The government is very cagey about foreign funding to NGOs. But when its own funds to the voluntary sector get squandered, it does nothing to stop it. A new report by a think-tank says that thousands of crores of rupees to NGOs gets lost in what can be called a major scam. “From 2002-03 to 2008-09, the central government and the state governments have provided Rs. 6,655 crores to
Six months since I started driving a diesel hatchback — feeling proud and smarter than the rest every time I am at a fuel station — I am suddenly told by everyone that decontrol of diesel prices is good for the economy. It was necessary. And maybe they are right. I am told that diesel deregulation would also augur well for the current account deficit. It offers a possibility
Dr Bhargava, what do you think of environmentalist Mark Lynas’ sudden change of heart – from being an anti-GM crusader to a pro-GM crusader? [Read more here] I think it doesn’t change the situation one bit. We have no credentials of him and one sw
It takes political will to take the nation forward. The UPA government in its first avatar took a major decision by establishing a high-level committee under the leadership of the prime minister (in short Sachar committee) to study about the plight of country’s largest minority population, the Muslim community. After gathering data and studying the conditions of Muslims, the committee pre
The sluggish growth rate of India’s economy in the last one year will be a thing of past, says the World Bank which expects it to post 6.8 and 7 percent growth by 2014 and 2015 respectively and inch closer to the growth rate of China. However, the bank in the ‘Global Economic Prospects (GEP)’ report expects India to grow at 6.1 percent in the financial year 2013.
Ever since India accused Pakistan of killing two Indian soldiers on January 6, beheading one of them, at the Line of Control, the tension and the war of words between two countries have only gone north. In the latest, India has raised Pakistan`s continuing support to terror groups at the United Nations, seeking international action against the state sponsors of terror. India named Pakistan terr
There is no end to the blunders that the central reserve police force (CRPF) commits in its anti-Maoists operations. Less than seven months after its men went berserk and killed 19 people in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, most of whom turned out to be innocent villagers, it has again landed itself in a mess. This time in Jharkhand’s Latehar district. The facts of this enco
The 26-year-old genius was found dead in his New York apartment where he committed suicide. Involved in the development of Reddit and founder of RSS feeds, here is why his sudden suicide should caution us all. Aaron Swartz wanted everyone, even those without a fancy university education and its privileges to access journals, to access information online. In turn, however, Swartz was ind
Sajjad Hassan was serving as secretary (planning) in Manipur when he finally took the bold decision to quit the prestigious Indian administrative service (IAS) in 2011. He was happy working with people in Tamenglong district at the beginning of his career, but the secretariat was a different ball game. Before quitting the service, he had taken a sabbatical and completed his PhD in politics from
The devil is always in the little details. Uttar Pradesh is notoriously corrupt, with its broad sweeping brush not sparing even the sick and ailing. Yet, Hilauli is often cited as an example of how a few good men with a few good intentions can use funds of the national rural health mission (NRHM) to transform the health map of a block. On the surface, a lot has changed. The sub-centres (SC), pr
India may be the world`s largest democracy, but it fares abysmally poorly in a human freedom development index brought out by two international institutes. While India ranks 92nd among 123 countries ranked in the most complete index of human freedom yet available, New Zealand leads in human freedom, followed by the Netherlands and Hong Kong with the US and Denmark tied at seventh
Forty-eight hours after making a mutilated response to Pakistan sending back a jawan’s mutilated body, defence minister AK Antony is still busy taking guard (“right hand middle, umpire sir”) even as the bowler is halfway through his over (left-arm over, two bouncers on the trot, anyone?) Antony, who on Wednesday had called the Pakistan army’s action “inhuma
While both defence minister AK Antony and external affairs minister Salman Khurshid condemned Pakistan’s recent action as “inhuman” and “highly provocative”, the incident brings to mind Kargil of circa 1999, when Captain Saurabh Kalia was imprisoned during the war and Pakistan later sent his mutilated body. But even if we take that as a wartime casualty, th
Upon searching for “social contract” in Google, one comes up with the Wikipedia article for Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s 1762 treatise, which suggests that “For “social contract” as a political and philosophical concept” one divert to this pa
India ranks lowest among the world`s major economies for its preparedness to tackle global environmental risks and second-lowest for economic risks, while Switzerland is on the top, a report said today. As per the annual Global Risks Report published by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), the biggest global risk in terms of likelihood is `severe income disparity` for the next 10 ye
"A group of their (Pakistan’s) regular soldiers intruded across the Line of Control in Mendhar Sector on January 8. Pakistan army troops, having taken advantage of thick fog and mist in the forested area, were moving towards our posts when an alert area domination patrol spotted and engaged the intruders... The fire fight between Pakistan and our troops continued for approximatel
Delhi has been infamous as the rape capital of India as well as the crime capital of India. It is not new to failure of governance either. Yet, a gangrape in December was a trigger point, people were enraged and came out in streets to protest like never before. The crime and the response both call for a deeper understanding beyond headlines. We need to come to terms with whatever is happening d
In the two weeks leading up to my arrival in India, I followed the story of the high-profile gang rape in Delhi with horror. The sketch of the crime left little doubt about the excessive violence involved in it. However, in the days after the initial reports my greater interest has been in the silence of the media on the victim’s identity and the tenor of the public protests. The governme
Self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu is not new to controversies. There has already been an attempt to murder charge against him (remember the mysterious deaths of two boys - Dipesh Weghela and Abhishek Waghela - studying in a residential school in the premises of Asaram`s ashram in Ahmedabad in 2008; there are charges relating to tax evasion against him ). This time he is being talked about beca
Girls, the word of caution is to carry rakhis in your bag throughout the year, you never know when you may be in need of them. And if a man tries to molest you, hurt you, do not fight. Remember you are a girl – you can and should always only beg. So if the Delhi gagrape victim would have begged on the night of December 16 when she was being assaulted by six men, she would have been saved.
