Indranil Banerjie

Jul 10, 2010
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Indranil Banerjie

Head in a tailspin

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to have gone into a shell; he rarely speaks out or announces the kind of measures desperately needed to instil confidence in the country’s faltering economy; he maintains a stony silence on the slew of reforms so necessary to repair the country’s vitiated political atmosphere; he seldom smiles and occasionally mumbles about coalition compulsions. From all accounts, it would appear that Dr Singh has withdrawn from the political frontlines.

Ignore democratic aspirations at your own peril

In politics, Napoleon Bonaparte had once declared, “never retreat, never retract...

India not anti-Lanka, it’s pro-reconciliation

India’s decision to support a UN resolution on a war crimes probe in Sri Lanka appears to have dismayed a number of commentators and experts within India. It is being made out that New Delhi acted foolishly and would end up alienating Colombo, which would now fall into Beijing’s lap.
One foreign affairs analyst even called the move “diplomatic hara-kiri”, suggesting that India would now expose itself to similar assaults from its detractors. It is also being insinuated that New Delhi would not have voted as it did had it not been for pressure from Indian Tamil political parties.

Turbulence ahead as regional forces gain

Conventional wisdom has it that state elections are usually fought over local issues and are not affected by matters of nationwide concern. This might no longer hold good if the results of the latest Assembly polls are anything to go by. The big picture that immediately emerges, and one that nobody has missed, is the rebuff that the Congress Party has received from the majority of Indian voters spread across the length and breadth of the country. And it cannot merely be due to local issues.

UP still a preserve of the satraps

Judging from the political signals emanating from Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest state which is in the process of electing a new legislature, the toss-up is between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

UPA’s ides of March in February polls

Five Indian states go to the polls next month and which way they vote could have a profound effect on the functioning of the ruling coalition. By all accounts, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is currently stuck in a deep rut largely of its own making.

Is India Inc incurring the Anna anger?

Booking a residential apartment in India is to enter into a state of agonising uncertainty. Even after pledging funds and signing dozens of legal documents, buyers cannot be certain of when they will actually get possession of their homes or whether they will get what was promised. Delivery schedules are more often observed in the breach; construction quality is routinely compromised; and at times even architectural and landscape plans are changed at will.

Steve Jobs: A man who changed our times

The death of Steve Jobs reminds us of the stark times we live in. As the world wept, shedding genuine tears for a change, at the passing away of one of history’s most remarkable inventor-entrepreneurs, it seemed that we had entered an era of the end of the role model. The paragons that remain are mostly stock exchange manipulators, greedy bankers, brazen politicians and bearded extremists who promise the return of paradise on earth.

The laaparwahi syndrome

Disclosures about Indian Parliament not having several critical security systems in place or a CAG report lamenting the vulnerability of the country’s two key railway stations in New Delhi and Mumbai do not come as a surprise to most of us. Nor do reports about the non-installation of CCTV cameras in and outside key institutions such as courts, administrative buildings and markets, despite an ever-present terrorist threat. Such instances of omissions by government officials and agencies are too endemic to elicit anything but public cynicism.

India must bridge the trust deficit

At the time when anti-corruption social activist Anna Hazare was captivating the country with his inspiring fast unto death, another equally distressing drama was being played out in the country’s stock markets. The indices of most stocks, which had started declining from the beginning of August, sank to their lowest levels in 14 months, wiping out thousands of crore of investor gains.

As a self-confessed hardliner, I must admit that being a part of the team engaged in Indo-Pak Track 2 dialogue has been very interesting.

In June 2012, world leaders along with thousands of participants from governments, NGOs and environmental groups as well as the private sector will come together in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for Rio+20

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