Read this excellent op-ed in The Hindu by V R Krishna Iyer. I am glad someone is questioning what the Supreme Court says. In a recent pronouncement, the Chief Justice of India said that judges were “constitutional authorities” and not public servants, and therefore not covered by the Right to Information Act. In an excellent…
Category: Politics
India and Poverty
Came across this page when I tried to sphere content related to my most recent post. No, I don’t dispute any of the statistics. I am sure all of them are true. There certainly are 22 million cases pending in Indian courts. And all the other stats about rapes, discrimination, poverty, farmer suicides and the…
Free speech or irresponsible politicking?
India should adopt the chicken, and not the peacock as its national bird, says Jug Suraiya. Why? Because the government has allegedly been chicken hearted on issues ranging from Taslima to Tibet. Ok. Our esteemed Ms. Nasreen first. She recently left India to an undisclosed European destination, claiming that her physical security would be compromised…
Of apples and oranges
Here is a gem from Sitaram Yechury. I mean, who publishes such crap? Oh, a well-known newspaper like Hindustan Times of course. I actually checked if it was published under a satire or humour column or something. But no. I had overestimated their intelligence I suppose. And did you know that our dear Mr. Yechury…
Of politics and truth
On Sunday, I watched a talk show on Star Vijay titled “Neeya Naana”. The topic under discussion was truth vs. lies. One section accepted that they lied and justified white lies on the grounds that they were necessary for survival. The other self-righteously proclaimed that lying under any circumstance was bad and compromised basic values….
Security vs. Privacy…among other things…
I just came across this excellent article on the security-privacy relationship in an increasingly insecure world. Bruce Schneier sums up all the post-September 11 drama in two words: security and privacy. Which would you choose? About 90% of my readers would probably say security. After all, what exactly do you do with privacy if you…
The Udupi fiasco
If you took a look at the sports section of Google News India today, you would see that the change of guard at the Sri Krishna Temple at Udupi figured prominently. You are probably wondering what the Krishna temple has to do with sports. Nothing. Google classified the news wrongly. But, they have unintentionally demonstrated…
The United States, women and the right to choose
I have been meaning to blog for the past three days at least. Somehow, the end of the month seems to be a bad time for blogging. So, all I did was to bookmark several links for further reference. All the three things I was planning to address have something to do with the United…
Education, business, Kolkata burning and Ms. Nasreen again!
Yesterday, I read a satirical take on the state of education in today’s world. Humorous though it was, it deserves serious thought and discussion. This Rediff satire on the recent decision of the principal of a well-known Mumbai college to enforce a dress code in the middle of examinations is something worth talking about. Moral…
Nalanda, Asian universities and the former Yale dean
This opinion column by Jeffrey Garten (former Yale dean) in the New York Times is worth both reading and commenting. First, he acknowledges and appreciates the importance of Asia to the world in general. Second, he realises, unlike most other western policy-makers that countries like India, China, South Korea and Japan joining forces to create…