The $12 billion Posco investment in India was supposed to be the biggest FDI project in the country. After six years that still remains on paper Horangineun jugeumyeon gajugeul namgigo, Sarameun jugeumyun ireumeul namginda (When tigers die, they leave behind leather. When people die, they leave their names behind) —Old Korean Proverb The news flash from Press Trust of India came on July 10, 2011. Posco, the $32 billion South Korean steel giant had decided to...
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The Institutions of Democracy by Andre Beteille
This essay describes and compares Parliament and the Supreme Court and examines the relationship between them. Parliament may still be a great institution, but its members are no longer great men. How long can a great institution remain great in the hands of small men? The SC has held its place in the public esteem rather better than the Lok Sabha, despite the occasional allegation of financial impropriety. Parliament, the...
More »Managing the Murdochs
-The Business Standard The latest controversy in the British media, triggered by unethical professional practices by journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, holds important lessons for the Indian media, and not just because Mr Murdoch has a significant presence in India and seeks more. The most important lesson is that public policy must prevent the emergence of all powerful media moguls like Mr Murdoch. The extent of concentration in...
More »Azad clarifies on ‘gay sex-is-unnatural' remark
-The Hindu Under fire for describing homosexuality as “unnatural,” Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday sought to clarify and explain the extempore remarks he made at a conference the previous day. Mr. Azad said he had been quoted “totally out of context” by a section of the media, which reported him as saying that men having sex with men was a “disease.” A review of the video recording of his...
More »“UPA indifferent to women's plight”
-The Hindu The inordinate delay on the part of the Congress-led UPA government in enacting laws to prevent sexual assault on women is taking a heavy toll and exposing them to various forms of violence, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat said. Ms. Karat was here to participate in the 12th State conference of the All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) which concluded on Wednesday. Later,...
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