A Lone Stranger

Union Budget 2013: 8 ways in which FMs fudge numbers Budget 2013-14 will be a "responsible" budget, P Chidambaram has promised us.   The problem is, one can figure out how "responsible" a budget is only after one gets to see the fine print, and that too possibly only after some time has lapsed. Around mid-year is when the stuff hits the fan.   This is because the entire business of budgetary projections is done with smoke and mirrors. You assume this and you presume that. You look into the rearview and predict the future. If there is no rearview available, you hypothesise – even fantasise – about a rosy future.   In essence, most finance ministers can project anything and there is at least some chance (usually, one in 10) that they are right. But there is more of a chance that they are wrong.   Here is a partial check-list of how FMs can fudge their books and make their budgets look better than they are in terms of fiscal ...

  27 Simple sentences to be remembered always in LIFE !! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "Xpect more from urself than from others. Coz, xpectation from others hurts you a lot, while xpectation from you inspires a lot...

Journalism Of Chicanery To walk the talk requires courage, and courage, unlike spectrum, is precious. It is never in free supply. Greed, on the other hand, is. The Times of India , Hindustan Times , The Hindu , Indian Express , and many more – all claim to be the torch-bearers of morality. Indeed, with their history as rich and long – sometimes longer – than the history of independent India, they've contributed significantly to the independence movement itself. At times, even fought fiercely to keep our nation free and democratic. Sadly, though, all that is history. A newspaper is an institution. It works on a reader's trust, claiming to stand alongside him and fight the "system" he's burdened with and crushed under. By definition, this solicits a fair degree of anti-establishment from it – how can a pro-system, pro-misrule, pro- neta newspaper ever gain trust in a country that's been robbed and pillaged silly by the elected few? Of...

Right the wrongs in RTE: Five ideas In any other country that aspires to achieve accelerated and inclusive development, and proudly—and rightly—sees a unique 'demographic dividend' in the preponderance of children and youth in its population, the following facts would surely cause deep concern. Sadly, the response of the political establishment and government in India to them is going to be, to use a term recently popularised by our Prime Minister, "business as usual".   Here are a few of the alarming findings from Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report 2012, released on Thursday. In 2010, 29.1 per cent children in class V couldn't solve a two-digit subtraction problem. The figure shot up to 39 per cent in 2011 and to 46.5 per cent in 2012. Only 30 per cent of class III students could read a class I text book in 2012, down from 50 per cent in 2008. The number of children in government schools who can correctly recognise numbers u...

Tumhaari tasveer ko kabhi seene se lagaa letaa hoon kabhi use dekh main tanhaayi me muskuraa letaa hoon kabhi yaad aa jaaaye tumhaari bahut zyaadaa agar tumhaare likhe geeton ko main gungunaa letaa hoon kuch is tarha se main apni mohabbat nibhaa letaa hoon karke baatein tasveer se main dil behlaa letaa hoon log poochhte hain agar kya karta hoon main band kamre me main har baar apne neend ka bahaanaa banaa letaa hoon jaanaa main aaj bhi tumhe yaad karke muskuraa letaa hoon main apne aansuon ko baarish me yun chhipaa letaa hoon koi poochhle raaz meri laal aankhon kaa kabhi to aankh me chubhe kisi tinke ka bahaanaa banaa letaa hoon aa jaaye tumhaari yaad bahut to main gaa letaa hoon dard ko geeton me sajaake yaaron ko sunaa letaa hoon bhulaake yaad tumhaari tumse duur jaanaa chaahaa magar har baar tumhe bhulaane ke khayaal ko bhulaa letaa hoon main tumhaari tasveer ko dekh muskuraaa letaa hoon rok nahi paataa khud ko kabhi to main gaa leta hoon ...