Innholdsfortegnelse for December 12, 2016 i India Today

Many of India’s current economic ills can be traced back to key decisions Indira Gandhi took. Principal among them was the 1969 move to amend the Companies Act, 1956, and impose a total ban on corporate giving to political parties, without providing an alternative financing mechanism. She followed it up by nationalising India’s banks and its domestic coal industry while also imposing controls on business, making endemic the three Cs in elections—crime, corruption, cash. A 1996 india today cover story on funding of political campaigns estimated that the 1991 general election spending was Rs 1,000 crore minus government expenditure on logistics. The average money spent per parli amentary constituency was put at Rs 20-30 lakh, and Rs 5-6 lakh for an assembly seat. The government legalised corporate giving in 1985,…

"Our biggest mistake has been not having been able to learn much more in much less time." —Reflections by Fidel Castro: The Tariffed Truth, in Escambray, August 27, 2013 Fidel Castro’s actions appeared quixotic to the outside world, but often yielded surprising results. His Cuba, an island nation of 11 million, held the world in thrall for over half a century and kept the most powerful nation at bay. When Fidel handed over power to his younger brother Raúl in 2006, the revolution appeared to be losing steam. The need to plug Cuba’s enormous energy and talent into the currents coursing through an interconnected world was apparent. Raúl’s decision not to seek another term after 2018 paved the way for the post-revolution reformers. A country which portrays its iconic leaders…

Kamala Harris is no stranger to tearing down barriers. She was the first woman, first IndianAmerican, and first AfricanAmerican to serve as San Francisco’s district attorney and later as California’s attorneygeneral. On November 8, she became the firstever IndianAmerican to be elected to the United States Senate. The daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, she is a Democrat. On November 8, while fellow Democrat, Hillary Rodham Clinton, stumbled in her bid to become the first female US president, Harris was busy making history again. Her parents, Shyamala Gopalan and Donald J. Harris, met as graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley. They divorced when Harris was five. In an interview with CQ Roll Call over the summer, Harris recalled that her mother had a saying: “You…

A MERRY Market PIERRE ARTISAN BAKERY The French baker whose artisan breads and tarts (sold off a nondescript kiosk in Indiranagar) are slowly becoming the talk of town, has a bigger plan for the festival ahead. Pierre Artisan Bakery, named after Pierre Gregoire, 29, will be joining hands with a few home bakers and culinary experts to host a Christmas Market where you can sample Indian cheese, wine, breads, cakes and more. “The event will be ticketed and once you enter you will be able to taste the various cheeses, wine and breads. I will also be making a special batch of fruit jams like papaya, pineapple and jackfruit that will be up for sale in time for Christmas at the kiosk too,” says Gregoire, who is currently in the…

An average week in the life of Jeremy Jauncey, CEO Beautiful Destinations, varies between juggling chartered flights, capturing exotic sunsets off the coast of Santorini, and road tripping through South East Asia. Shrouded behind piercing dark eyes and carefully selected words, it is for good reason that the 33-year-old Scotsman is known as the most eligible Instagrammer in the world. He is widely credited as being the man behind those breathtaking destinations you see on Instagram that make you wish you were on the other side of the frame. Riding this wave of popularity, brothers Tom and Jeremy Jauncey of Beautiful Destinations started this creative agency back in 2012 with the aim of becoming the largest travel community on social media. “It was meant to be a curated voice; almost…

NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Will demonetisation cleanse the sector of black money? “The ‘doom’ for property speculators may well be a ‘boon’ for millions of aspiring home buyers. Perhaps, for the first time, property prices in India might become realistic. Realty may finally have to face reality!” KRISHAN KALRA, via e-mail Crashing Down to Reality The demonetisation of big currency notes is a seismic shock for the real estate industry (Realty Check). However, to think that it will lead to a purge in the way business is done is to delude ourselves. There are many factors to be looked into, such as aligning the circle rates for property with market valuations, bringing down stamp duties, incentivising cashless transactions, etc. Now, with genuine buyers coming into play, the artificial boom in properties…

NO, PRIME MINISTER A slogan-shouting lady interrupted PM Narendra Modi’s speech in Bathinda on November 26. She was whisked away by police but the incident left the PM visibly upset. He wrapped up his speech and left the stage, though not before saying something to Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and Union health minister J.P. Nadda. Whatever it was, it wasn’t praise. SALT OF THE EARTH On November 25, CM Akhilesh Yadav launched the ‘Samajwadi Namak’ scheme in Lucknow. The pilot project, launched in collaboration with the Tata Trust, aims to reach out to 4.62 million ration card holders in 10 districts. They will get a kilo of fortified salt for Rs 3. DEMONETISED FRIENDSHIP There was a time when Nitish Kumar and Mam ata Banerjee were close allies. The…

