India's poor need more purchasing power, not doles

The welfare subsidies, if one recaps, were introduced by the European rulers following the French revolution to entice their subjects. Such welfare subsidies did not adversely affect the overall economy since there had been easy flow of capital - predominately generated from the cap

Modi's role in NDA's shrinkage not surprising

An old joke about surgery - the operation is successful, but the patient is dead - can be applied to the latest rumpus in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party managed to push Narendra Modi some distance towards his coveted goal of being the prime ministerial candidate. But, in the proce

To Look East, India must first transform its northeast

Every time there is a prime ministerial visit to East or Southeast Asia, we dust up the two-decade-old placards and begin to wave them. The fading lettering on them proclaims that India is 'Looking East.' But as a nation, our attention span is limited. Therefore, the moment the visit i

Chavez was caught between the two-track approach

One of the greatest contributions Hugo Chavez Frias made to contemporary history was to activate participatory democracy. His concept, what he called the Bolivarian Revolution, was to combine structures of the state and parallel communal councils, alongside the Bolivarian social mis

An Open Letter from a Tamil to the Media Swamis

Dear Editors, The media is awash with a plethora of views on the recent developments in Tamil Nadu – the students' upheaval, the DMK's pullout from the UPA and the state Assembly passing a resolution seeking a referendum on Tamil Eelam. However,

Why for some Eelam is anathema

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's backing for the demand seeking a referendum on Eelam is a timely and welcome decision. Taking into consideration the demands of the still agitating students, the CM has demanded that the Centre take steps for conducting a referend

Seize the moment, shift burden of shame to accused

When the outrage ebbs, when people get back to work and students to colleges and it's business as usual, will Indian society still think that a woman who has been raped is a "zinda lash" (living dead) having undergone a fate worse than death? Unless the answer to that

Cry of an anguished working woman

The horrific rape of a 23-year-old woman by a gang of six men, who stripped, assaulted and robbed her and then dumped her on the roadside along with her male friend has outraged the nation. But for working women in the Indian capital, it is an everyday scary situation that could happen anytime