The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P.M.Nair, Harper Collins in collaboration with India Today Group,New Delhi, 2008. P.M.Nair was Secretary to the former President,A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. In...
The Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee has at last spoken through a press release explaining his anguish and also giving an account of the happenings. He said: “In view of the controversies...
My post on this has provoked a vibrant debate. Let me respond to some major criticisms in this post. 1. The CPI(M)’s explanation of its withdrawal can be read here and here. The withdrawal did not...
In a recent EPW article, Vijay Hiremath draws attention to a new Prison Policy drafted by an almost-secretive commission constituted entirely of prisons bureaucracy, which took many organisations...
The CPI(M) expelled the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee from the membership of the party in terms of Article XIX Clause 13 of its party constitution. This provision says in exceptional circumstances...
Even as Parliament remains the focus of discussion today because of trust (thrust?) vote, a momentous judgment from the Supreme Court on death penalty should be taken note of. This pertains to the...
I think this guest post by Madhav Khosla will be of general interest: Last week, Rupa released a new book by Rajeev Dhavan titled “Reserved! How Parliament Debated Reservations 1995-2007”...
Last week the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court presented his case against President Al Bashir of Sudan for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. The prosecutor is...
P. Chidambaram delivered the Convocation address at the 6th annual convocation of the NALSAR University of Hyderabad on July 19, 2008. Somewhat unusually, he chose to speak on a very topical issue...
The issue of delays in the Indian legal system has generated considerable discussion on this blog. (See, for instance, two separate discussions from the 2007 archives here and here). Colin Gonsalves...
In a stinging critique, Upendra Baxi has compared Justice C.K.Thakker’s judgment in the Manu Sharma case to the A.D.M.Jabalpur judgment of the Supreme Court during the Emergency,and has called...
The Maharashtra Govt’s SLP against the Bombay High Court’s lifting of the ban on the book Shivaji, written by James Laine came up for hearing before Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam...
The recent spike in oil prices has rekindled the debate on the need to impose a windfall profits tax on private oil companies. The matter has even acquired political overtones in the US presidential...