Analyses

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday owned responsibility for the Congress defeat in the elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Pailke (BBMP). But only had he been a bit more graceful, for in the same breath he asserted that it was not a referendum either on himself or his party. Siddaramaiah perhaps suffers from the Ostrich Syndrome, or is too arrogant to accept reality. The Chief Minister has been parroting this referendum line for a while, and only because he saw the writing...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech marking the first National Handloom Day has triggered some debate about the handloom sector. But unfortunately, as is wont nowadays, arguments for handlooms fluctuate between the revivalist (let's work towards an Indian pride) and the sympathetic (let's save the weavers). Unfortunately again, both indulge in rhetoric and bombast, cut off from grassroots realities. Modi was right in asserting that reviving the handloom sector can be a way to fight poverty...

Economic growth and development are not just about new products or product mixes and trading partners. What matters is not only about how much you export, but what you export as well. This has formed the backbone of the argument that the textiles and apparel sector can indeed lead from the front in order to ensure that the Make in India campaign of the Indian government succeeds. If there is anything after information technology (IT) that can propel India into global limelight, it is the...

Statistics of road accidents in Bangalore are a classic example of what numbers can tell depending on whether you have an ulterior motive in interpretation, or just want to look at figures dispassionately. Contrary to the popular notion that road safety scenario is worsening in the city, the situation has actually been improving over the years. Marginally yes, but improving nevertheless. The numbers are actually going down All the data that we had at our disposal were the six columns of numbers...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may or may not have succeeded on many fronts in the one year that his party has led a coalition government at the Centre. Many issues are debatable, but one that cannot be denied is the unabashed and relentless assault on those who speak for the environment. But examining the issue only through a saffron-hued prism, or one that selectively blocks out saffron light would not be correct – both are equally fallacious and self-defeating. It is important to understand...

Hectic parleys are currently on to end the impasse over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill that is hanging fire in the Rajya Sabha. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill, 2014 that was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 19, 2014 by Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley, has already been passed by the Lower House of Parliament, and is currently being deliberated by a Select Committee of the Upper House. Exact dates are still uncertain, and it is still early to...

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has staved off an immediate political crisis by asking for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the lottery scandal, but his worries are far from over. Barely two months after the state government had knocked at the CBI’s doors to ensure that there was a fair probe into the mysterious death of IAS officer DK Ravi, little could Siddaramiah have imagined that he would again have to seek the help of the country's top investigating agency to...

There is something surreal about the way people – from politicians to citizens – have been reacting to two incidents: the order of the National Green Tribunal penalising two real estate developers for unauthorised constructions in the city's lakes, and the frothing over of Varthur lake. The decay and obliteration of Bangalore's lakes is not news, and neither are the reactions of one and sundry. The outrage is misplaced, since it seems politicians and real estate developers are the only ones...

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who completed two years in office on Wednesday, will find the going get tougher by the day. Two elections are looming large on the horizon, and neither augurs well. The first is a prestige issue. The state government has been directed by the Supreme Court to hold elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) within August 5, something that Siddaramaiah has been stalling for a while. Being asked to hold elections, itself, is a loss of face for...

In early April came the slightly disconcerting news that the Union government was planning to dilute the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012. It may soon be illegal to employ children below 14 years of age in any type of commercial or paid work, except in family shops and ventures. It is the exception here which is the dilution in question. And, there’s more in the details. Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya, was reported in the media...