ONE OF MY BRIGADE COMMANDERS IN MONUC, GEN BAJWA ALWAYS EXHIBITED POSITIVE ATTITUDE The selection of the 16th chief of the Pakistan Army may have come as a surprise to many. However, having assessed his potential way back in 2007-08, I had a hunch he would outshine others in the selection process. General Qamar Javed Bajwa, as a Brigadier, had been one of my brigade commanders in the multinational ‘Eastern Division’ that I commanded in the United Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). The Eastern Division then comprised two brigades—one each from India and Pakistan, and in addition, it had a number of battalions and independent companies from 16 other countries. All told, the division had over 14,500 personnel of 25 different nationalities, and its mandate,…

1 SPEND MONEY ON DOING Spend money on planning and doing things you’d like to experience—vacations, dinner parties, concerts. Scientists say, “experiential purchase” boosts your happiness and wellbeing in more enduring ways than money spent on acquiring goods and assets (Psychological Science, Dec ’15) 2 THE COST OF LENDING Think before you lend or borrow. Researchers at UCLA and Harvard Business School show how interpersonal lending becomes a minefield. Those who loaned money (versus gifted or paid) reported the most anger towards those who ‘misused’ it to buy a hedonic item with the funds. 3 WHAT THE RICH WANT It’s never enough, it seems. The wealthy are not happy with what they have. A Harvard Business School and Yale study says high net worth individuals believed that 34 times more…

Over three-quarters of a kilo when sun-dried, hardcover, 444 pages thick and space-hogging. If, like me, you had sawed your toothbrush handle down to just two inches, doing a Tilman in paring down the weight of your rucksack while packing for, say, a long hard mountain trek, and you’d ask me if you should carry this book along, I’d say without hesitation, take it. There are 44 essays covering writings on people in spectacular landscapes, cataclysmic events, and curious cultural settings across the Himalaya. While the editors Ruskin Bond and Namita Gokhale have grouped these essays into the three categories of Adventures, Meditations and Life, many are deep and layered, and slosh over any separations. The term ‘travel writing’ comes easily to mind, because every piece here is about a…

Here’s to something original on the city’s culinary map—a restaurant that traces the journey of a tiger in the subcontinent, putting specialities from each region on its menu. The theme runs through the restaurant Return of the Tiger Trail, with tables doubling up as maps, LCD screens displaying tiger trivia, windows covered in tiger stripes and pug marks leading you up a flight of stairs. You are nearly prepared for a safari, but a different one comes your way, the kind on platters and dishes. Re-launched a couple of months ago, the restaurant has a small but well thought-out menu covering Kashmir on one side to Nagarhole on the other. The menu does its bit with a small description of the preparation and details of the region it comes from.…

1 MARNI SCULPTURE CROSSBODY BAG Sculpting is an art of intelligence. The blue calf leather Sculpture crossbody bag from Marni has a foldover top with magnetic closure, gold-tone hardware, an adjustable shoulder strap and two divided compartments. Price $997 Buy from www.farfetch.com 2 OLYMPIA LE-TAN WUTHERING HEIGHTS BOOK CLUTCH Olympia Le-Tan’s handcrafted book clutches celebrate literary icons with their new collection. An ode to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, it’s crafted from baby-pink cotton canvas, and decorated with black and white appliqué and embroidery. Price $355 Buy from www.lyst.com 3 GIANLUCA CAPANNOLO OVERSIZED CAPE Big is beautiful by all means. The black stretch virgin wool blend oversized cape from Gianluca Capannolo stands out with its unusual structure and edgy neckline. Price $1,856 Buy from www.anyahindmarch.com 4 CHARLOTTE CHESNAIS BOND CUFF Charlotte…

Political Funding Take a leap of faith. Assume that all the moral outrage about a corrupt political system has died down, all the anger about the business politics nexus has vented itself. And the arguments about just how much money should be spent on elections, who should pay for them and how it should be paid have sorted themselves out. But that would very well spell the end of Indian politics as we know it. For where centuries-old feudal patterns of power have defined modern politics, the politician will always be the patron, his financier the client. Both feeding on each other in an arrangement that is mutually beneficial but, for the body politic, singularly destructive. It spawns a raft of ills from crime to corruption and from patronage to…

When at 8 pm on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on national television that currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination would be invalid from midnight, in one fell swoop he dealt a crippling blow to what has been described as “the mother of all corruption in the country”— election funding. “Elections have become the fountainhead of corruption in the country. The voter does not realise that for every Rs 100 that comes, for example, from a candidate as a lure for votes, he or she is likely to end up paying 5-10 times more annually as bribes in availing basic public services that a citizen is entitled to from the government,” says a report by the Delhibased Centre for Media Studies (CMS). By striking…

SUBHASH VELINGKAR’S Goa Suraksha Manch is literally  playing the role of the main opposition party in BJP-ruled Goa. Velingkar’s only goal: keep the BJP out of power in the elections next year. He apparently has a strategy to achieve it. Excerpts… How are you planning to dislodge the BJP? We will expose the BJP’s double standards on various issues, ranging from illicit grants to English-medium schools, permission to casinos, vulgar music concerts to free flow of drugs. Rising unemployment and the problems faced by youngsters will be the main focus of our campaign. Do you think the people will back you on the sole issue of medium of instruction in schools? We have succeeded in forming our units in 35 out of 40 constituencies. We are holding corner meetings in…

