Solutions to Change

By Dr. D. Dhanuraj* In the recent times, the most sensational topic in Kerala politics has been that Solar Scam and how it has talked about Sarita Nair (said to be the chief culprit) in the whole scam. As the investigation and the daily media beats progress, it results in banality over what the reality reflects. This reality is nothing but the fundamentals of what led to the alleged scam. Why so many names are dragged to the controversy given their linkages to the scam? According to Doing Business ranking by the World Bank, India is doing is poorly so that the present and past dispensations in New Delhi started crawling at how to improve the business climate and investment opportunities in India. In the ranking of Doing Business, India is ranked at 134 as per 2014 report. Comparing 'starting a business' in India vs BRIC rank in 2014, India is positioned at 179 well below their counter parts. In the case of Kerala, Kochi was the studying point for the index in 2009...

By D Dhanuraj and Rahul V Kumar Among the top garment retailers in India, Fabindia outlet in Goa was in the limelight when an alleged instance of voyeurism was exposed by the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani. At least four employees of the store was arrested immediately following the expose. The Goa police allegedly cracked the case in less than a week and the accused was arrested.The Fabindia incident gained immediate attention of the public primarily because it involved a Union Minister.It is very likely to fade immediately more or less due to the same reasons. However, there were other important aspects of the case that remained less explored. In the forefront of these aspects is how ‘markets’ take up responsibility in tiding a crisis. Unlike the case fading suddenly, market responsibility is likely to have beneficial long term consequences. A major lesson that could be learned from the Fabindia issue is that ‘markets could bargain social responsibility more quickly t...

By Rahul V Kumar* Among State of Kerala’s many achievements, education at the school level has been emphasised as a major one. This in turn was reflected as having contributed much to the literacy rate as well as related achievements in the social indicators of the state. The institutional requirements for the same has been constantly nurtured by the state especially by providing financial supportfor a long period of time. The results have also been hailed. However, towards the pinnacle of the period in which the ‘Kerala Model of Development’ became a dominant conceptual framework to justify state intervention in social development, several researchers and activists pointed towards issues faced by the sector. Since the advent of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Kerala hence started focusing not on universalisation but on second generation problems faced by the educational sector. This involved addressing issues faced by minority communities, girl students or differently abled st...