Ayaan – the new man of the house – arrives

Early this morning, at 6 49 am, at a healthy 4.4 kg, the big man arrived. I am in Colombo for a few weeks, hoping to make myself useful in seeing through the first month. Much to learn on the job and this really is the first time in a while that I am faced …

On austerity: not good enough, Mr. P Sainath

From a Mihir Sharma articleConsider, for example, the recent attack on Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia by one Palagummi Sainath, famously the favourite journalist of Press Council Chairman Markandey Katju. For a widely-read column in The Hindu, Mr Sainath Googled previous newspaper reports that Mr Ahluwalia had spent Rs 2 lakh a day …

Why legislation is not enough…

Lant Pritchett on the importance of implementationRights do not eliminate the need for administrative reform. Even if the government had funds for universal pensions, the mechanisms for pro-poor implementation would still be missing. Implementing a universal right requires changes in how the poor prove citizenship, access courts and apply for schemes; and in how bureaucracies …

Through the ‘Power lens’: why UPA remains a formidable force

Irrespective of all the economic and political disquiet, the ruling dispensation remains a formidable force - primarly due to its internal coherence regarding leadership.Lets look back at Steven Lukes and his analysis of 'power'. Lukes  introduced us to a three-dimensional view of power: a continuum in ways one can exercise power, ranging from coercion to …

Naveen Patnaik’s eventful UK trip

Last week, word spread that Naveen Patnaik and his entourage were cancelling a talk at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex. There were about ten news articles on this and being an IDS alum, this caught my eye of course. Apparently, a couple of rights groups and students had decided to ask a few …

UID’s errors, trials and reality checks

UID has apparently refurbished its system, fixing some pretty serious-sounding technical glitches. Some of the issues that have now been fixed - Tracking all the different enrollment centres/agentsEnsuring that the enrollment software syncs every ten days with the central repositorySecurity concerns in validating the operatorConsent forms for those being enrolledBetter validation to get accurate finger-printsBetter …