governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Over 125 years ago, in May 1893, a diminutive, young lawyer boarded a first-class train compartment at Durban on his way to his new workplace in Pretoria, South Africa. At Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in the middle of the chilly night, over 500 km short of his destination, he was evicted. He had a valid ticket. […]
Read More Gandhism – ethics? or just good politics.Bimal Jalan exercises the writer’s privilege to box his reflections between three inflection points. The first is 1980, ostensibly because 1977-79 was the first time the Congress lost power at the Centre. The second is 2000, being the start of a new millennium. And 2014 is the bookend when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National […]
Read More Bimal Jalan reflectsIn a welcome change of national focus, becoming rich is no longer enough unless the poor are taken along. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is very au fait with international headwinds, was prescient in his December 31 address. For the first time, it was not the youth, nor non-resident Indians, nor Hindus, that the PM […]
Read More Fiscal courage needed on Feb 1, 2017Amitav 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 derangedOnions 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 please(photo credit: http://www.financialexpress.com) Reposted from Asian Age May 15, 2015 http://www.asianage.com/columnists/modi-s-trilemma-1 India’s bland foreign policy has traditionally been based on the principle of “please all and offend none”. Things changed under Indira Gandhi when we pivoted to the Soviets and teamed up against the “capitalists” in the West. But post-1990, once the Soviet dream evaporated, […]
Read More PM Modi’s Foreign Policy “Trilema”photo credit: http://www.dw.de Forty Eight years ago on March 23, 1977 India emerged from the darkness of a 21 month long “national emergency (Article 352 of the Constitution)” into the light of full restoration of fundamental rights. Indira Gandhi- the then Prime Minister, a feisty mother, tired of the excesses of her son- Sanjay Gandhi, […]
Read More Lest we forget our “dark” non-democratic past(photo credit: archives.financialexpress.com) Delhi Assembly election 2015 is beginning to resemble a Greek tragedy for the Bharatiya Janata Party. What a change from the national elections in May 2014 when the BJP shone in comparison to the inept Congress Party. The motley crew of small regional or local parties (like the Aam Aadmi Party) also […]
Read More BJP, take five!(photo credit: http://www.occup.now.com) Climate change took the world by storm in 1995 –two decades ago in Berlin– with the 1997 Kyoto “club of doom” postulating devastation if carbon emissions- primarily from the use of fossil energy- were not reduced. The previous such “natural resources” doomsday club of scientists was the “Club of Rome”, which famously […]
Read More Get beyond the Lima “Lemon” to effective domestic climate governanceThe duality of India’s gender equity environment is pretty extreme. At the very top there is nothing new about upper crust women exercising political power; Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century; Begum Hazrat Mahal in the 19th ; Indira Gandhi in the 20th and Sonia Gandhi today. Post-independence, the glass ceiling at the workplace has […]
Read More Gender benders and the Indian State
Opinion India 