Muhammad Saleem Beg has served as director-general, tourism, in Jammu and Kashmir and also headed the state chapter of INTACH before being elevated to the statutory commission involved in protecting India’s rich cultural and archeological wealth. Hailing from Srinagar, Beg spoke to Governance Now about the recent Kashmir flood. Excerpts: How much of the flood in Kashmir wa
Prime minister Narendra Modi may or may not have put the so-called gag order on his ministers from interacting with the media. While there is no confirmation on any such official gag order, reporters covering ministries, and even cabinet committee briefings, talk about such an order from the highest echelons. The idea, it appears, is to prevent the ministers from putting their fo
Demands have been raised for a judicial inquiry into the recent floods in Jammu and Kashmir. Two reasons are being given to argue that it was a manmade disaster – construction of a road-cum-dam that caused more than 20 percent blockade in the flow of the river and the delayed opening of the flood gates of the Dal. The question is whether these are primary or contributory causes of the dis
To my mind, more important than the Narendra Modi bandwagon’s huge US success, the Oscar for courage, conviction and commitment goes to a man called John Michael D’Cunha. He is a judge in the Bangalore special court looking into the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, and is the first judicial official in the history of our c
A few years back there were half a million websites in India. Only 20,000, however, were in Indian languages. Today there are over nine million websites, but the number of websites in local languages has lagged behind. Sending and receiving emails in multiple Indian languages was introduced many years back. Since then, however, except for a moderate growth in the use of local languages in socia
The unmitigated arrogance of the returning NRI. Instant coffee observations. Begins at the airport where the stampede out of the aircraft is viewed with globally travelled contempt. Then the slowness of the Immigration, way down from the impressive speed of the recent past. Empty seats beyond the counter, like pulled-out teeth, greet the Indian traveller. Narendra Modi’s ma
On September 18, Sam Kahamba Kutesa of Uganda took over as the president of the UN General Assembly for its 69th session. He was elected to the post in June. He proposed Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda as the theme for the session. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the role of the 69th Assembly president will be “especially important during
BJP wipes out a huge BE (Brand Equity) gained (for itself) in a day - in just a day. Alas it deprives us all – all Indians – a very good chance of reaping the benefit from the noble thought of the Prime Minister – Shri Narendra Modi. That thought was indeed exemplary and highly actionable. For sure,
As India readies to develop 100 smart cities, the national institute of urban affairs (NIUA) is bound to play a crucial role in the ambitious project. Established in 1976, it is a premier agency for research and training in urban governance. It enjoys the support of the ministry of urban development, states, urban and regional development authorities and other agencies. Its director Jagan Shah,
They should take the Statue of Liberty and ship it to England. Not so much for taking in of the wretched and the poor but certainly for the less than huddled masses who are currently taking the whiplash of empire building to the cleaners under a system called the `welfare state.` Whenever I visit England I am amazed at the incredible tolerance with which the people accept the bla
Shankar Aggarwal, a 1980 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, who recently took over as the urban development secretary, talks to Pratap Vikram Singh and Puja Bhattacharjee about the ministry’s vision, planning and challenges of setting up smart cities. How does the urban development ministry define a smart city? How will these cities be different from the existing cities?
Once again the issue of whistle-blowing on corruption and impropriety, and protection for individuals who blow the whistle is in the limelight. This, even as the central and state governments and the central vigilance commission (CVC) drag their feet over operationalising the Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011 enacted in May 2014. In a country where whistling and making catcall
The abolition of the Planning Commission serves as a shock to catalyse real reform. In establishing the functions and composition of the new Think Tank to replace the Planning Commission, the prime minister will have to decide whether India will remain a static agrarian rural society or become an industrial urban society, and cities are at the centre of the fast expanding global economy.
After three weeks of dithering, Shaun Wright finally resigned on Tuesday. Shaun Who? The South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner was in the middle of a storm ever since a report detailed widespread child sex abuse in the UK’s Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. Wright was in charge of children`s services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2010. Now, Wright was not accu
He worked. He fell ill. He died. In Saudi Arabia. Two days ago. He contracted the MERS coronavirus* and his family is reluctant to repatriate the remains back home amid fears that they might get infected if they came in contact with the body. Arab News carried a front page report that has become a global measure for where love has gone. Out of the window. Dasharati Satta
Dear policeman who issued the advisory on how to be safe in Salt Lake, I am so scared of Salt Lake that I cannot remember the last time I was there. In fact, I routinely scold a female friend of mine who frequently goes there and even has the audacity to take sharing cabs from that locality. God pray if some mishap happens, I cannot blame you for not being there. She should and m
Agriculture is a politically sensitive sector, and wheat, being a staple in many regions, is more so. India still does not have policies that would allow the country to use wheat efficiently. First, it does not have enough places to store it and, second, there is no guarantee that wheat production would be robust in the coming years due to its dependence on monsoon. This year, f
The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO), a public sector undertaking, is mandated with building affordable housing and promoting urban development. Of the 16.54 million houses sanctioned by HUDCO so far, over 95% have benefited the economically weaker section (EWS) and low income group (LIG). Speaking with Jasleen Kaur, HUDCO chairman and managing director Medithi Ravi Kan
This August 23 was a sad day. We lost a great writer who was rooted enough in his tradition to interrogate aspects of it with courage and affection, and who was modern enough to challenge the dominant, Euro-centric conceptions of modernity, even while upholding its universal aspects and values both in his creative writing and in his role as a public intellectual. He was openly sceptical of much
On August 18, in an unexpected move, the Narendra Modi government called off the foreign secretary (FS)-level talks scheduled to be held in Islamabad on August 25. The sudden twist of events left most surprised, including the ministry of external affairs (MEA). The reason cited was the meeting between the Hurriyat Conference, represented by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Ahm
