Cover Story : Kejriwal: A political revolutionary or Machiavelli?

THE incandescent halo of Anna Hazare has dimmed like the smouldering ashes of a fire that has long gone cold. The heady feeling of his agitation among supporters seems like a bad hangover on a smog-choked Delhi morning. The draft of the draconian Jan Lokpal Bill is gathering dust in the corridors of power. And, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that was born out of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement stands reduced to a sad caricature of its promise of delivering an alternative politics that made it such a tour de force in India’s clamorous democracy.

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Global Scan : Playing with the minds of VOTERS

IN 2014, Nix, a senior person in Cambridge Analytica, the defiled and defunct UK-based firm that was accused of manipulating elections in the US (2016) and the UK (Brexit), wanted to test the accuracy of its voters’ database. “Do we have their phone numbers?” Nix asked. Yes, he was told. He reached for the speakerphone, and dialed one of the numbers from the list of American voters. A woman said “hello” on the other side. “Hello madam, I am terribly sorry to bother you, but I am calling from the University of Cambridge.”

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Governance : Mandate 2019: Calling for Stringent Social Audit

IN the Lok Sabha election 2019, hailed as a massive mandate, the BJP won 303 seats out of 543 i.e. 55 per cent of the total seats. This party had received 22.90 crore votes, which is 37 per cent of the polled votes and just about 25 per cent of the total 91 crores of eligible voters. Calling this massive mandate explains the warped nature of India’s archaic election system. In a country that boasts of using high technology (electronic) in the conduct of elections this is indeed pathetic. Is India really a representative democracy?

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Governance : Revitalising agriculture: Advisory services is the way ahead

IN India, foodgrain production has largely been possible through irrigated agriculture. But over 50 per cent of cultivated land that produces more than 80 per cent of nutri-cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables is monsoon dependent. Such land in ‘rainfed’ regions also face vagaries of aberrant monsoons, droughts, soil degradation, nutrient deficiencies and declining ground water table. We are a food secure nation notwithstanding. Ensuring nutritional security and climate change resilience are additional future concerns.

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Governance : Electric vehicles: Myths and reality

TODAY it’s almost impossible to access any news outlet online or traditional, without having at least one story about electric vehicles, cars, buses or two-wheelers staring in the face, making one think that petroleum-fueled vehicles are relics of history, except that there are hardly any electric ones on the road. Currently costing at least double than similar conventional IC engine ones, electric vehicles are hyped as a pollution-free alternative, which is somewhat ironic considering that they would have to be charged with electricity (82 per cent in case of India) produced by sulfurous smoke-belching coal-based thermal power plants. The recent diesel generator ban in NCR recommended by EPCA has been enforced with the same reason; except that no steps have been taken to ensure that the Discoms first provide a 24-hours uninterrupted power supply.

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by the way : Secretary Agriculture in soup

The way scandals are being exposed and probed, it seems the system is losing its grip on checks and balances.  What one can say when hears of Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarawal and the chairman of the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) Alok Kumar, coming under the scanner for alleged fraud of `2,267 crore of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited? The scam happened irrespective of known facts about DHFL’s maligned reputation.  

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