From the Editor : Anil Tyagi

At a NITI Aayog meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said that the goal to make India a five-trillion-dollar economy was challenging, but achievable. In terms of democratic governance, there is a three-fold way to achieve this objective – increase incomes from farm and industry, spend massive amounts on infrastructure, and rev up the services sector to unleash the spirit of entrepreneurship and self-employment. Any economic spur, especially through an expansion of the internal markets, is provided by growth in small and medium businesses, in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.    

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Corruption : FROM RAJ TO RAFALE 10 – Halal Street

Ever since the birth of the Indian stock market–the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the oldest in Asia, has its roots in the 19th century when a few brokers traded under a banyan tree near Horniman Circle–it was rocked by scandals. Earlier in this series, we introduced the readers to the ‘Thug of Bombay’, Roychand Premchand, and his controversial exploits in the 1860s. As the biggest trader in those days, he combined commodities, banks, real estate, and stock market to scam investors, before he was undone by his own acts.

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GOVERNANCE : 2019: An election sans integrity

Election is the essence of democracy and electoral integrity has certain basic ingredients. These include, impeccable electoral rolls, level-playing field for all contestants, ethical voting and polling and counting complying with essential ‘democracy principles.’ Election 2019 did not even have one. What is worse, technology has transformed people’s mandate into a machine-made verdict!

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GOVERNANCE : Toothless Commissioner

IN a well-functioning democracy, the righteousness and integrity of bureaucrats and constitutional authorities lend rigidity to the steel frame that is supposed to act as the bulwark in safeguarding the letter and spirit of the constitution. But when those entrusted with the onerous task of upholding the values enshrined in the constitution bend to the will of the politicians or those in power, the famed steel frame begins to crumble.

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COVER STORY : Jaishankar in cabinet; next, F-16 in IAF

Starting with Brajesh Mishra as Vajpayee’s NSA and ending with the Modi-Jaishankar duo, India’s slide into the US camp has been a guided affair. What’s new is that Modi felt his NSA, AjitDoval, couldn’t hack it and cut him off from policies and decisions pertaining to foreign and military affairs, his role all but zeroed out with Jaishankar formally outranking him.

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EYES WIDE SHUT : Environmental Governance in India, ISSUES, CONCERNS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Economic growth, and particularly consumerism, has led to intensive use of resources such as water, energy and materials, as well as extensive waste generation. Users value the input resources at less than their environmental costs, which leads to their over-exploitation. Against this backdrop, a strong focus on environmental governance, roughly defined as formal and informal interactions between the state, market and civil society, is critical.

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