The Global Game

6

Unless you prefer a reclusive and hermetically sealed existence from the everyday occurrences around the globe, you will have noticed that the football world cup is everywhere. It is on the front and back-pages of the national dailies and tabloids, on the airwaves, on billboards and on the internet. But most importantly, it is present in our living rooms, in our animated banter at work, in classrooms and beyond. More than just an event, the world cup is a phenomenon because it captures the hearts and minds of millions across geographical borders. The compelling popularity of the game leads Kofi Annan to confess, "the word cup makes us at the UN green with envy". On the other hand, the world cup also re-ignites the debate about the conflation of sport with nationalism and the possible ill-effects of this mixture. A famous proponent of the latter thesis was George....

Public Private Partnership: A Corridor of Uncertainty?

14

The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project is swiftly turning out to be a litmus test for infrastructural projects in India. Last week marked a subdued opening of the first phase of the 111 km 6-lane "Indian autobahn". As the country's first private expressway, the Rs 2250 crore project was intended to showcase the untapped potential for infrastructural investments in India and the consequent mutual benefit to private investors, state actors and citizens. Hence, the Karnataka government's alarming effort to take-over the BMIC project sends a negative signal to prospective investors in infrastructure and undermines the necessary development of public private partnerships in India. Under a Framework Agreement executed in 1997, the promoters of the BMIC project are contractually empowered to develop the expressway and five townships between Bangalore and Mysore. It is a project that has incurred the JD(S) government's ire. In a petulant....

Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity

10

Rahul Mahajan's fateful tryst with cocaine has undeniably embarrassed the BJP. At one level, some might view it as the waywardness of an individual's lifestyle choice. At a deeper level though, the excesses involving late Pramod Mahajan's son and aides - shall we say the "Safdarjung Road Set" - amplify the extent of the party's moral vacuity and declining standards. The BJP has sought to maintain a cordial distance from this scandal by deeming it as a private matter. However, in spite of the party's protestations, this isn't entirely the case. After the equipoise that Rahul Mahajan demonstrated during his family's tragedy last month, there had been credible talk of nominating him to the Rajya Sabha to his late father's seat. As a back-up plan, the leadership of the party's youth wing awaited him. In these circumstances, given that Rahul Mahajan was on the threshold of entering public life,....

The Big State and Small Citizens

10

President Kalam's rejection of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill 2006 posits fresh difficulties for the government. Better known as the Office of Profit Bill, the President's refusal to assent to its current form is a reflection on the hollowness of the contemporary political culture. It reveals the government's alarming tendency to approach issues with expediency as a sole objective to the detriment of any underlying principles at stake. Embattled already by the reservation row, this is another addition to the government's overflowing cup of public embarrassment and misjudgement. The Bill expands the list of exemptions to positions from being considered as an office of profit. Moreover, it purports to retrospectively approve the blatant infringement of constitutional provisions by certain MPs. There is scant logic entailing a constitutional violation to be rewarded with retrospective approval. Nor does any consistent reasoning belie the increased exemptions other than clearly....