A deal for votes

Blog Intro:  2013-14 might see expansion or monetisation of development schemes in run-up to election 2013-14 might see expansion or monetisation of development schemes in run-up to election

Letters - December 15, 2012

Leave Them Alone This is with reference to the article, “Tourism in Jarawa buffer, officially” (November 16-30, 2012). The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been home to several distinct tribes for tens of thousands of years. But the administration, first the British and later the Indian government, brought nothing but disaster for the tribes. Only the Sentinelese tribe remains untouched by the devastation due to their isolated location and aggressive behaviour towards outsiders.

India Inc’s new bogey

Auduth Timblo is the owner of Fomento Group, one of the largest mining and iron ore exporting corporations in Goa. Last week during a meeting in Lisbon to promote business relations between Goa and Portugal, Timblo blamed an “overworked and underpaid judiciary” and its “activism”, and “green tape” in Indian governance for halting Goa’s economic development.

From the blurbs

WILDLIFE OF THE HIMALAYAS AND THE TERAI REGION edited by Ashok S Kothari and Boman F Chhapgar, OUP, Rs 120 This is the fourth in the Bombay Natural History Society’s series that aims to make accessible old writings, drawings and paintings of India's flora and fauna. The text draws from the works of Stanley Henry Prater, known for his classic The Book of Indian Animals, and naturalist R A Sterndale whose work is said to be the source of inspiration for many scenes in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book.

Public private prank

Growth is back on the agenda, says the government. It is hoping that with pushy announcements foreign and Indian investment will miraculously start pouring in and infrastructure will be the name of the game once again. But this assumption ignores one crucial detail: currently, public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure are on the cusp of disaster.

Rush for new development goals

Innovative administrator

I first met R Gopalakrishnan when he was the district collector of Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh. This was in the 1980s when India was in the throes of a crippling drought. Jhabua looked like a moonscape—nothing but arid and thirsty land and desperate people. Anil Agarwal had gone there for a meeting of tribal groups, fighting for their rights over forestland. I had accompanied him.

A tab on wishlist

When Sangeet Srivastava laid his hands on the Ubislate 7 tablet, he was sorely disappointed. The second year student at the National School of Drama in New Delhi was swayed by the initial frenzy in the wake of the launch of the world’s cheapest tablet last year. Ubislate 7 is the alter ego of Aakash tablet, the brainchild of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

‘Independent India worse for tribals’

You are often asked what has changed in Bastar since you quit the job of a collector. What has not changed? Interviewee:  B D Sharma

Hunger games – it’s the real India show

The celluloid fantasy of a dystopian world is a reflection of our society