As the 2012 presidential election draws near, it is clear that American voters will face a stark choice on issues ranging from a woman’s right to choose to the future of America’s social safety net. Differences over foreign policy, in particular, have recently taken on renewed significance. In his speech at the Democratic National Convention, […]
Immigrants play vital roles at 4 out of 10 Silicon Valley start-ups, and a third of those immigrants are Indians. But the US isn’t the only one to gain, according to India‘s Hindustan Times. Last year, Indians living abroad pumped $66.13 billion into the economy, compared with only $46.84 billion in foreign direct investment, the paper said. And […]
The recent assassination attempt on Lieutenant-General Kuldip Singh Brar in London is a grim reminder that the ghosts of the Punjab insurgency are still with us so many years after the last shots were fired. Indira Gandhi’s decision to send troops into the Golden Temple in June 1984 — troops Gen. Brar commanded — set […]
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of landless farmers lined up in Gwalior, a city in northern India, and started a very long walk. Under a flapping canopy of green-and-white flags, demonstrators from several Indian states vowed to spend the next three weeks marching over 320 km from this fort town to New Delhi. They are […]
In terms of symbolism, Arvind Kejriwal could scarcely have chosen a better date to found a new political party dedicated to ending corruption in India. On Oct. 2, the birthday of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the 44-year-old activist announced to a gaggle of followers and a battery of cameras, “We declare that from today this country’s […]
Here is one way you can put the life of Brajesh Mishra in context. If you asked the top leadership of this UPA government to name one person they could inherit from the NDA, the answer was instant: Brajesh Mishra. Obviously, this was not primarily for his strategic (as in security and foreign policy) talent. […]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet unveiled a second wave of policy changes intended to bolster a slumping economy as he seeks to restore faith in his leadership and establish a platform for his party less than two years before the next general election. In a move that signaled the Congress party-led government’s intent to push ahead […]
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector has been at the epicentre of national debate. Much has been said on India possibly losing out on investment by sending a wrong policy signal. But do we really need to get so worked up? Considering the anticipated level of inflows on account of FDI in retail, […]
It is rare for the ideas people to be behind the curve but those who say the India–US relationship has been reduced to merely “feel good” meetings and junkets are exactly that — a little behind the curve. Critics in both Washington and New Delhi complain about the preponderance of grand rhetoric which remains unmatched […]
PICK YOUR WAY through the narrow alleys of a south Delhi slum to the dark, low-ceilinged home of a fortune-teller with a green parrot. For a bundle of rupees he sets the bird to work, picking from a selection of cards. The man glances at one and lets his conjectures fly. India will soon be […]
looking beyond borders 