Solutions to Change

by D. Dhanuraj A few days are left before the first batch of voters to go to the polling booths to select their representatives of 16 th Lok Sabha.  This time, unlike in the recent past, the most ferociously fought election with a multi cornered fight in many of them may go hay wire in the days to come. If exit polls could be believed, Narendra Modi is marching ahead with meticulous strategies and belle- belle oratories. Modi camp had started preparations a few years ago for this most spectacular poll showing but the emergence of Aravind Kejriwal and his group had added a new dimension to the arithmetic of the final outcome. Even though many pollsters are confident of BJP crossing 190 of its own and winning over the alliance parties in the process, others are skeptical about this and BJPcrossing the threshold. Their prime concern is about the outreach of BJP at national level and how many of these States could be the best bet for them to march into Raisina Hills. App...

  I always had the feeling that academic research in a reputable institution in India would provide us with the most democratic space to exchange thoughts and work freely. However, what is troubling, even after assuming that all these are available, is the question of sustaining this research activity. The pity is that what surrounds this seemingly democratic academic space is the hostile giant bureaucratic institutions like the University Grants Commission (UGC). UGC as far as I understand is a mess of activities with no transparency in what is being done. The simple story is this. The support that is offered by this regulatory institutions reaches the intended beneficiaries very late. When I say beneficiaries, I have in mind only the ‘sustenance researcher’ who has the ‘academic willingness’ but no ‘financial ability’ to work. There are many living realities amongst us who fall in this categories.   Researchers fall under definite categories: starting with the acti...

"Midway this way of life, I woke up to find myself in a dark wood, Where the right road was wholly lost and gone." Dante "The Divine Comedy" The liquor policy of the state of Kerala is ambiguous. We have access to information in the public domain that our exchequer is benefitting much from the sale of liquor. But the brands which sell more are also those that does not make sense drinking in tropical climates like ours. But of  course one need not make sense of everything he/she sees. However, it is important to raise the question of transparency. Firstly, the logic of higher taxes on liquor has not reduced its consumption as is obvious from the data. If we are bound by the spirits of Article 47 in our constitutions why not ban the sale completely. It seems that the state is bound between two extremes: the need to support a revenue base and promote a jittery consumer sovereignty by providing a difficult access to a product. Lets just get back to the question...