Nirmala Sitharaman

Aug 09, 2010

Nirmala Sitharaman is spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The views expressed in this column are her own.

The ruse of rumours

We the people of India, that is Bharat, have paid a heavy price in the last few days to realise the power of whispered words — or, as they are often referred to, rumours. Wild forest fires cannot match their pace or the scorching they leave behind as they spread far and wide.

Epic work in progress

An unabridged translation of the Mahabharata’s 80,000 shlokas, or two million words? Even at the risk of sounding cliched, it is indeed, an effort of epic proportions.

Nellie haunts Assam

It is well recognised that Assam’s socio-political fabric is complex, intricate and layered. Thanks to the active support of B.R.

Faltering half-steps on J&K

Nearly 36 hours after the last session of Parliament and seven months after its submission, the Jammu and Kashmir interlocutors’ report quietly appeared in the public domain. Two years ago, following the state administration’s failure to handle the summer of stone pelting and an all-party meeting in Delhi, the ministry of home affairs appointed a three-member group to assess and report the ground situation.

The Andhra mess

Boards with the words “Andhra Mess” scrawled on them are invariably found in the gullies and mohallas of most towns and cities in Andhra Pradesh.

Hear farmers’ call

It has been 60 years since the Indian Parliament held its first session in 1952.

All this nation needs is good governance

The higher the peak you climb the more peaks there are in front of you, stately and magnificent but challenging.

Modi-baiters and the ghost of 2002

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is an active blogger. He writes mostly on matters related to governance, his various initiatives and about the vibrancy of the ongoing developmental process in Gujarat. They are read with enthusiasm by his avid followers and carefully analysed, equally avidly, by his critics and detractors. Information-sharing through blogs, speeches uploaded on YouTube and even through subject-specific websites is so much today that it is possible that one may miss out on important thoughts or messages.

Old man and a sea of people

Frustration and anger poured out on the streets of cities across India just a day after the 65th Independence Day when an elderly man who has been for the past many months questioning probity in public life was sent to Tihar jail — the very place where three powerful members of the UPA are lodged, charged with spectacular collusive corruption.

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