AND ANOTHER ONE... Another Indian-American finds a place in Donald Trump’s “dream team”. Health specialist Seema Verma’s been nominated as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services It wasn’t so long ago that South Carolina governor Nikki Haley described Donald Trump as “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president”. Trump fired back, on Twitter: “The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!” It came as a surprise, then, when Trump, now President-elect of the United States, picked Haley (the daughter of Indian immigrants) to serve in his Cabinet as ambassador to the United Nations. And that Haley accepted. Haley’s nomination erodes “stereotype portrayals” of Trump, says Ronen Sen, a veteran diplomat who served as India’s ambassador to the US. Sen says it undermines critics’…

An aggressively male title bound in lavender and fuschia and dressed in curly letters and a swirl of tie-dyed fabric. It’s an appropriate design for the patriarchal saga inside, wrapped in the words of the woman who inspires the crime at its centre. Tapti’s husband has shot his elder brother, the chief minister of Rajasthan, and she is dealing with the consequences. Her present struggles form the beginning and end of Manju Kapur’s novel, sandwiching in between the story of her husband’s family of Jat farmers. The brothers of the title are not just the ones we read about at first, the younger Mangal and the elder Himmat. We also hear about their father and their uncle. And there are the shadow brothers—their uncle’s son, who died young, and Himmat’s…

DOING IT AGAIN Their chemistry in Pinneyum had been the talk of the town. Taking it further, Dileep and Kavya Madhavan—both divorcees—got married at a ceremony in Kochi last week. KAPOOR AND CO.? It’s been a decade since Sonam and Ranbir Kapoor did a film together, but some say the Saawariya co-stars may reunite for Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic on Sanjay Dutt. GROUNDED Sayyeshaa’s work in Shivaay got a cold reception, but she’s got a second chance. This time, she plays Sanjay Dutt’s daughter in the UP-set revenge drama Bhoomi. AMAZONIAN FEAT Anil Kapoor’s international credits continue to grow. The 24 actor will star in the pilot of Amazon Prime’s sci-fi show Strange New Things. It also features Sixth Sense actor Haley Joel Osment. ROSY FUTURE Animator Gitanjali Rao is all…

The more things change, the more they remain the same; such epigrams have almost become epiphanies in the case of culinary trends. For those who prefer involvement over indulgence, the slow food movement, a global obsession that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment, harks back to gentler times. Encouraging sustainable agricultural practices, revisiting local foods, return to native ingredients and farm to fork eating are trends rooted in tradition yet aiming to build a stronger consciousness among gourmands about where delicacies come from and the cultures that cultivate them. Spice chases all that the soul, and more importantly, the stomach desires in this special issue dedicated to food. Spice begins its culinary story on the shores of historic Kochi, in Kerala, where Portuguese…

Fashion is a fickle lover; the colour black probably being the only exception to this rule. It is this obsession with black that is beautifully captured in a new graphic women’s watch from Audemars Piguet. The bold design features diamonds and onyx interlaid in a bold expression of precision craft. Classic techniques are abstracted to new effect with the Millenary’s zebra-like stripes that spring to life in a flurry of brilliant-cut diamonds and velvet-black onyx. Good looks aside, the design is even more remarkable because the balance wheel and bridge are an integral part of the decoration; a technical challenge that bears avid testimony to the brand’s skilled gem-setters and horological engineers. The 18-carat white gold case is entirely set with diamonds, with glareproofed sapphire crystal and caseback, while the…

When it comes to dining, Sydney is the new Mecca. There is something almost alchemic about it; a transformative magic that lifts fine to great and elevates popular to legendary. Of course, the buzzword now is native, with both ingredients and cuisines staging a triumphant comeback this year. We speak to five influential chefs who talk of food beyond taste, innovation beyond gimmickry, and presentation at par with artistry. These artists of ingredients spill the beans on how flavours evolve, their cooking styles and top food trends. BONDING OVER TEXTURES Ingredients dominate the plate for Logan Campbell, who advocates discipline and respect for them. He is a great believer in authenticity and the art of experimenting. An executive chef for 12 years at Lucio’s in Paddington, Australia and recipient of…

True style always makes a subtle statement. This has been the unofficial credo for Rolex watches since its inception. But simplicity and sophistication were never more in focus than with the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller. A unique technological masterpiece protected by 14 patents, the Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller offers valuable information that a global traveller needs to keep dual time zone, with local time read through the centre hands and a reference time display in 24-hour format read through a rotating off-centre disc visible on the dial. Another innovative feature is the annual calendar named ‘Saros’. It is an ingenious mechanism patented by Rolex, whose original design was inspired by the astronomical phenomenon of the same name. This ultimate travel watch comes in 18 carat Everose gold with a 42 mm…