Many in India feel betrayed that neoliberal economic policies have not ended but increased fraud and corruption Corruption is not exactly new in India. Quite apart from the extensive historical evidence of its spread, during and after the "mixed economy" period of state planning, the "licence-permit raj" was regularly accused by commentators of breeding graft, constraining economic activity and forcing citizens to be at the mercy of corrupt officialdom at all...

A Tamil economist, the late S. Guhan, used to say that Delhi was a capital in search of a country. I was reminded of that remark during the fortnight of May 29 to June 11, 2011. In that fortnight, if one watched the ‘national’ channels or read the ‘national’ newspapers, one would think all of India was involved in one way or the other with the ideas and practices of...

This paper was presented at the Regional Workshop on War on Terror and Asian Democracy 17 May 2011, Kim Dae-Jung Convention Centre, South Korea organised by Solidarity for Democratization Movement in Asia (SDMA) Introduction In the discourse on terrorism and counter terrorism, September 11 stands as a watershed because of the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001. Government of India (GoI) also took full advantage of the ‘War on Terror’...

A senior member of the UPA dispensation, law minister Veerappa Moily, has demanded a white paper on black money, stoking the fire in the ongoing debate on the issue that has paralyzed the Congress-led government at the Centre for most of its second term in office.   A senior member of the UPA dispensation, law minister Veerappa Moily, has demanded a white paper on black money, stoking the fire in the ongoing...

Signs of softening of stand by management and workers The deadlock at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant continued on Sunday amid signs of a softening of stand by both the management and workers. Nearly 2,000 workers are currently on the ninth day of a stay-in strike. While the talks held on Saturday night between Haryana Labour Minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma and trade union representatives failed to break the impasse, another round of...