Why coronation ceremony was repugnant and reeked of absurdity | OPINION
The ceremony was not repugnant just because of what it represents but also because of how it was conducted. It still mixed religion and government. A king in the modern world is an anachronism. It is not of this age and time. And yet, the world was witness to the coronation of another monarch in
Shielding the vulnerable
Tech-aided oral contracts can go a long way in protecting ill-educated unorganised workers from exploitation The unorganised workers in India come from vulnerable social groups that lack education and economic resources. Further lack of legal protection subjects them to marginalisation, allowing them to be a target for exploitation by their employers. One way to protect
Oral contracts are valid; beefing them up with tech could help millions of Indians
Disagreements over agreements are rather common, particularly when they are verbal in nature and not written down and authenticated by a competent authority. Instances of such daily discords are innumerable. A caretaker is hired against the payment of a certain sum of money by an estate agent. But when the month goes by, the pay
Bhutan King, the Dalai Lama and the Sikh Guru – The strategy of collective leadership
Leaders have followed a path revealed over 300 years ago to the great Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh. It is worthwhile to understand the context of this political strategy. King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck finished his three-day visit to India last week. The context of his visit is interesting. His Kingdom, which
Covering the last mile
Outreach of integrated technology ecosystem at the grassroots level requires a broad-based construct to include the last-mile layer of a connected ecosystem The balance of economic power, globally, is moving away from a physical resource-centric base to an innovation and technology-centric resource base. The countries are being reckoned based on their innovation capabilities. This change
The night light robbery: How LED bulb industry ensures that we keep buying
LED light bulbs are nowhere close to their promised life of 20 years. There is grounds for suspicion that perhaps this industry has fallen back to the days of the infamous Phoebus cartel, which ensured that the old filament-based light bulb’s lifespan was reduced from 2,500 hours to 1,200 hours. If we don’t have to
Empowering the Digital Economy through Budgetary Provisions and Policy Signalling
Introduction This Union Budget 2024 continued on the path to enabling increased allocation to digital infrastructure, including Digital Platform Infrastructure, thus ensuring that the Indian economy accelerates towards a lower cost, higher efficiency, competitive economy. Let us analyse the budget from an overall perspective, before we deep dive into the digital aspects. The announcement of
Opinion: Need of the hour
The enormity of laying a foundation of public interest technology regime to accelerate mainstreaming and harnessing of emerging technologies is a prominent challenge. We live in a world of technology opulence. Every moment, somewhere some brilliant minds are uncovering innovative applications of technology and trying to announce some new-age applications of their innovations. These technological
Opinion: It’s a ‘Feel Great Budget’ for all, especially Indian middle class
It is another mature budget presented, with budgetary support being extended to only the vulnerable sections of the society such as those requiring foodgrain support or for MSMEs that are the backbone of the economy. As the size of the Indian middle class is snowballing, the music to their ears came towards the fag end
Ed-tech can disrupt the delivery of education
It has the potential to become a bridge between conventional education and industry needs and can become a co-developer in the evolving education ecosystem in India. Education today is no longer confined to the four walls of traditional classrooms and has transcended the physical barriers thanks to the unprecedented technological innovations that have brought in the