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In their election campaign in 2014, Narendra Modi and many Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had claimed that if elected, they would bring back enough black money to distribute a sum of 15,00,000 (or the equivalent of nearly $25,000) to each and every poor Indian family. Some of Modi's supporters, like Baba Ramdev, even claimed that the money would be brought back within 100 days of the new government coming to power. Having repeatedly asserted that the United Progressive Alliance government had...

The most astonishing aspect of the first year of the Narendra Modi government is how quickly the “honeymoon period” appears to have dissipated and almost disappeared. True, there is no threat whatsoever to the stability of his government. True, many of his critics who were once his ardent supporters are disgruntled. True, those who were expecting “big bang” economic reforms are disappointed with his gradualist approach. But — and there are many “buts” — wait! There is a certain inevitability...

Blues legend BB King, who inspired a generation of guitarists from Eric Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughan, passed away in Las Vegas on Thursday. He was 89. Riley B King, also known as Blues Boy King, best known as BB King, one of the world's greatest — if not the greatest — blues singer and guitar player, is no more. He died in his sleep on Thursday at the age of 89. The great grandson of slaves and having started life as a farm labourer picking cotton in Mississippi, he achieved international fame...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been, and continues to be, ridiculed by his opponents because of his government's inability to bring black money back to the country. He had repeatedly promised during his election campaign that money illegally held by Indians abroad would be brought back and distributed among the poor. A year in power, in order to convey the impression that he still means business, a law has been enacted which seeks to increase penalties on Indian citizens who have concealed...

In the latest round of tussles between India’s two top English dailies, the Times of India and the Hindustan Times, the two have embarked on a publicity overdrive to prove that each is Numero Uno in the market for English newspapers in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Delhi is the only urban agglomeration on the planet from where as many as sixteen English daily publications are printed and distributed. But the market is highly skewed or oligopolistic because the top two dailies account for...

A year ago, lawyers engaged by the two richest siblings in India, sent notices to me, my co-authors and my associates. It was claimed that we had defamed the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, in our book Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis. Over the past 12 months, I have often been asked: “What happened to the case against you?” My standard reaction: “Case? What case?” No legal proceedings Contrary to what some may presume, Khaitan & Co., representing Mukesh Ambani and Reliance...

Why is the long arm of the law as long as it is? Why do the proverbial wheels of justice grind as slowly as they do in India? The phrase “justice delayed is justice denied” has become a well-worn cliché. Why are certain individuals so insensitive to the problems suffered by others? The case concerning Prof. T.J. Joseph, whose right hand was chopped off by a gang of Muslim goons nearly five years ago, has highlighted some of the worst aspects of Kerala society. Yet, it is true that residents of...

Returning to the most recent controversy, the Adani group has been in the news of late after the Australian federal government allowed it to develop what will become that country's biggest (and one of the world's biggest) coal mine, as part of a giant $16 billion (nearly ₹1,00,000 crore) project to build a railway line to export the black mineral from Queensland's Galilee Basin to India and elsewhere through the Great Barrier Reef from an expanded port. The project has been opposed by local...