As a country grappling with political and infrastructural problems, there are very few issues that do not evoke extreme, often diametrically opposite, reactions in India. Population control Bills, vaccination policy, farmer income initiatives, river water sharing mechanisms or surrogacy laws—there is no dearth of topics that have triggered controversy, and …
Tea grown on the steep slopes of Darjeeling hills, connoisseurs swear, is unlike anywhere else in the world. Epicures use a plethora of adjectives to describe the “champagne of teas”: brisk, flowery, round, mellow and sparkling. Brewed properly, the Darjeeling tea leaves yield a thin-bodied, light-coloured liquor with a floral …
At Jantar Mantar on April 8, Anna Hazare addressing people gathered in support of his movement. A FUTURE historian who browses the archives of Indian newspapers and news websites from April 5 to 10 will be confused over how to characterise the groundswell of public support across the country for …
PUBLIC interest lawyer Prashant Bhushan was nominated by Anna Hazare as one of the five civil society members to the 10-member committee constituted by the Central government to draft the new Lokpal Bill by June 30. With his father, former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan, also in the same committee, critics …
"Those that think that the market-led system is perfect are living in a dream... There is need for an optimal combination of around 70 per cent of market and 30 per cent state influence" - Ashok Gulati, Chairman Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Ministry of Agriculture, in conversation with …
The Indian state of Bihar has long been a byword for bad governance. It was however governed particularly badly between 1990 and 2005, and has since experienced something of a ‘governance miracle’. How can we account for the 1990–2005 deterioration? The answer lies in the interaction of three factors.
IF THERE ever was living proof of how bizarre our country is, then this week was probably it. Gandhians became demagogues and a people’s movement took on the shades of a dictatorship. And a government riddled with charges of corruption, ended up strangely smiling, as the cast of characters pointing …
Anna Hazare's long career betrays a naivete that makes him easy to manipulate. Rana Ayyub profiles the man who started the storm Those who have seen glimpses of 73-year-old Anna Hazare’s naivete in the past were apprehensive when he went on his recent fast. His integrity and resolve had always …
Anna Hazare’s hunger fast last week for probity in politics captured the news agenda and unleashed a nationwide frenzy. Declarations of victory may be premature since the real work of drafting a law on the Lokpal is only just beginning. Corruption is not an abstract evil that can be combated …
Many political leaders and intellectuals have criticised the Anna Hazare campaign on the Lokpal Bill for being anti-democratic and anti-political. But when the political class as a whole has failed to tackle corruption, a campaign that seeks to have a law enacted that will put in place a powerful watchdog …
AS MAHENDRA Singh Dhoni’s face knotted in intense concentration, 1.2 billion Indian eyes were on him. At Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, it was the most critical match of all. The World Cup final. Do or die. DO or DIE. And yet, not far away from the stadium, another Team India …
The environmental problems confronting Indian cities today have arisen because millions of people have been forced to live in illegal settlements that lack adequate sanitation and other basic urban services. This is the result of two factors. The first is the legacy of the colonial city characterized by inequitable access …
This paper attempts to measure the effect of castereservation policies on the provision of public goods and services in gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh using data from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The investigation finds that the effect of reservation varies tremendously in different social, political, and institutional contexts, …
Kazakhstan’s election commission believes that candidates for the presidential election, scheduled for April, need to brush up their knowledge of the Kazakh language. The commission’s head Quandyq Turghanqulov said the mandatory Kazakh language test for the candidates would be made stricter. Candidates would be tested for their reading, writing and …
This article suggests how the Gandhi–Ambedkar–Narayanaguru–Marx visions can be synthesised in support of the movement for the liberation and empowerment of India’s dalits. It brings out the beginnings and evolution of Gandhji’s sensitivity and opposition to ‘untouchability’. His perception of ‘untouchability’ was initially limited to ‘touch-me-not-ism’, but deepened after his …
The government has a plan to reach welfare to the poor without wasting money. It wants to put hard cash in their hands instead of spending on welfare programmes. Down To Earth finds out how cash transfer works and how ready is India for the shift in the delivery of …
It is logical for India to be one of the few countries to spend about two per cent of its gross domestic product on the social sector. After all it hosts the world’s largest number of poor. But it sounds illogical that nearly three-fourths of it is the cost of …
The papers in the special issue on Rammanohar Lohia (EPW, 2 October 2010) did not dwell on the socialist leader’s thinking on local governance and local development, ideas which continue to be relevant today for rural development.
High and volatile prices for key commodities, including food products, could spark unrest in poor countries, warned the heads of the WTO and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Interest in Lokpal has revived, thanks to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's diktat on fighting corruption. Here is the lowdown on a watchdog that neither the political nor the administrative executives want.
You have no doubt read about the scams and scandals associated with the infamous iron ore mines of Bellary district in Karnataka and Ananthapura district in Andhra Pradesh. Now you can see the film. Titled Blood and Iron it is a documentary of two and a half hours which will …
