When govt disrupts Parliament

  By Vijay Darda | 19-12-2016 I have spent long years in the Parliament, and have witnessed many disruptions in the House. Almost invariably, these are caused by recalcitrant opposition members who want to draw the government’s attention to some issue of pressing concern. But this winter session of the

Note ban: Banks the weak link

  By Vijay Darda | 12-12-2016 In the one month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, it has become increasingly clear that the banks are the weakest link in the demonetisation chain. We have been told of the hard work that

From Ammu to Amma: Rise, fall and rise!

  By Vijay Darda | 07-12-2016 Legend has it that Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was referred to as “Ammu” by her mother Sandhya and her mentor and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M G Ramachandran. But by the time the 68-year-old breathed her last, she had become “Amma”

Congress gropes for answers to saffron surge

  By Vijay Darda | 05-12-2016 If the results of the local body elections in Maharashtra and the parliamentary and assembly by-elections that preceded these polls are to be taken as an indication of the political state of affairs, then the BJP’s dominating trend that began in the 2014 general

Critical economists, silent PM

  By Vijay Darda | 28-11-2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs1000 currency notes has literally stunned the country. It is his declared intent that the decision has been taken to unearth the black money that is eating into the vitals of the economy. The

Ignoring Indira and other icons

  By Vijay Darda | 21-11-2016 We are very well aware that when it comes to icons, every regime has two lists – a negative list that it plans to ignore and a positive list that it wishes to promote. The current NDA regime has its preferences well-defined and the

Uncertainty after Trump’s triumph

  By Vijay Darda | 14-11-2016 The American establishment and by its extension the rest of the world was preparing for an era where a woman would be the president of the oldest democracy. This was supposed to be a natural transition in a modern country that had elected a

Modi’s disruptive innovation

  By Vijay Darda | 11-11-2016 Special Report  In the field of business and technology, this is the era of disruptive innovation. Displaying his quintessential Gujarati entrepreneur’s character, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unleashed the most disruptive innovation for the economy. He fully understands that India is a predominantly cash

Bhopal shoot-out & the rule of law

  By Vijay Darda | 07-11-2016 It seems that by some unwritten law the long standing chief ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party have to graduate as efficient administrators through a rite of passage – ruthless encounters. The bar had been set by the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi

Turmoil in house of Tatas

  By Vijay Darda | 03-11-2016 Special Report Succession issues in families, political parties and business houses have always demanded extremely skilled handling of the complexities involved. There can be no set formula for success, and every situation evolves itself depending on the way the players acquit themselves in the