www.crdj.in

Friday, Nov 22nd

Last update04:55:26 AM GMT

About Guides FAQs

Font Size

Screen

Profile

Layout

Direction

Menu Style

Apply Reset  
Cpanel

Mynas hop as it rains

By Sidharth Mishra

There was a debate last week in our office about how to decide if Monsoon has arrived in the national Capital. The chief reporter had an easy answer that we could look forward to the bulletin of the Met department.
Well, that’s true, but the Met department could also turn back and say that although Monsoon has arrived, the rains are deficient by 90 percent. In this time and era, when everybody is in a rush, I do not know if people would have time to read, forget devouring a Monsoon copy of yore.
I certainly do not purport this week’s Notebook to be a copy on Barkha-Bahar but wanted to share with you one of my idiosyncrasies, watching the behaviour of the mynas, India’s most ubiquitous neighbourhood bird. Mynas and the flowering gulmohar trees are integral features of capital’s summer. 
Add a comment

Read more...

Onus on India to save Sufism

By Sidharth Mishra

Last week, well-known Qawaal Amjad Sabri was gunned down in Karachi. One wonders why a man spreading the message of goodwill would have enemies. Sabri was a symbol of Sufi school, the liberal face of Islam which believes in syncretism.
 This version of Islam is popular among the believers of Quran living in the shadow of Hindukush range, from Sindh, Punjab, Pakhtunkhwa, and Kashmir, since long before international boundaries made these geographical identities part of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The entire region is dotted with abodes of Sufi saints who spread the message of good will and believed in promotion of fusion of cultures through poetry, music, and dance forms. These practices are anathemas to the Wahabi School of Islam, which charges Sufi practitioners of promoting idolatry, something which Islam prohibits.
A very thought provoking article penned by historian William Darlymple published following the gunning down of Sabri mentions how Sufi shrines in these regions are slowly being throttled by Wahabi preachers,
Add a comment

Read more...

Farce over Mallya

By Sidharth Mishra

Almost all the newspapers last Sunday had on the front page the report of Indian High Commissioner in London Navtej Sarna walking out of an event where industrialist Vijay Mallya was present. Mallya is a declared offender for money laundering and his presence was said to be a source of big embarrassment for the Indian envoy and he decided to leave.
 However, on closer examination, it is discerned that the embarrassment for the Indian envoy was less on account of Mallya’s presence and more on account of being taken to task by a hyper-active social media, which went on to comment about Mallya’s presence as “the absconder rubbing shoulders with the envoy”.
The very “dynamics” of the event would show that the government or its representative in London is little averse to Mallya'sname as far has it remained discrete and saved them from any embarrassment in public. Coming back to the event, it was scheduled to release lobbyists Suhel Seth’s book “Mantras for Success: India’s Greatest CEOs Tell You How to Win”. 
The function was organised by the 100 Foot Journey Club, set up as a collaboration between the Indian High Commission and London School of Economics (LSE) last month as a forum to discuss and debate issues of contemporary relevance within the India-UK sphere.
Add a comment

Read more...

BJP needs a face in UP

By Sidharth Mishra

The meeting of the political executive of the ruling BJP in the city of confluence of rivers Ganga and Yamuna has concluded. What is the message which 300-odd members present at the occasion carry home? 
The party spokespersons at the briefing were at pains to explain that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is party’s sole brand. If any doubts persisted in his inaugural address, party president Amit Shah made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that Prime Minister Modi did not share the tag of prima donna with any leader.
Through a series of points, Shah said that while Modi has empowered the office of Prime Minister at domestic level, on the international front he has “helped India emerge as beacon of 21st century.” Shah also indicated while the Bharatiya Janata Party government may not have broken the ice with the minority community within the country, at the international level, Islamic nations were falling over each other to felicitate Narendra Modi.
To the surprise of many, Shah preferred talking about the Assam mandate and the excitement in the BJP top brass for the expansion of the party in Coromandel region over the clear road map the party would adopt for the crucial Assembly polls in the politically significant state of Uttar Pradesh.
Add a comment

Read more...

