Behind Haryana land boom, the Midas touch of Hooda -
Shalini Singh, Hindu
Robert Vadra may be the most talked about property developer in Haryana but the emergence of links between the man who sold Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law his first plot of land and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has shone a spotlight on the crucial role played by the Congress-run government in turning realty in the State into a business worth thousands of crores of rupees. Records of all licences granted by the Haryana government...
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The worst Washington scandal since Watergate -
Peggy Noonan, WSJ
We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they're seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal Revenue Service have left the administration's credibility deeply, probably irretrievably damaged. They don't look jerky now, they look dirty. The patina of high-mindedness...
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Can a caged parrot sing? -
Bharat Karnad, NewIndianExpress
Ranjit Sinha, director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is going around town good-naturedly telling people that he is called a “parrot” (apropos the Supreme Court’s cruel but apt observation that his agency is a “caged parrot” that “speaks in its master’s voice”). There is something movingly honest about Sinha’s rueful public admission that this description fits. But, equally evident is the new-found determination of CBI to live down...
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A myth that can devastate Tibet -
Maura Moynihan, Rangzen
The recent Chinese military incursion into Ladakh was a painful reminder of the cost of losing Tibet. And this week Chinese officials announced plans to demolish what remains of Lhasa, Tibet’s ancient capital. Despite its inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, Lhasa is a symbol of Tibetan nationalism, and China’s Politburo has determined that Tibetan culture, religion and identity must be exterminated to ensure “stability.” On May 8th, the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington...
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The unreliable source -
Hartosh Singh Bal, Open
Over the past week, as the drama over the resignations of Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal was being played out in TV studios, anchors peering at their text messages were quick to turn the flow of information into ‘breaking news’ on the screen. But for much of the time there was no news to break, and this hurry to get information out, whatever its veracity, meant that it was ‘sources’ and not anchors who were driving TV coverage and the spin being put on events.
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Caste as social capital -
S Gurumurthy, Business Line
Decades ago, an elderly gentleman speaking at the Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi, asked, “What is it that keeps the country down”? A young man responded: “Undoubtedly caste. It has kept society backward”. The speaker replied, “may be”. He paused for a moment and said “may not be”. The young man angrily asked him to explain his “may-not-be” theory. The speaker calmly mentioned just one fact that shocked the audience. He said, “before British rule, over two-thirds — yes, two-thirds — of Indian kings...
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Is John Kerry pro- or anti-India? -
Tanvi Madan, Indian Express
Later this summer, US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit India for the US-India Strategic Dialogue. Before and during his visit, many observers in India will likely try to assess whether Kerry is "pro-" or "anti-" India. This is not surprising. In the narrative of US-India relations, there has always been a hall of fame and a hall of shame. Praise was heaped upon "heroes" — such as President John F. Kennedy and US ambassadors to India Chester Bowles, John Kenneth Galbraith and Robert Blackwill — for being pro-India.
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UPA's 'Bharat smiling' feebly -
Subodh Varma, Times of India
The UPA is strenuously denying that this campaign is its earthy version of the NDA's " India Shining" campaign, but few are buying the denials. Launched as a "multi-media" campaign to highlight its achievements in two successive terms at the Center, it has been christened by political observers are UPA's " Bharat Smiling" campaign. The spirit of the campaign, says the publicity material given out by the Information & Broadcasting ministry, is "many miles we have come, but many more we still have to go"...
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Dholera’s Rs70,000-crore cure for investment famine -
Sunil Jain, Financial Express
The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) has already got 105 sq km for Phase 1 of its upcoming R70,000-crore city at Dholera in Gujarat, 110 km from Ahmedabad. The 903-sq km city — of which 540 sq km is developable as the rest falls in the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) area — is to be developed in six phases. Town planning for two of the phases has been done — 152 sq km — while the other four are to be done over the rest of the year and...
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Seeds of political patronage -
Shyamlal Yadav, Indian Express
In the early 1970s, the agriculture ministry, through the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), began setting up Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) or farm science centres to educate farmers to increase agricultural production and to improve their socio-economic condition. Over the years, a small but significant portion of them have ended up as an instrument of political favour, having been allotted to politicians across the spectrum or their friends and relatives, The Indian Express has found.
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Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s comeback kid -
Bruce Riedel, Brookings
Nawaz Sharif is the comeback kid of Pakistani politics. With his party’s electoral victory, he is poised to become prime minister for an unprecedented third time. The Sharif odyssey has been remarkable—but now we will see if he can convert his victory into a new beginning for his deeply troubled country and our own tortured relations with it. The 63-year-old Nawaz Sharif was born into money as the scion of a very wealthy family in Lahore. He entered politics to protect the family’s industry from nationalization.
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