Archive for the ‘India’ Category
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Agriculture, Food Grains and Peepli Live
When Saleem Kidwai, Agriculture Minister of the Union Government, played by Naseeruddin Shah, in the recent Bollywood movie Peepli Live said that the “solution” for increasing number of suicides by farmers was industrialization, the audience laughed at the naïveté of his comment.
Was Saleem Kidwai really naïve or was he stating a fact…or was he drawing our attention to an existing phenomenon?
How Religious Festivities are Becoming Social Fairs in India
Hinduism is a religion of festivities. Pomp, color, dance and music, assortment of delicacies, traditional costumes and merry making are usually associated with most Hindu festivals. Janmashtami- celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth, epitomizing the grandeur of Hindu festivities was observed in India on September 1. The Janmashtami celebrations, like most Hindu festivals, have come to highlight some specific dimensions of Hinduism portraying it as a religion that is ‘modern’ and ‘convenient’. The authenticity of these depictions can be challenged but it is the image of Hinduism as a religion marked by joyful festivities that feeds popular perception. Whether it is the Ganesh festival in Maharashtra or the Durga Puja Pandals in Bengal or the Navratri Dandiya nights in Gujarat, Hinduism is glamorized in the mainstream media.
Will Caste Census Change Anything in India?
The recent approval by the Government of India for caste based census has aroused concerns among political parties as well as social scientists and ethnographers. For the self-proclaimed ‘modernists’ such regressive measures are likely to heighten caste consciousness among Indians. While the pragmatists argue that data on caste can help the government to better target affirmative action policies and thereby address caste differences rationally. The fact however is the that caste as a social reality in India draws succour from multiple sources which will remain untouched by either the proposed census or the resultant official policies. Caste issues influence everyday life of Indians in countless ways.
2010 Commonwealth Games: Has India missed the opportunity?
A day after India celebrates the 141st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the man who led a non-violent struggle against the British rule, India will showcase her continued nominal ties with the British Empire by hosting the Commonwealth Games (CWG). However, the 2010 CWG have become more an arena of political wrangling and administrative corruption rather than a celebration of Imperial ties or sporting talent. India seems to have greater appetite for sports controversies than actual sports.
What Determines Our Standard of Living?
My family from India recently visited me in the U.S. I was excited to show them around the beautiful beaches of Northern California, my adopted home for the past few years. Parents of young Indians exhibit a great sense of pride when their children migrate to the more developed countries, especially the U.S. A sense of delight characterizes their conversations about how their sons or daughters were enjoying a higher standard of living in the most developed country of the world. The lovely weather, wide freeways, smooth traffic, the combination of clam chowder at Fisherman’s Warf with the greasy Indian food at Naan and Curry, cherry picking at Brentwood Farms, the game of Black Jack at MGM Grand in Vegas, breath taking shows at Universal Studios and sprawling Berkeley campus, I thought these would be enough to reinforce their sense of pride. However, the reaction was much contradictory to what I had expected; reaction which reflected the widely dominant social perceptions of a majority of Indians.
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Twitter in India
As I watched We the People on NDTV last weekend I began to wonder how India was redefining Mahatma Gandhi’s slogan of ‘Swadeshi’. The topic of discussion was “Is Twitter here to stay”. For the sake of contextualization, this particular episode was titled “We the Tweeple”. Having a sense of Indian mainstream media’s dislike for social media, I was not expecting the discussion to be very supportive of this micro-blogging trend. As expected, two themes dominated the discussion: 1) social media sites like Twitter can’t substitute mainstream media; 2) internet facilitated communication in India was largely elitist.
Bhopal and Gulf: More than Spatial and Temporal Distance
Bhopal Gas leak was the world’s worst industrial disaster, Gulf oil leak is America’s worst environmental disaster. Bhopal gas leak in 1984 resulted in 5000 to 8000 casualties, including thousands suffering after-effects for several years. Gulf oil leak began in May 2010 with the death of 11 people and the impact on natural life is yet to be ascertained.
After 26 years, seven people accused in the Bhopal case were awarded two years of imprisonment and each was supposed to pay Rs.100,000 as fine. The convicted were released on bail the same day. The U.S. is preparing to launch criminal charges against the BP, including the highest ranking officials.
India’s Unique Identification (UID) Experiment
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was constituted in January 2009 as an attached office of the Planning Commission. The UID brand was renamed ‘Aadhaar’ meaning foundation in April 2010. The logo of ‘aadhaar’ (finger print within a rising sun) adopted after a nation wide contest, allegedly represents a new dawn of equal opportunity for each individual, a dawn which emerges from the unique identity the number guarantees for each individual.
Is ‘trust deficit’ the real issue between India and Pakistan?
Almost twelve hours after P.M. Manmohan Singh addressed a ‘rare’ press conference in New Delhi, I felt uneasy on reading the headline of the WSJ article, “Singh Seeks To Fix Pakistan ‘Trust Deficit.’” My first reaction was that WSJ had got it wrong. I logged on to the website of the Prime Minister’s Office to read the transcript of P.M. Singh’s press conference. Surprisingly, the P.M.’s responses to all questions relating to Pakistan did give an impression that the onus for improving bilateral relations was on India.
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Gujarat to Introduce On-line Voting Facility
Another surprise from Gujarat; albeit a pleasant one. On-line voting will be introduced for the first time in India during the Gujarat Municipal Corporation polls scheduled for October 2010.
“The purpose for introduction of online voting is to make affluent class people vote, who generally avoid going to polling booths and standing in long queues to vote. Besides, youths will be attracted to vote in this manner,” SEC Secretary, P H Shah told PTI.
As expected, Gujarat Congress is not pleased with the move. “We are not against online voting in municipal corporation elections but ruling BJP’s step is for the benefit of a class and not for the mass. They think that by doing this, they will be able to make the upper middle class vote which is generally considered to be a vote base of that party,” Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.
Nikhil Pahwa suggests that Common Service Centers (CSCs) could be utilized as e-polling centers to facilitate the process.
Though the initiative is still in the early stages, it is a welcome move to encourage the reluctant middle class voters to participate in elections. At the same time, issues of authenticity of voters and secrecy of ballot are far from settled. Moreover, disinterest and non-participation of voters arise not only from reluctance to physically go to polling booths but from disillusionment with governance. Nevertheless, municipal elections in Gujarat can be a test case for introducing e-voting across the country.