Don't trash this law, the fault lies in non-implementation

"The campaign against female foeticide will remain hypocritical and superficial as long as the nexus among profiteering doctors, politicians and bureaucrats continues to make a mockery of the legal provisions."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Don't trash this law, the fault lies in non-implementation: The use of sex selection technologies to abort female foetuses is linked to the increasing devaluation and dis-empowerment of women is well known. It is a truism that the law alone can never rid society of crimes linked to systemic discrimination and oppression. India on a trajectory of exclusive growth is strengthening and adding to inequalities based on class, caste, gender, community. Elected governments must be held accountable at different levels.

Issues of women's economic rights, of employment, of rights in decision making are critical in policies to enhance women's status. Any comprehensive national response to negative sex ratios must surely include these aspects which would be of far more use than the incentives being offered through inconsequential cash transfer scheme!

Don't tie down the India of ideas

"We need to free our universities from the stifling rules and quantitative targets which govern academic hiring and promotion."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Don't tie down the India of ideas: The point about the current rules is that when it comes to performance appraisal, it quantifies activity without sufficient correction for quality. Quantitative output targets that ignore the quality of outcomes in the university can be disastrous for a society. Quantitative targets, mindlessly implemented, are no answer to the very serious challenge the Indian university faces today, which is to compete in the global forum for ideas.

Imran Khan says Sachin Tendulkar should have retired after the World Cup

Times View - He still makes the grade
Counter View - Go out on top


-The Times of India, February 4, 2012

Just Target The Rich

The food security Bill should look to exclude the wealthy, not include only the poorest of the poor

Just Target The Rich

The division of population, according to the National Food Security Bill, into priority, general and excluded is equivalent to having "different entitlements under the public distribution system: major entitlements, token benefits and nothing, respectively."

The Bill does not lay down the inner working clearly, and leaves room for obfuscation. If the Bill has to pass, it needs to be clear about its entitlements. And if it is passed anyhow, its implementation "will be very difficult."

-The Times of India, February 4, 2012

Needed Urgently: An Education Revolution

Needed Urgently: An Education Revolution

"The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009+ test, which Indian students from Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took, are an indication of the abysmal state of our education system."

If India is to be counted as a developed nation, it will have to undergo, at first, an education revolution.

-The Times of India, February 4, 2012 

India's Slapstick Comedy

From politics to show biz, a new body language is proving a great hit

India's Slapstick Comedy

-The Times of India, February 4, 2012

The ring of slap is spreading wild across politics and show business. With Sharad Pawar being slapped, and Anna endorsing more; and Shah Rukh Khan alleged slapping of Farah Khan's husband, things are unfolding as a slapstick comedy! 

In clash of institutions, Pakistan's Supreme Court sets the pace

"Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken up three important matters - memogate, Pak PM's contempt of court, military's accountability."

Each of these cases, unrelated at one level, are part of an extraordinary spectacle unfolding in Pakistan, unlike at any other time in its history, in which the main institutions are engaged in a mother of all clashes, each pulling in different directions as they attempt to redefine or reclaim their turf.  The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : In clash of institutions, Pakistan's Supreme Court sets the pace

A meeting of minds between any of two of the three institutions might have ended the confrontation by now. Instead, there is a continuous attempt by each to wear down the other two through constant attrition. Predictably, it is the Supreme Court that has emerged the most confident in this war of nerves.

The ongoing tug of war in Pakistan has brought governance to a near standstill, sent the economy down the tube and left people weary of and depressed with the permanent crisis. 

Coping with disasters

"In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, a month after cyclone ‘Thane' made landfall, the affected communities are still struggling to put their lives back together. "

"Nothing tests the political will and administrative efficiency of a government like a natural disaster. It is the response mechanisms activated in times of emergency that people remember. The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Coping with disasters

Too often, the enthusiasm shown by officialdom in the days immediately after a disaster dries up in a couple of weeks. Without the pressure of public opinion, governments tend to under-perform and fail to keep promises made at the time of the calamity.

The decision of the TN State government to construct one lakh concrete houses at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore to replace huts damaged in the cyclone is a significant step in easing the misery of the victims. 

Let water, not profits, flow

"Access to water must remain a fundamental right."

Many areas in the country are water-stressed, and there are simmering inter-State disputes on sharing river waters. The state should uphold the right of the citizen to clean, safe drinking water. The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Let water, not profits, flow. It is such a strong, rights-based approach that should underpin official policy on water in India.

The National Water Policy 2012 should ultimately take a holistic view of the issue.

Breaking the strangle hold of nuclear safety regulator

A Gopalakrishnan, demystifies the nuclear safety bill with providing efficient background and explaining the nittiquitties...

Breaking the strangle hold of nuclear safety regulator

Gandhi and Nehru

The two greatest stalwarts of Indian political history has come under some cynicism due to certain key decisions that they undertook that have altered the path of the nation today...

Putting all that aside, they are two luminaries that India should be proud of and the author Amulya Ganguli laments their contribution to Indian politics.

"It cannot be said more than any other person, Gandhi saved us from an apocalyptic fate"

"A sterling role was played by Nehru in cementing the foundations of secularism by constantly reminding his countrymen of the country’s pluralism, and ensuring that democracy would strike firm roots."

Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, men who saved India

Transparency in nuclear safety bill

A Gopalakrishnan discusses the factors that have influenced nuclear safety regulations around the top countries that have this law and the startling differences of the same in the bill proposed in India...

Transparency in nuclear safety bill