Posts Tagged ‘India’
Inflation is a Concern for India’s Growing Economy
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is credited with facilitating India’s economic liberalization in 1991, is currently under pressure over concerns of price rise and increasing inflation. Thanks to the economic reforms of the 1990s a color television in India is much cheaper today than it was two decades ago. However, the cost of food items has soared, forcing the consumer to spend a large portion of his/her income on essential commodities. In a country where onion prices have had a definitive impact on electoral outcomes, the UPA government has announced measures for providing relief to consumers from the sudden rise in food prices. Most of the proposed measures are criticised as populist and ad hoc.
Tackling Corruption in India Requires Discussion Before Reforms
The issue of corruption received plenty of attention in India during 2010. IPL, financial irregularities in CWG, Ardash Housing society scam, 2G spectrum allocation scam, alleged nexus of media, corporate lobbying and politicians exposed in the Niira Radia tapes - these were some of the more widely discussed corruption cases during the past year. The media expressed much disappointment on the report that India had slipped three places in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2010. India is ranked at 87 among 178 countries. There is a spontaneous urge to suggest that India is a corrupt country. Or to state it more dramatically, India has become a corrupt country. However, the issue of corruption in India appears to be overtly generalized and ignores some important nuances which need to be highlighted if the problem of corruption is to be genuinely addressed. The concept of corruption is better understood if we make the following distinctions: 1) difference between perception and practice of corruption, 2) difference between corruption in society and government and 3) difference between corruption in the past and present. Click to continue…
If you still have the appetite…another review of ‘India in 2010′
Pushed by recent posts on my favourite blogs and hashtags on my twitter timeline, I finally decided to pen down the year end review for 2010. Year end reviews are a great way to categorize people: one category of people are vigilant throughout the year to read and record ‘important’ events, people in the second category are simply smart enough to read the reviews while drafting ‘happy new year’ mails for friends and colleagues. There is also a third category, people like me who were not vigilant enough but feel compelled to write the review because they desire to follow the conventions of the blogging community. This review focuses on events in India during 2010 that surprised, shocked and impressed me (a convenient way to appear smart yet conceal my lack of knowledge about ‘important’ events across the globe).
This post is written with the assumption that the readers have already read more informed reviews and thus explanatory notes on events/people are avoided.
- Greatest Disappointment of 2010: I am not friends with Niira Radia, Barkha Dutt and Vir Shanghvi. And I think presence of Dutt and Sanghvi on my twitter list makes me a ‘follower’ and not a friend.
- Most Enjoyable Read of 2010: Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey. I confess that the book appeared on my reading list only after Mumbai University removed it from the English course syllabus for containing controversial reference to Shiv Sena.
- One man’s hero is another man’s villain: Arundhati Roy and Binayak Sen have felt me totally confused. If you support them you are anti-national or left leaning and if you oppose them you are an elitist who has no knowledge of ‘real’ India.
- My ‘faith’ has been upheld by the Judiciary: The Allahabad High Court succeeded where my parents had failed. The Court ‘found evidence’ that the central dome in the disputed Ayodhya temple complex was the birthplace of Lord Ram. Perhaps referring to Lord Ram as a mythological figure may now constitute contempt of court.
- I am a ‘Brahmin Indian’: The Unique Identification (U.I.D.) program is an attempt to reassert my identity as an Indian national when the caste based census seeks to record my caste.
- Growing citizen-state interaction in India: Apart from election campaign and visits to bureaucracy, the Indian citizen interacted with the state in diverse ways. You can protest against the state as the Kashmiri youth did; appeal to the state as the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy did; attack the state symbols as the Naxals did in killing 72 personnel of the CRPF; blackmail the state as the Gujjars did by stalling transport.
- India is a world power: President Barack Obama said so and we proved it by successfully pulling off the Commonwealth Games and getting elected as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Moreover, isn’t it a great achievement that Heads of State/Government of the P5 visited India in 2010?
- Person of the Year: How can a year end review be complete without identifying the person of the year? In India it was the ‘aam aadmi’. The ‘aam aadmi’ featured in Rahul Gandhi’s speeches, in Nitish Kumar’s electoral success, in Bollywood hit Peepli Live, in protests against hike in onion prices, in the need to make media credible and in Tata Nano’s ‘aapki khushiyon ki chaabi’ ad. Though the term ‘aam aadmi’, has been occasionally used in India over the years, it now offers the midas touch for any marketing strategy, political protest, economic decision or election campaign. Even though it is unlikely that much will happen to the ‘aam aadmi’ in 2011 but the ‘aam aadmi’ narrative will continue to dominate the social, political and economic discourse in India.
