All Topics
Academic Themes
Current Affairs Archive
I have not been updating it often enough…if this goes on, I may rename this page “history”!
-
People without a crisis
Posted on April 8, 2013 |Some people are in a crisis and others are enjoying prosperity...who should the government help? A serious policy debate. -
Corruption in the PDS & will coupons or cash transfer work better?
Posted on May 9, 2011 |This is a part of a series of articles on the proposal to shift from PDS to coupons or cash transfers. To see the introduction, click here . The level of corruption in the public distribution system has been one of the rallying points in the cry for change. The following are some of the corruption related arguments for change: There is large scale corruption in the system It is undeniable that there is a lot of corruption in the PDS, and something needs to be done about it. In arguing that we should shift from PDS to coupons or cash transfers,... -
Understanding UID through “radio tags”
Posted on February 2, 2011 |“Do you want to wear an anklet or do you want to go to prison?” said a US consular officer in Hyderabad about the tagging of some Indian students in the United States to monitor their movements. These anklets contain a GPS device that closely monitors the movements of the students, and will alert officials in case they move beyond areas that they have been authorised to. The anklets provide a useful analogy to the Unique ID (UID) project by the government of India. Let me explain. In an article entitled Prison without walls, Graeme Wood argues that such radio... -
Why even those who oppose Naxalism should support Binayak Sen
Posted on December 31, 2010 |Binayak Sen has just received a life-term jail sentence for sedition or waging war against the state. The specific crime, according to the judgement, was that he conveyed three letters written by a Maoist leader to a Calcutta-based trader. This was supported by a broader claim that Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina have known Maoists, and that Binayak even had Maoist literature at his home! Callous evidence The evidence presented for the critical claims of the case have been disputed. He met Narayan Sanyal several times in jail, under the supervision of jailors and was searched before and after... -
Has the Bihari citizen spoken?
Posted on December 11, 2010 |The 2010 Bihar election clearly reflected people’s voice, but sustained engagement by all sections of the society would be required for these voices to shape the government. In a press conference following the massive victory in the election, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remembered the massive changes that have happened in the electoral atmosphere of Bihar. As soon as the election got over, we would visit hospitals or families of dead people. It did not look like an election; it looked like war, he recalled. He also characterised erstwhile strategies of political parties during elections as logon ka kayal kam,... -
Should India seek a position in the Security Council?
Posted on October 12, 2010 |Ever since I got interested in foreign policy issues during my high school days, there has been one strident demand by India’s Ministry of External Affairs: to get a permanent membership in the Security Council of United Nations. Today, India re-entered the Security Council by being elected as a non-permanent member, a post it will hold for the next two years. This has been greeted with euphoria in the country, and some are hoping that the clout of this position can help India to bargain for a permanent seat in the Security Council with its veto power. India has consistently... -
Jaswant’s Obama-like interview on his Jinnah biography in CNN-IBN
Posted on August 17, 2009 |In an Obama-like interview Jaswant Singh deals with a complex and polarizing topic like India-Pakistan partition with sensitivity and statesmanship that is rarely seen in Indian politics. -
Will trained workers in Panchayats improve the quality of NREGA?
Posted on August 15, 2009 |Mihir Shah argued in a recent article that trained workers should be appointed in each Panchayat if NREGA has to fulfill its promises. While Panchayats need personnel to implement NREGA, I argue that for the purpose of planning it would be better to create nodal agencies that take up planning sound works in a campaign mode. -
Best international news programmes: A list
Posted on December 30, 2008 |An effort to build a list of good international news programmes to get news from diverse perspectives Over the last few years, I have developed an interest in international affairs. Unfortunately, International English news sources were dominated by channels in USA and Britain. BBC and CNN that were available widely had some high quality programmes but put forward highly circumscribed views. My earning for diversity of views got a fillip with online news channels. I am now trying to compile a list of good weekly programmes, documentaries, etc. that we can watch now and then to catch up with major... -
India: Union & State budgets search engine
Posted on February 21, 2008 |A search engine to search India’s Union budgets and State budgets (available) in one click A wealth of materials is available online today about budgets in India. Unfortunately they are dispersed across dozens of websites that take time to find. This search engine will enable to to search official budget websites of Government of India and most state governments in one click. It is periodically updated. The results are not perfect, but it is the best that I was able to produce given the clutter and the constant changes in the budget websites of various states. Loading
