Electoral bonds: Why it is a giant scam
Imagine a house. The residents of this house are general fans of cleanliness. But one day, everyone wakes up to find a small pile of garbage in the living room. The residents shake their heads, point towards the pile, and start complaining. Suddenly, a cape-wearing bearded man appears and says:
INTERVIEW | ADR founder Jagdeep S. Chhokar on electoral bonds: ‘There is a lot still unaccounted for’
Jagdeep Chhokar. | Photo Credit: By special arrangement The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was the lead petitioner in the challenge to the electoral bonds scheme (EBS). It went to court in 2017 when the scheme was first introduced. Jagdeep Chhokar, one of the three founder-members of ADR, is a
Economic Perspectives | C.P. Chandrasekhar writes: How Thames Water symbolises the collapse of neoliberal privatisation
Thames Water, one of England’s many regional water monopolies, infamously privatised by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and symbolising the dramatic turn in economic policy that neoliberalism implied, is finally collapsing. Unable to mobilise £500 million from shareholders who have milked the company over the years, Kemble Water, the parent
India Inc. and its changing hues in BJP’s India
Across the posh multi-storey homes of South Delhi, there is a new common theme. Saffron flags lie limp in the oppressive heat at the entrances of houses, residential housing societies and on scores of balconies, teeming with planters and elaborate windchimes. Distributed ahead of the Ram Temple inauguration, the saffron
Economic Perspectives | C.P. Chandrasekhar writes: The hype around World Bank new chief Ajay Banga
Less than a year ago, Ajay Banga, a former chief executive of Mastercard, was picked to head the World Bank. Putting a Wall Street player addicted to profits in charge of a development institution claiming to help lift poor countries out of their underdevelopment seemed incongruous. Given that the Bank
Long on rhetoric, short on practice: Modi government battling corruption
A decade ago, in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi, then still the Chief Minister of Gujarat, famously declaimed: “Na khaoonga, na khaane doonga” (Neither will I take bribes, nor will I let others take bribes). He added that he would bring back illegal wealth stashed away
India’s employment crisis: Jobless growth, threat of automation, and impact of climate change on productivity
Unemployment and underemployment have always been important issues in post-Independence India. We have always been a primarily agrarian, labour-surplus economy with low capital stock that has manifested in low industrial productivity and a largely non-remunerative, monsoon-dependent agricultural sector. Key metrics for measuring the health of the job market are the
Editor’s Note | Vaishna Roy writes: Will India vote for what really matters?
As Prime Minister Modi stokes divisive fears, can the opposition offer a compelling alternative focused on lives, livelihoods and liberties? As I write this, a blazing summer is well underway across the country accompanied by the return of vitriol to the campaign trail. Prime Minister Modi’s brazenly communal reference to
Despite Election Commission’s campaigns urging every citizen to vote, millions of India’s migrant workers find it nearly impossible to exercise their democratic right.
“Among every 1,000 men in our villages, around 300 voters are working outside the State. It is not possible for all of them to return to cast their vote,” says Habib Biswas, 29, from Faridpur in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, who drives heavy vehicles for a living. He is, however,
India’s first opium processing factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur stands as a testament to the region’s rich history
The opium factory in Ghazipur | Photo Credit: Anand Mishra India’s first opium processing factory, set up 200 years ago in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh (UP) is now a thing of the past. There was a time, recalls Rudra Narayan Tiwari, a former journalist-turned-taxi-driver from Tiwaripur when the factory, ‘Govt