A year ago, there were people even outside BJP who made it their own mission to see Narendra Modi as prime minister. Today, many of them are restless and impatient. And yet Modi remains popular; a survey in May found 74 percent of Indians backing him as PM. How do we make sense of this paradox? One factor that can explain the situation is that there is nobody around to challenge him and take hi
The approval by Sri Lanka’s parliament last month of the 19th constitutional amendment represents a historic landmark in that country’s governance. Its implications stretch well beyond Sri Lanka and deserve the attention of governance reformers in India and elsewhere. The amendment is part of a broad programme of reforms launched by president Maithrapala Sirisena, who was a surprise
A Padma Bhushan recipient and prominent Gandhian of our times, Justice CS Dharmadhikari joined the Quit India moment when he was only 14. A career lawyer and judge, he retired as acting chief justice of Bombay high court in 1989 after delivering landmark judgments on women’s rights, children and prisoners. He has authored many books in Hindi, Marathi and English and a
While the world becomes more connected through all kinds of communication modes, around 1.1 billion people across the globe still live without electricity, reveals a World Bank report. The report, ‘Progress Towards Sustainable Energy: Global Tracking Framework 2015’ reveals that around 2.9 billion people (which is more than the population of India and China combined)
Forming an opinion about someone comes easy. In fact, it’s second nature. Forming an opinion on their life or death doesn`t appear to be too difficult either. Even if we`ve never met them. On Monday morning as news came in from Mumbai`s King Edward Memorial hospital that Aruna Shanbaug was no more, India was caught up in the euthanasia debate, hastily opining on an issue ne
The strikingly red CPM flag with the sickle and hammer pasted on the board behind Yechury is peeling off despite the adhesive-tape pasted around it, very symptomatic of the party’s situation in the country. As the new party chief, he faces an uphill task of galvanising the party and strengthening its capacity to influence Indian politics. In an interview with Shubhendhu Parth
Cuba-born Alfred de Zayas, an American lawyer, writer, activist, expert in human rights and international law, has been the UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, also known as Special Rapporteur, since 2012. He worked as a senior lawyer with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights during 1981-2003. In an wi
Since its rollout in 2012, the passport seva project has made the process of issuing passports hassle-free and quick. In an interaction with Pratap Vikram Singh, Pardeshi talks about the challenges in streamlining the process and curbing the role of intermediaries. How satisfactory has been the work of passport seva kendras (PSKs) over the years?
May Day is an occasion to take stock of the situation as far as workers are concerned. The day refers to the struggle in 1886 in Chicago, where the demand was of eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours of recreation. The essence of the whole demand was that there should be a limit to the exploitation of workers. Before mechanisation, it used to be a dawn-to-dusk affair for work
The RTI Act has caught the imagination of people and the way it has spread is appreciated and admired around the world. A great change has come in India in the last decade in the power equation between the sovereign citizens and those in power. This change is just beginning and if we can sustain and strengthen it, our defective elective democracy can metamorphose into a truly participatory demo
It will be ideologically incongruent for the Narendra Modi government to celebrate May Day. Marx and Modi have nothing in common except that both profess to believe in ultimate triumph of labour – Shramev Jayate. But how? In a candid interview
The heart of the net neutrality debate in India is centred on three fundamental questions. First, is internet a public good? In theory, at least, it is. The Narendra Modi government seems to think so too. The entire plan for the ambitious Digital India initiative is built on the premise of providing all Indians access to internet, the underlying principle of any definition of public good. Secon
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, for long one of the few Muslim leaders in the BJP, is minister of state for two crucial portfolios: minority affairs and parliamentary affairs. The first will be watched for the party’s own definition of secularism beyond appeasement, while the second will remain crucial till the government gets sufficient numbers in the Rajya Sabha. In an interview with S
April 14, 2016 will be the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, and the nation is paying tributes. Most political parties are trying to appropriate the iconic leader’s legacy with an eye on dalit votes. There is no difference between the left and the right in this regard. The BJP organised a rally in Patna on April 14 to launch its election campaign in Bihar. The Con
Karthik Kumar is a noted theatre and Kollywood actor. He is also known as Evam Karthik for his theatre background. Karthik quit his job to start his own venture Evam Entertainment (with partner Sunil Vishnu) which is India’s only corporate that is into performing arts, arts management and education, and behavioural training. Among the exceptional plays of Evam is The 39 Steps, which h
More than 1,27,71,043 girls are missing in India. These girls have not vanished overnight but were killed in the uterus between 2000 and 2014. This is almost half of the total sex selective abortions across the globe in this period and also the highest in the world followed by China and Pakistan. Around the world, as many as 2,45,61,345 girls disappeared before birth in the last
The story of Prince Gopaldas Desai, an egalitarian ruler, is indeed extraordinary. You have noted in the preface that you had heard about him from your father in the 1950s. But what exactly was the trigger to write this biography at this juncture? After my father’s mention to me of Darbar Gopaldas in 1950 or so, I “ran into” Darbar Gopaldas in 1
A latest report released by property consultant Cushman and Wakefield revealed five factors like power, infrastructure, funds, technology and social capital to be inculcated in the 100 smart cities initiatives. India is embracing this push for smart cities after the NDA government came to power last year. By most estimates the level of urbanisation will reach 50 percent in India by 2039. But ev
In his Madison Square Speech in September 2014, our prime minister had reminded the world about India’s advantage of demographic dividend. This has become an important data point to show the world that Indian population is not a problem now. World is of course looking towards us from the perspective of huge demand/investment potential but every other Indian statesman is still hyping on yo
Exactly a month ago as the rains thundered down and caught us unawares, a farmer quietly walked to the middle of his field and hung himself from a tree. Nobody knows Sandeep Shinde. But for a handful of reports, his suicide was no news. Few have heard that this farmer from Beed was running a debt of over a lakh rupees and clutching onto his jowar crop as the only seed of hope. It
