Blogs

Imagine you’re at a shop buying a chocolate bar. The price tag says $1, but when you get to the counter, the cashier charges you $5 because they claim you used a “premium napkin” and “special air” while standing in the aisle. That’s essentially what is happening in many of India’s private hospitals today. Here…

Bangladesh polls include a referendum. Not a good idea, there or anywhere else People of Bangladesh will cast two votes today. One to elect their parliament, the other to agree or disagree with a long list of ‘reforms’ in a referendum. That’s odd because a referendum usually seeks a yes/no response to one important question….

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Back when we were in school, it was a tradition to offer something to the teacher every day. So, whatever sweets were prepared at home, we would share them with her. She lived alone, so she wouldn’t be able to eat much of it. So, she would store everything fresh…

If modern India had a corporate slogan, it would be – Benchmarking Globally, Tolerating Locally. Our GDP growth is benchmarked against China, digital payments compared to Scandinavia, and startup ecosystems pitched against Silicon Valley. Boardrooms are filled with slides, OECD tables, McKinsey quadrants, and World Bank indices, assembled to demonstrate how viksit we have become….

Institutional reforms in the judiciary constitute a massive agenda. From pendency of cases to undertrial reforms, much can be done to make the wheels of justice move faster. Here are five priority areas that the higher judiciary may consider to expedite justice delivery. ● The national agenda for justice needs to prioritise accessibility (adequate number…

India’s private hospitals are getting away with billing malpractice. Why do govts not care? It is fair to assume that in world’s fifth largest economy, a private hospital sneaking in an extra procedure to a patient’s bill – double-counting a surgery – would draw the wrath of anti-corruption agencies. But this is not so. As…

Young love still gets a shove Now ‘Love means ever having to say Sorry, I’m underage.’ The cutesy ‘Romeo-Juliet’ clause remains as ill-starred as Shakespeare’s storied lovers. In that play, the kindly nanny was facilitator; our nanny state is spoiler. Centre has spurned Supreme Court’s advice to ‘exempt genuine adolescent relationships from Posco’s harshest provisions’….

February 11 is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science—a UN-declared observance that recognises the achievements and challenges of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Though progress has been steady, challenges persist. According to UNESCO, women account for less than one-third of the world’s researchers. From societal stereotypes to institutional bias,…

The recent decision by the ministry of commerce and industry, Government of India, to include cooperatives within the definition of start-ups is a landmark moment. It sends a strong policy signal that cooperative enterprises are not relics of an earlier economic era, but current business models capable of innovation, scale, and impact. By placing cooperatives…

We are witnessing the slow, agonizing death of the “Employee Factory” model. For decades, the tacit agreement between universities and society was simple: “You give us four years and tuition fees; we give you a stamped degree and a place in the queue for a safe corporate job.” This model worked when the world needed…