governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Do Indian voters remain deeply aligned with caste, clan and community (read religious) interests, as reported in the ongoing state elections? Possibly, yes, they do. Continued allegiance to traditional identities makes sense, if new ones never had the chance to take root. Industrial work was one such silo-buster, as is urbanisation. Both, have had a […]
Read More New social compact : wooing the underdogsAmitav Ghosh’s latest book—The Great Derangement—is an exploration of why contemporary culture, imagination and political systems have failed to prevent global warming, despite its cataclysmic long-term effects and disruptive short-term outcomes. His choice of the book’s title reflects the conundrum facing poor nations. They are not the ones who benefited from the carbon economy. But […]
Read More Book Review: Just erratic not derangedSolar powered sun and rain shades in India! India formally ratified the Paris climate agreement on Sunday, notwithstanding that Donald Trump trashed global warming, last week, as a hoax and efforts to control it as expensive and ineffective. The United States contributes around 16 per cent of world carbon emissions. Truculence in its approach to […]
Read More India’s “green” movesWhich of us does not enjoy pulling down the high and mighty? And the thrill is even sharper if these are people who may have breached laws whilst rising to dizzy heights. And so it was with the recent Panama Papers leak which opens a window into the morbid financial gymnastics of the amoral, global […]
Read More Dirty money: Joining the dotsAfrican heads of State will don Modi kurtas and party in New Delhi, October 27 to 29. The occasion is the third meeting of the Indo African Summit. It would be quite a sight to see Robert Mugabe, age 91, President of Zimbabwe for the last two decades, take a turn or two on the […]
Read More African “big men” in Indiaphoto credit: http://www.morror.uk.co So what did the Silicon dudes, collectively representing around $500 billion in purchasing power, think of the case placed before them by the self-made, roughhewn yet charismatic Indian Prime Minister — the man with a penchant for the dramatic? From the looks of it, they thought he was kosher. Someone they could […]
Read More The San Jose windowParis in December is not quite what it is in springtime. But who cares if someone else is footing the bill! Paris is the venue of the next Conference of Parties (COP), from November 30 to December 11. An annual jamboree that has been trying, since 1992, to limit carbon emissions and save the planet […]
Read More Climate “warriors” head for the December 2015 Paris joustOnions comprise less than 1% by value of India’s agricultural production. The average Indian consumes less than 800 grams of the stuff per month. Onion is a seasonal fruit. Supply traditionally dips during July to September as only the stored winter crop, harvested around March, is available for consumption. No dearth of onions photo credit: […]
Read More Some more onions pleaseFor rational people, if this breed actually exists other than in the imagination of economists, the most logical way out of the Grexit logjam was for Greece to vote “yes, we can”. Just by agreeing to take the pain of austerity measures, they would have got the amount required for this year, estimated at around […]
Read More Barbarians in the temple of DionysusPhoto: Sarah Ahmed: Indian. Pilot. July 4, 1995 — America’s Independence Day — Islamist militants take six tourists hostage in Kashmir. They decapitate a Norwegian and kill the rest, including two Americans. There has been no letup in the orgy of violence since. But now Islamists — Sunni and Shia militants — are eliminating each […]
Read More Will the Indian “Malalas” please stand up
Opinion India 