As India Prepares for President Obama…
India is getting ready for U.S. President Barak Obama’s visit to the country beginning on November 4th. Apart from the political and diplomatic dimensions of the visit, the most interesting aspect is the Indian media’s pre-visit coverage. Editorials in leading news dailies and comments by strategic observers in the run up to President Obama’s visit have a different tone this time. Visits by U.S. Presidents are usually hyped as historic, path-breaking and momentous. However, caution seems to be the more dominant sentiment this time.
U.S. and India Viewed as Natural Allies
On October 20, 2010 Center for a New American Security (CNAS) released a report titled Natural Allies: A Blueprint for the Future of U.S.- India Relations. The report discusses vital aspects of U.S. - India relations in the run up to President Obama’s visit to India in November. The report, endorsed by a nonpartisan group of more than 20 American and Indian experts, recommends “a bold leap forward” in the U.S.-India relationship. It is co-authored by Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state in the previous administration, and Nicholas Burns, formerly undersecretary of state in the previous and the current administrations. Proximity of CNAS to the Washington establishment calls for a close reading of the report to gather hints about the focus of President Obama’s upcoming visit and future of bilateral relations.
India Secures Non-Permanent Seat at United Nations Security Council
The news of India’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council was reported with a sense of elation by the national media. Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna referred to it as a “chance to prove worth” for the big throne indicating India’s claim for permanent membership of the Security Council. The South Bloc is also excited about the fact that Pakistan voted in favour of India’s membership. The enthusiasm though comprehensible needs to be tempered.
Impressions from Kapil Sibal’s Talk at CSAS, UC Berkeley
Defending the official policies (or the lack of it) while interacting with an audience in the U.S. can be challenging for a Minister of the Indian Government. Kapil Sibal, India’s Minister of Human Resource Development and Education, needs to be given credit for putting up a great show as a representative of the Government of India. I had the opportunity to attend his talk on September organised by the Center for South Asia Studies (CSAS) at UC Berkeley campus. He did a great job in defending (rather than enunciating) the government’s education policy. However, it seemed that Mr. Sibal was still disturbed by critical comments made during the panel discussion hosted a day prior to his UC Berkeley interaction by Yale University, the U.S. India Business Council and the American India Foundation. At the panel discussion in New York, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi challenged Mr. Sibal on what “action” his government was taking and Fareed Zakaria questioned him on how to benchmark India’s progress with that of China. The mood at Berkeley during the initial interactions was somewhat sober. Graduate students of Indian origin were keen to know about possibilities and opportunities available in India.
Ayodhya Verdict: Faith Is Not a Zero Sum Game
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahbad High Court delivered its verdict on the contentious Ayodhya Entitlement dispute on September 30. It was a rare occasion when the issues of divinity and faith were awaiting clarification by a judicial body. Most Indians were more anxious about the fallout of the judgement rather than the actual verdict. Peace appeals by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, prominent political figures, leading personalities form the entertainment industry were employed to calm populist tempers before and immediately after the verdict was pronounced. Many had argued that the verdict was an occasion to demonstrate India’s commitment to secularism and respect for Judiciary; an opportunity to show that India had moved beyond 1992. Though disagreements over the judgement abound, the recent verdict has asserted that maximalist positions on religious issues are unacceptable in a multi-religious and multi-cultural country like India.
India, CWG and Beyond
There is no dearth of reports, articles and analysis on India’s preparation or the lack of it for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010. Apart from the Indian news channels inviting ‘experts’ of all hues to comment on what went wrong and the national mission to discover where the ‘buck stops’, criticism in the international media has been equally acute. The level of corruption and delayed preparations are a cause of concern and hopefully the CWG experience will allow the Indian state to get its act together. However the sweeping criticisms have two dimensions which need to be disentangled: what the Indian state is capable of achieving in the context of the country’s social milieu and what the international community expects of India.
Controversy Over Home Minister’s “Saffron Terror” Remark
India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram during a speech at the conference of State police chiefs and Inspector-Generals of police cautioned against the emerging phenomenon of ‘saffron terror’. The Home Minister’s comments have proved controversial with the Opposition Party, Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJP) demanding an apology. Semantics apart, Home Minister Chidambaram’s comment was not frivolous.