governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Xmas day, December 25, is also Good Governance Day (GG Day) in India, since 2014, to coincide with the birthday of the late Atal Behari Vajpayee, India’s hugely loved and respected Prime Minister. On GG Day, last year, the Government notified the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to replace the Indian Penal Code 1860 (IPC). A […]
Read More Harsh laws alone cannot stop “hit and run” accidentsThe Union home minister has said he wants to unshackle India from its colonial legacy by proposing to repeal three long-standing laws and to substitute them with three bills that were tabled in Parliament last week. Lest the public be misled into believing that this is just old wine in new bottles, he hastened to […]
Read More Unshackling Indian Criminal Law or Rebranding it?The film Joker – starring the amazingly versatile Joaquin Phoenix – now playing in the capital’s theaters – is a graphically violent and deeply despairing portrayal of a society sans any empathy for “losers” – those who end up believing they are one. Every society has its share of drop-outs, misfits and the unlucky. Good, […]
Read More Beware a dystopic democracyTerror, says our Supreme Court, is not just a heinous crime. It is crime with the intent of destabilising the Union of India and striking terror in the hearts and minds of Indians. We are not new to terror. But the digital age has made it easier for terrorists to instil fear and suspicion where […]
Read More Is a 26/11 terror redux probable?Moin Akhtar Querishi a suave Delhi businessman, educated at The Doon School – India’s Eton and St Stephens College – India’s Oxford, was our largest meat exporter in the noughties. His has been an enduring legacy at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – India’s premier corruption and big fraud investigation agency, which is regulated […]
Read More CBI the “caged parrot” sings out of tuneIn Britain, “buggery” between consenting adults became legal in 1967. Let me hasten to assure that I use the crude term “buggery” not to mock the LGBT community. This is the physical act, defined by its antiseptic moniker “voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, which was excised from Section 377 of the Indian […]
Read More #Gender & #sexuality norms #India 2018Conspiracy theorists are hard at work to identify the drivers behind the ongoing cash crunch, that has left the automated teller machines (ATMs) in cities and towns across large parts of the country dry. There is much finger pointing between the Reserve Bank of India and the commercial banks, both private and public sector, each […]
Read More What the cash crunch foretellsThe Narendra Modi government poses two conundrums for citizens. First, citizens want an effective government, like PM Modis. But they also value and actively guard their rights. Making a colonial-style government gallop, often means cutting corners and turning a blind eye to the encroachment of citizens’ rights. We are still very far from being China, […]
Read More The two conundrums of the Modi governmentRajesh and Nupur Talwar were having an impromptu pre-birthday celebration for their daughter Aarushi, at their Noida residence on the evening of May 15, 2008. Their live-in, trusted house-help Hemraj was about, as usual. Some time before 6 am the next day, both Aarushi and Hemraj were dead — the victims of horrific violence inside […]
Read More Bad police work or “perfect” murdersViolent crimes against children are grabbing headlines. The latest is the sexual assault and murder of a student in a private school’s toilet in Haryana’s Bhondsi, near Gurgaon. However, Haryana is not the most dangerous state for kids. That dubious distinction belongs to Delhi, with a crime rate (crimes against children per 100,000 population) of […]
Read More Keeping our children safe
Opinion India 