It is important to acknowledge that Article 370 is a liberal concern
Writing in the Times of India, Jug Suraiya seems genuinely perplexed by what should be the liberal reaction to Article 370. Well, if intellectual honesty is valued, then the answer is clear enough. Nevertheless, kudos to Suraiya for at least discussing Article 370 especially [...]
Transforming a society is the hardest challenge for Nitish Kumar
In many ways, Tehelka’s cover story on Bihar breaks no fresh ground. It reiterates the usual talking points: improvement in security, investment in basic infrastructure, and a better business climate while pointing out that many pitfalls lie ahead and there is a long way to [...]
What the hell is Vir Sanghvi arguing?
There is a blogging elite on the prowl these days, argues Vir Sanghvi on, well, his blog. They criticize the media and television news channels for running after eyeballs at the cost of serious news.
The answer is obvious. Some of the more opinionated bloggers and tweeters believe that [...]
Can a responsible minister tweet?
Indian Express’ editorial on the latest media-manufactured Shashi Tharoor controversy—the minister’s purported comments criticizing Gandhi and Nehru for their foreign policy outlook—introduces a strange new dichotomy: Either you can be a “glib crusader for social media” or a “responsible junior minister” in Dr. Singh’s government.
Strange not merely because the latest controversy [...]
So to blame Rao for not being an entirely enthusiastic supporter of liberalization in a party which is officially socialist to this day is laughable considering its leader in 2009 credits a retrograde step like bank nationalization carried on in 1969 at the height of the socialist mania for saving the Indian financial sector in 2009! Or is it Sanghvi’s argument that Sonia Gandhi is an extremely enthusiastic supporter of economic reforms?
Pray, where do the figures come from?
Leave aside the wooly-headed conclusions for a minute or the nonsense about India owing something to Pakistan. What is particularly remarkable about Rajmohan Gandhi’s op-ed in The Hindustan Times is the amazing confidence with which he marshals figures bereft of any actual empirical work,
But the violent extremists who blast [...]
Too much money!
Retributions has previously argued that focusing on development or reward for surrender schemes in Maoist affected areas will be ineffective in absence of security as it is simply too lucrative to be a Maoist these days. How lucrative? The Times of India estimates that the extortion and drug smuggling earns the Maoists close [...]
Some consistency please?
So yesterday we heard from Aakar Patel why Britishers had left India six decades too early. Mr Patel explained, with great delight it appeared, how if only the Britishers had stayed around a few years more, things in India would have been much better. Indeed, if Mr Patel is to be believed, the [...]
Towards a better polity
By Harsh Gupta
The BJP is the only party which can be both truly nationalist and truly liberal – and while it has many defects it is much closer to those ideals, compared to other parties. The other parties are pseudo-secular and throwback leftists- these communal socialists believe in vote banks and socially [...]
Knowing the man!
Writing in the Indian Express, Swapan Dasgupta argues,
Patnaik’s go-it-alone gamble is premised on two parallel assumptions, culled from the results of municipal and panchayat elections over the past two years. The local elections, which were fought by all the parties independently, saw dramatic increases in the strength of the BJD, minor gains for [...]
