March 22, 2013 Viren Shah, who passed away recently, was more than just a veteran businessman and a public persona with gravitas. He represented a world of sophistication, courage and resilience that we Indians would do well to keep in our memories. His name had the Sanskrit resonance associated with bravery and heroism. He certainly […]
May 17, 2012 For Shirin Darasha,school was a democratic republic of talent Some lives are celebrations; there is a measure of fulfilment in writing about the departed person. Shirin Darasha ,who retired some years ago after a long stint as principal of Mumbai’s J.B. Petit High School for Girls, passed away recently. Thinking about Darasha’s […]
May 5, 2012 Our approach seems to be, Have problem ,do a quick-fix. We need to learn that ill-conceived fiscal fixes will not work A friend of mine told me with some anguish that the recent budget might be the worst in 40 years. The budget is one symptom. He was implying that we had […]
April 21, 2012 Christopher Hitchens died a few months ago. Lovers of English prose were dealt a serious blow. Luckily, he leaves behind the tender graces of a day that is dead. Arguably can be read as a long, classy epitaph written by one who knew that he was being inexorably beaten by malignant cells […]
April 13, 2012 Attacking tax havens is a cover to introduce the draconian GAAR A friend of mine tells me that the India-Mauritius treaty was signed in order to encourage Indian businesses to invest in Mauritius, not vice versa. Once it was signed, clever lawyers and accountants noticed that the fine print allowed companies from […]
April 2, 2012 Rajendra Prasad and Ambedkar on retrospective changes to laws To Dr Manmohan Singh Dear Prime Minister, We left your world many decades ago; when we left it, we were proud that we had left behind a good legacy. We had spent many years worrying about the fact that India’s history was replete with […]
March 24, 2012 India’s arbitrary policy environment has shifted IT and BPO jobs out of here, to more reasonable regimes To The Honorable Finance Minister of India Dear sir, I wish to introduce myself as the finance minister of the Philippines. I am truly grateful for all the actions that your excellent ministry has been […]
March 20, 2012 Telenor executives and social services officials, for starters, could do with some elementary lessons To The Honorable Minister of Education The Kingdom of Norway Dear Minister, It has been common knowledge that the education system in your country, as in those of your neighbors, is one of the best, if not the […]
January 14, 2012 This books content is pompous, and mostly wrong. Its style is by and large turgid with some passable chapters. The opportunity for a reviewer to be obnoxious and correct at the same time is rare: this is a bad book. Jeffrey Sachs is obsessed with messianic visions. The global economic problems on […]
January 14, 2012 Cho Ramaswamy is known to TV audiences as a political commentator who untangles for distant observers the inner drama within the political parties of Tamil Nadu. He has had a successful career in drama (playwright, director and actor),in cinema, in journalism (both as a columnist and as an intrepid editor). My focus […]