM security lapses. In a seven-page communiqué to all state CEOs dated May 3, 2010, the Elec
The Pakistani nuclear arsenal has more warheads than the Indian one, says the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The data released by the SIPRI estimates that “Pakistan has at least 10 more nuclear warheads than in India.” The Stockholm based think tank said that there are 22,660 active, inactive and stored nuclear warheads in the
