Interviews

It took five years of painstaking work since the time he embarked on his project, to finally seeing the translated work in print. And when acclaimed Marathi writer Ranjit Desai's celebrated novel on painter Raja Ravi Varma hit the stands, it was gobbled up in no time. The translated work was in English, and the one who hit on the idea was engineer-turned-writer Vikrant Pande. He now lives in Bangalore with his family, and the city and its weather being what they are, Pande doesn't feel the need...

The ability to cast a ballot is often a given. But can one make the entire voting process a bit more pleasant? How can we encourage more people to cast their votes? Are there more efficient ways that can be introduced to improve voting practices? Can 'service design' play a role in this? A leading design company, Tata Elxsi, feels there is enough scope. Narendra Ghate, chief designer (service design) with the company, has some ideas and some solutions. These can be seen as recommendations for...

It's taken him more than 30 years to chronicle the experiences he underwent as a strapping, young IAS officer. It had anyway been a long haul for him from the beginning itself, quite literally at that — from getting his bags packed in home Kerala to travelling all the way to farflung, landlocked Manipur. The year was 1978, and insurgency was not yet so virulent in that Northeast state. C Balagopal had cleared the civil services exams, and had been drafted into the Manipur cadre. In the three...

Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been a vociferous advocate of planned, intelligent solutions for the varied problems a fast-growing metropolis like Bangalore faces. A strong advocate of the need for the devolution of power to evolve governance reforms based on citizen-centric decision making, Chandrasekhar has been vocal about the need for greater transparency and accountability in governance institutions and public authorities alike. Chandrasekhar is at the forefront of drawing the...

Well-known economist Mukul Asher specialises in public sector economics and social security issues in Asia. He has been a consultant to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, Asian Development Bank, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other institutions. He has interacted with policymakers as a resource person in several Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, People’s Republic of China, and Sri Lanka. He teaches applied public...

The much-awaited public screening of Fabricated, based on the case of Abdul Nasser Maudany, will be held in Bangalore on Saturday. This screening is part of a nationwide campaign to focus on the scourge of falsely implicating activists, political opponents, and fighters for peoples' causes wantonly by the State. The film's director, KP Sasi, in this freewheeling interview with dna talks about the larger context of fabricated cases. Q: Your film deals with the issue of undertrials and fabricated...

The genial, lanky man who opens the door to greet you hardly looks like one who should be in the thick of a controversy. But the report of a panel chaired by Madhav Gadgil is today at the centre of a heated debate — that originally hinged on the Western Ghats, but has since been enlarged. Gadgil, in a free-wheeling interview with Subir Ghosh, dwells at length on the Ghats and minces no words about the so-called schism between development and environment. DNA: The report of the Western Ghats...

India is one of the few countries where Amnesty International did not have a country office – except for an ephemeral period a few years back. The international human rights organisation has just launched operations in India, with a country office based out of Bangalore. Country Director Ananthapadmanabhan Guruswamy speaks to Subir Ghosh about the organisation’s immediate and not-so-immediate plans, the human rights situation in India, and of course Kashmir, Northeast and Vedanta – issues on...

For a man on a mission of reaching out to his people, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) general secretary has been a busy man. The backdrop of talks with the Indian government makes Thuingaleng Muivah busier still. But he doesn’t keep you waiting. He doesn’t keep you waiting because he is not the kind. The glint in his eyes is unmistakable, as he comes forward to greet me. As he exchanges pleasantries, it is evident he doesn’t forget things. He recollects my interactions with him...

Subir Ghosh: The issue of issue of unity among the Nagas is one of the most written-about subjects. I have raised the issue of the surrenders in 1973 and 1975. Then there was the Phizo-Sakhrie conflict. Do you think such dissension has affected the Naga cause? Thuingaleng Muivah: The question of unity is everywhere in all struggles. It is unavoidable. We believe in revolutionary philosophy. It is through contradictions that the realities are revealed and straightened out. It is not peculiar to...