When the opinion of the unattractive sweaty Indian is less important than that of his better looking, English speaking, compatriot. Diesel prices had gone up, and the input desk at NDTV in New Delhi had dispatched me to get reactions from customers at a gas station. Vox pop, they call it in the business, the voice of the people. I was interning in reporting that very hot month of June, so...

Rural India has been denied access to globalisation, penalising farmers and farm labour. For the farmer, the government's policy is best described as Dhritarashtra's embrace. After the Mahabharata war was over, the old king met his nephews, the victorious Pandavas, and embraced them, one by one, in a gesture of forgiving and affection. When, Bhima's turn came, the loving embrace was so tight that it crushed a metal dummy of the second...

-The Business Standard Petrol decontrol has become a farce It will soon be two years since petrol was decontrolled, but few will happily celebrate this second birthday. The government-controlled oil companies that dominate the fuel market continue to sell petrol way below the market-determined price, exactly as was the case in the pre-decontrol era. The promise made then to decontrol diesel prices and allow periodic adjustment in prices of kerosene and liquefied...

The growth rate of petrol consumption is set to fall below 5% in the current fiscal, the first time in five years. Meanwhile, the consumption of diesel continues to grow at 7%, adding to the losses of the oil marketing companies on account of subsidies. In India, diesel is subsidized while petrol is not, and the price difference has led to more buyers opting for vehicles driven by the cheaper fuel. According...

The water used to cool the Rawatbhata reactor was pumped back into Chambal river. Before and during my pregnancy, I drank the tap water supplied to us from the same river. I didn't go even so far as to boil this water. Nothing went wrong. Kudankulam has been in the news and how! Little did I imagine in 2002 that this remote area of southern Tamil Nadu where there are more...