Articles - Page 7 of 22 - Derek O'Brien

Big Poll Promises From Maharashtra To Michigan – But Where Are The Jobs?

Eight thousand miles away, across an ocean, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have desperately tried to woo youth and women before election day. Also in November, in the country of Kamala Devi Harris’s maternal ancestors, political parties are reaching out to 6 crore women voters and 2.5 crore youth in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Raise your… Continue reading Big Poll Promises From Maharashtra To Michigan – But Where Are The Jobs?

Trump To Bolsonaro To Many More, The Death Of Decency In Politics

Days to go for the most high-profile election in the universe. As the two candidates enter the final lap of campaigning, the messaging has decidedly gone off-colour. The Kamala Harris campaign recently ran a commercial on Snapchat and Instagram, scripted around the love life of black voters. In the commercial, depicting a speed dating scenario,… Continue reading Trump To Bolsonaro To Many More, The Death Of Decency In Politics

When Parliament isn’t in session, standing committees are where the action is

135 down to 55! The average number of days Parliament sits annually has gone down from 135 days in the first Lok Sabha to 55 days in the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-24). So what happens during the remaining 300 days? Standing Committees, which consider and report on Demand for Grants, Bills, annual reports, and discuss… Continue reading When Parliament isn’t in session, standing committees are where the action is

Happy birthday, Mr Amitabh Bachchan: What you may not know about India’s biggest star

Happy birthday Mr Amitabh Bachchan. Today, on his 82nd birthday, here are fifteen nuggets about the greatest Indian now on the planet. One: His first job was as an executive at Bird and Company in Kolkata for a monthly salary of Rs 500. During his time in the city, he acted in a few English plays… Continue reading Happy birthday, Mr Amitabh Bachchan: What you may not know about India’s biggest star

When Will Centre Understand That India’s Malnutrition Problem Is Real?

This fortnight’s column is on a subject that will never make the 9 o’clock news: Malnourishment. In 2012, Gujarat was grappling with one of the highest numbers of underweight children in the country. When asked about this alarming statistic in an interview to the Wall Street Journal, then Chief Minister Narendra Modi had a bizarre… Continue reading When Will Centre Understand That India’s Malnutrition Problem Is Real?

One Nation One Election (ONOE) Is Oh Noe!

Some people on Twitter say it like no other. “It’s rather amusing that One Nation, One Election abbreviates to ONOE – oh noe!”. After the Union Cabinet cleared the One Nation One Election (ONOE) proposal, legacy television channels, dutifully, complied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) playbook. Distract from the real issues: unemployment, inflation, anti-federal… Continue reading One Nation One Election (ONOE) Is Oh Noe!

How direct benefit transfer empowers women

Let me begin by sharing a few startling statistics. India’s female labour force participation rate is just 28 per cent. One out of three young people is not engaged in education, employment or training, with women making up 95 per cent of this group. For every five men in managerial positions, only one is a… Continue reading How direct benefit transfer empowers women

12 New Opposition MPs India Should Watch Out For – Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part column: 12 new MPs in the Opposition to watch out for. In the first part, I wrote about six of the 446 new MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Here’s part two with six more Parliamentarians, to complete the list of 12 MPs to watch out… Continue reading 12 New Opposition MPs India Should Watch Out For – Part 2

12 New MPs To Watch Out For

Of the 543 MPs in Lok Sabha, 280 are spanking new – into their first few months as Members of Parliament. Add to that the 166 MPs who have been in Rajya Sabha for less than a year. That’s 446 MPs (of the total 770 MPs) who could fondly be described as ‘newbies’ in Parliament.… Continue reading 12 New MPs To Watch Out For

Between 2012 Delhi rape and R G Kar, little has changed

Two days after the Delhi gangrape, Parliament debated the “demand for severe punishment against perpetrators of gangrape of a young woman on 16 December, 2012 in the capital”. Thirty-seven Members of Parliament, including this columnist, spoke in both Houses. In the last fortnight, as we witnessed the entirely understandable public outrage, one reflected on transcripts… Continue reading Between 2012 Delhi rape and R G Kar, little has changed