India under Modi

In 2014 Narendra Modi promised to change India’s economic fortunes but that has been his primary failure. The priority has been political change: majoritarianism has now been mainstreamed, and the country's institutions stand more eroded than before.▶24-Jan-2022
T.N. Ninan

February 4, 2022

India under Modi; A Tale of Two Indias; A Suitable Girl?, Unshackling Science; and more

A Suitable Girl?

The age at which Indian women marry has been rising over the decades; making 21 the legal minimum will aim to fix something that is not broken. It will cause harm, pushing many women into zones of…
▶02-Feb-2022
Mary E John

Raindrop in the Drought

Godavari Dange developed a model of farming that enabled vulnerable women farmers in drought-struck Marathwada to stay food secure. Her life story captures the enormity of the region’s crisis, as…
▶02-Feb-2022
Reetika Revathy Subramanian, Maitri Dore

A Nava Karnataka as Part of ‘New India’

Karnataka’s land reforms and creative backward-caste alliances in the 1970s and 1980s broke the dominance of landed castes and spurred innovative development programmes. Today, the state is forsaking…
▶31-Jan-2022
Janaki Nair, A R Vasavi

A Tale of Two Indias

Pandemic in India has seen a majority of its citizens going hungry to bed while another, smaller, section making millions. An inclusive, sustainable, and equitable recovery must deal with the triple…
▶27-Jan-2022
Rohit Azad, Shouvik Chakraborty

The Faults in India’s Law-Making Process

A scorching legislative pace has been hailed by the union government as a sign of firm action. But favouring speed over process affects the quality of the laws that are inserted into the statute…
▶26-Jan-2022
Chakshu Roy

India under Modi

In 2014 Narendra Modi promised to change India’s economic fortunes but that has been his primary failure. The priority has been political change: majoritarianism has now been mainstreamed, and the…
▶24-Jan-2022
T.N. Ninan

A Deep Dive for Big Money

The big data analytics envisaged by Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission could promote private insurance and big tech firms at the cost of patient outcomes and privacy.
▶19-Jan-2022
Indranil
Book
Book Review

AIIMS and the Failure of Imagining Healthcare

The pursuit of 'excellence' at AIIMS has become a rush towards greater specialisation, foiling the institute's founding mandate to produce doctors to serve India's masses.
▶19-Jan-2022
George Thomas

Thinking with Hands

'Gandhi was aware that intellectual labour was necessary for the culture of the mind and accepted the necessity of a division of labour, but not the idea that bodily labour had to be confined to…
▶18-Jan-2022
Tridip Suhrud

Unshackling Science in India

India has the talent for research, but to realise the potential we need greater outlays, a transformation of the environment, loosening of government control and a recognition, especially in medical…
▶17-Jan-2022
Vikram Patel