New dawn a far cry

By Sidharth Mishra

The celebrations commemorating two years of NDA II rule at the Centre have just got over. The main function was held at India Gate and christened as “Ek Nai Subah”, meaning a new dawn. 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, BJP president Amit Shah, and the whole pantheon of the ruling party leadership has ferreted out statistics - with due apologies of director of magnum opus Three Idiots Rajkumar Hirani - claiming “All Is Well”.
Well, today’s Notebook doesn’t purport to dispute the government’s report on its performance in the past two years but the mandarins of North and South Block would agree that statistics alone, especially those pointing to economic functioning, seldom give a clear picture of social harmony. And for certain the new dawn is still a few years away.
The ongoing summer season has thrown up several issues which should concern both the government and the ruling party. There was the worst-ever forest fire in Uttarakhand, there was the mayhem created by the freak Babas in Mathura, and of course the case of ousted Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse. Your reporter has chosen three case studies representing environmental, social, and political turmoil in the country.
Add a comment

Read more...

Moving towards new federalism

By Sidharth Mishra

It’s a cliché to say India is a vibrant democracy. With two rounds of elections every year caused by different state Assemblies going to polls at different times, politics continuously overshadows governance. 
Given the short gap between the two elections a defeated leader becomes the victor in six months. This has seldom given an opportunity to discuss what shape the Indian polity has taken with frequent elections in the past decade or how these elections and their results have impacted our democracy.
Frequent polls have led to a situation wherein party leaderships are focussed on short-term gains and party top brass in concentrating powers in its own hands. With the exception of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left, if it still matters in national politics, most of the parties are running in proprietorship module. Today’s Notebook will try to examine the future of some of Indian polity in light of the frequent elections.
Add a comment

Read more...

BJP’s gamble on campus

By Sidharth Mishra

In the midst of the hoopla over BJP’s victory in Assam and the government spokespersons rushing to give credit to Narendra Modi government, the Centre has come up with a policy which is going to leave a large number of teachers in higher education jobless. Needless to say, this policy can harm the BJP electorally in times to come and one would have to ascertain whether it is a risk worth taking.
The recent amendment to the UGC Regulations has stirred a hornet’s nest on the campus with the teachers up in arms. The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) has already given the call for the boycott of evaluation of the examination papers, which may delay results of the annual examinations.
Despite being a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), veteran teacher leader Inder Kapahy has said that “the scheme would be unmitigated academic disaster.” Under the amendments, though the media ran to town on students evaluating teachers’ performance, change in the working hours which is causing greater concern as it is going to leave a large number of teachers jobless.
The amendment has increased the direct teaching hours for Assistant Professors professors from 18 to 24 hours per week and for Associate Professors from 16 to 22 hours.
Add a comment

Read more...

Expedient to blame judges

By Sidharth Mishra

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would sure be a market leader if he were to publish a book on quotable quotes. Jaitley’s finesse with speech, intellectual depth and experience at debate both at the University and later in the courtrooms, makes him one of the finest speakers in Parliament. However, despite the fine selection of words and impactful delivery, his oration seldom qualifies for statesmanship.
Last week, he once again gave a very fine speech in the Rajya Sabha, wherein he raised an alarm with regard to the judiciary encroaching upon the authority of the legislature. “Step by step, brick by brick, the edifice of India’s legislature is being destroyed,” Jaitley said urging MPs to protect budgetary and taxation powers from being handed over to the judiciary.
Though Jaitley made the remarks in the context of the GST Bill, he was for certain targeting the Supreme Court, which had on the day reinstated Harish Rawat as the chief minister of Uttarakhand, following the Congress party’s victory in the floor test in the Assembly. Jaitley’s worries were that if it the legislature failed to find a consensus on GST Bill, the judiciary may intervene and pass a direction in this area too.
His worries are not misplaced. However, politics is all about floor management and nobody should understand this better than the Finance Minister.
Add a comment

Read more...

CRDJ JOURNALS

  Jan-Jun 2022

  July-Dec 2021

April-June  2021

Jan-Mar  2021

  

Oct-Dec  2020 July-Sept  2020


April 2020     Jan 2020
 
Oct-Dec 19 July-Sept 19
 
April-June 19   Jan-March 19
 
Oct-Dec 18  |   Jul-Sept 18
 
April-June18    |   Jan-March 18
 
Oct-Dec 17  |   july-sept 17
 
April-June17  |   jan-March 17

Oct-Dec2016 | July-sept 2016
J
june 2016 | March 2016
Dec 2015 | Sept 2015
June 2015 | March 2015
Oct-Dec 2014 |  july-Sept 2014
April 2014 | Jan 2014
Oct 2013 | July 2013
April 2013 | Dec 2012
July 2012 | Nov 2011

 

Books Review

 Book your copy 

  http://sriav.crdj.in 

Follow us

Contact us

  • Add: 1304 Satpura Appt.
    Kaushambi, Delhi NCR, INDIA
  • Tel: (+844) 456 789 101
You are here: Home