Eyes Wide Shut : Unwelcome Change

STRANGE are the ways of the government at times. For instance, in the beginning of the twentieth century, the government of Madras Presidency created two posts of LBC (Linlithgow Bull Clerk) and LBA (Linlithgow Bull Assistant) merely to please the incoming Viceroy; and the two posts were abolished only in the 1970s on the recommendations of the State Finance Commission.

Corruption : From Raj to Rafale 4 – Mahatma and Millionaires

TODAY, a whiff of crony capitalism, i.e. a politician helping a businessman or vice versa, results in a scandal. But in the pre-Independence era, when India and Indians fought for freedom from the British Raj, there was no such stigma and putridity attached to such connections. Businessmen openly rubbed shoulders with politicians, and the latter publicly walked with the former. Industrialists funded the freedom movement, and the national leaders backed the former in shaping British’s economic and business policies.

gfiles Governance Awards : Daring Challengers

THERE was a consensus among central ministers with previous experiences in civil services, and former and serving civil servants that the mainstream media and society does not highlight the good work done in the field of administration and governance. Prabhat Kumar, former Cabinet Secretary and the first Governor, Jharkhand, felt that “good work is boring” and, therefore, “not highlighted”. General Vijay Kumar Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, thought that “many who do tremendous work go unrecognised”.

Governance : Invisible enemy

INDIA is at war with an invisible enemy. This adversary in none other than smuggling and counterfeiting, which are together termed as illicit trade. Illicit trade is the world’s largest growing industry and its size is estimated to range between $650 billion and $3 trillion according to multiple studies. This evil business represents 10 per cent of global trade and has been termed as the crime of the 21^st century by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

IT was in 1975 with the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI), ‘Towards Equality,’ that the issue of declining sex ratio as an indicator of the status of women was brought into the public discourse. Mazumdar, the main architect of the report, points out, ‘For the Committee on the Status of Women in India, the declining sex ratio was both a discovery and the most convincing measure to provide body and substance to its grim findings’.

Society : Ayodhya through the ages

AYODHYA is the Jerusalem of Eastern religions. This ancient city is the ‘Promised Land’ of Ixvakus. The children of Ixvaku established Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism here. The children of Abraham cultivated Ganga-Jamuni culture in Ayodhya. Like Jerusalem, it has witnessed many a rise and fall, though Ayodhya means unconquerable. Serving the mightiest is the religious place’s burden. Ayodhya too has dutifully served the mightiest in its many avatars.

gfiles magazine

December 6, 2018