After white rule ended in South Africa, President Nelson Mandela set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to inquire into apartheid atrocities. He did not seek a Nuremberg-style trial to hang all the guilty, which would have created an irreparable […]
Wanted: Swachh budget with less fiscal fudging Read More »
Three years ago, Ratan Tata, head of the Tata Trusts, ousted Cyrus Mistry as the head of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group. Cyrus Mistry took the matter to the courts. He lost the first legal round
Charitable trusts must not exert corporate control Read More »
The killing of four rape suspects in an “encounter” by the Hyderabad police evoked rapturous joy in many TV channels and the general public. MP Jaya Bachchan called for the public lynching of all rapists. Meanwhile, many judges and columnists
‘Encounters’ need to end but the real culprit is a moribund judicial system Read More »
Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that without drastic action by 2030, world temperatures would rise by over 1.5 degrees, melting icecaps, hitting crops, and deepening poverty. It said the world must massively reduce carbon use, through
Don’t expect the poor to sacrifice for climate change Read More »
Statisticians are not crooks. But their methodologies do need to change Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar The government has junked the 2017-18 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) consumption survey which, accordingly to a leaked report, showed total consumption declining by 3.7%
Counting Correctly Counts Read More »
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected in 2014 on an anti-corruption platform from which he told voters, “Main na khaoonga na khane doonga.” Translation: I will neither eat (take bribes) nor allow others to eat. After the scam-ridden years of
How BJP is fast becoming like Congress in graft Read More »
When Narendra Modi was re-elected, optimists expected GDP growth to accelerate to 8%. Alas, it is plummeting towards 4%, having fallen steadily in the last four quarters — 7%, 6.8%, 5.6% and 5%. Expect a further fall to almost 4%
Sliding economy needs serious structural fixes Read More »
People lie in surveys. Which is why India needs a new methodology to gather data A leaked National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey says India’s consumption fell 3.7% between 2011-12 and 2017-18, rural consumption fell 8.8%, and rural food consumption crashed
Truth Be Told and Collected Read More »
Has the Supreme Court, long praised for independence and fearlessness, suffered some erosion of its tough impartial image, and allowed itself to be seen tilting towards BJP? This question will inevitably arise after four successive Supreme Court judgments in the
SC should not only be impartial but seen to be so Read More »
Indian exports have grown very little since 2013. No economy in the world has had GDP growth of 7% for a long period — the definition of a miracle economy — without double-digit export growth. Hence, the recent fall in
Do Not Hold Your Breath Read More »
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