'let the retired IAS officers enjoy their well earned rest' by KJS Chatrath

Cabinet Secretary gets an extension...A retired IAS officer is appointed as the Principal Secretary to the PM...A retired IAS officer is appointed as CEO of the Niti Ayog....Why not choose from amongst the serving IAS officers?

Ah, these NGOs...

"India has one cop for every 94 persons, an NGO for 530"... (The Times of India, January 6, 2015)

'Gaushalas to get aid, says Minister' (News)

The state government will provide monetary aid to gaushalas as per number of cows.... (The Tribune, January 6, 2015)

'Heritage Furniture'

Some heritage lovers of this 55 year old city think that everything that Le Corbusier or Jeanneret touched qualifies to be worshipped as a heritage article.

Look at the above chairs. I would call them ordinary. Just very, very ordinary. Chairs of this design are being made by local carpenters in various parts of India since long before we first heard of Le Corbusier and Jeanneret.

Why should we go over board in our praise just because some foreigner "designed"/ or sat in these chairs?

Utrakhand Sewa Nidhi Pariyavaran Shiksha Sansthan at Almora

I do not think much of most of the NGOs. And I am not a fan of Mr. Kailash Satyarthi.

However there is one NGO which has really impressed me with its excellent work. It is the Utrakhand Sewa Nidhi Pariyavaran Shiksha Sansthan (www.ueec.org.in; email:usnpss@sancharnet.in;)at Almora led by Dr. Lalit Pande and his wife Mrs. Anuradha Pande. I have been seeing their work since the last 25 years and have pure praise for their self less work. I wish India had more people like them.

Here are two photographs from their latest Annual Report. These photos say it all.

'Now that is original research!' by K.J.S.Chatrath

"A University scholar's published research article concludes that*:

(i) Hybrid governance is a trend in governance, and

(ii) this trend is not going to fade away!"


(*PU scholar's research article published, The Times of India, January 5, 2015.)

Mr. Shashi Tharoor

It appears quite obvious that Mr. Shashi Tharoor is going to switch over to the BJP...