food sedurity Courtesy: Rigues/Flickr
8 November 2013

Food security and WTO

A recent UN report praises governments for promoting the right to food. At the same time, India’s Food Security Act will encounter resistance at the WTO meeting in Bali in December. Can India play an exemplary role in the global power struggle over food security?

Mars Lander Courtesy: NASA/Wikimedia Commons
6 November 2013

New Delhi: Myopic beyond Mars

At a time when China has invested substantially in its space projects and Russia is invigorating its space exploration, India too must develop a strategically-designed programme. The successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission should give New Delhi enough reason to increase India’s space footprint

flag meenakshi madhavan flickr Courtesy: meenakshi madhavan/Flickr
18 October 2013

The arrival of ‘outsiders’ in New Delhi

With the arrival of strong new political contenders for the next general elections, the discourse in New Delhi is changing. Anirudha Dutta blogs about these changes which, he says, can lead to a better and more transparent India with rule-based systems

bombay for sifra guy_incognito flickr Courtesy: guy_incognito/Flickr
3 October 2013

Raghuraman Rajan: Making Mumbai great again

Earlier in September, Raghuram Rajan took over as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for three years. While his entry has indeed alleviated the gloomy market environment in Mumbai, there’s more that needs to be done. How can Mumbai reclaim the natural cosmopolitan and intellectual legacy it once boasted of?

merkel cdu www.GlynLowe.com flickr Courtesy: www.GlynLowe.com/Flickr
27 September 2013

Germany after elections: Similar but not the same

It may take Chancellor Angela Merkel weeks to negotiate a new coalition, but the vote for stability means that change will only be at the margins of current domestic and foreign policy. Still, the fallout of the election in the EU and beyond, including in India, should not be underestimated

field woman Courtesy: Wendy North/Flickr
30 August 2013

Economic democracy, food security & CSR

Recently, the Indian Parliament passed two key legislations - the Companies Bill and the Food Security Bill. How will these seemingly unconnected legislations together empower technologies and business models that pose serious challenges to building a market economy that’s in sync with democratic aspirations?

manmohanchidammontek Courtesy: WikimediaCommons
26 August 2013

Dreams out, reality in

The economic mismanagement by the ruling UPA in the past few years – by putting politics and polls ahead of economy and prosperity, and slavish obedience to political masters – has created an environment of crisis and desperation in India. Where did the country’s so-called economic ‘dream team’ go wrong?

niyamgiri Rita Willaert flickr Courtesy: Rita Willaert/Flickr
23 August 2013

Fair business, fair growth

While the rejection by Odisha’s Gram Sabhas of mining projects in the state indicates the triumph of direct democracy, concerns that international investors will shun India due to the fear of unfavourable conditions are rife. How can we work towards both greater democracy and mining projects necessary for growth?