In the last six months, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has chalked up win after win in state and local elections, reflecting a continuation of the national Narendra Modi wave that began with the 2014 general election. In response to continuing electoral embarrassment, leaders of the Congress Party, including most recently Jairam Ramesh and Mani …
As a country of 1.3 billion people, more than 800 million of whom are eligible to vote, India takes pride in being the “world’s largest democracy”. We have often lauded our ability to transfer power peacefully every five years since the first general election of 1951 (except for Indira Gandhi’s experiment with autocracy in 1975). …
Donald Trump’s recent election as President of the United States has underscored the pervasive global extent of populist sentiment. The U.S. is only the latest amongst several “liberal democracies” that have come under the control of newly-elected leaders with unabashedly nationalist and protectionist agendas. In many ways, Trump’s defeat of the U.S. Democratic Party is …
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent demonetization initiative, whereby he unilaterally declared on November 8 that all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes would no longer be accepted as legal tender, has been the genesis of much consternation in India. The initiative was heralded (and marketed) as an important step towards cutting off funding for terrorism, reducing …
During the 2014 general election, I, along with many other NRIs, pledged my vicarious support to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi. Any arguments that called into question Modi’s dubious human rights record and worrisome support for the Hindutva-oriented Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) fell on deaf ears. I was quick to exculpate Modi …
Cost parity with fossil fuels is arguably the Holy Grail for renewable energy technologies. It’s the tipping point at which renewable energy will be able to stand on its own against the oil & gas incumbents, without the support of government subsidies or environmental altruism. Proponents of Hubbert’s “Peak Oil” theory have argued for years …
The implosion of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the past several months is especially spectacular because of the lofty expectations that had accompanied its rise to power. The party that had once been heralded as the long-awaited solution, under the leadership of Robin Hood-esque Arvind Kejriwal, to decades of complacency, corruption, and incompetence in …
Concerns about intolerance in India have reached a feverish pitch in recent months. Incidents such as the ink attack against Indian activist Sudheendra Kulkarni, banning of beef in certain states, murder of a professor and writer who criticized Hindu beliefs, and the lynching of a Muslim man accused of storing beef in his refrigerator have …
Over the past several months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has made large strides towards the goal of increasing renewable energy penetration in India. Growing dependence on expensive imports of coal, natural gas, and oil has sparked a desire to diversify India’s energy supply portfolio and thereby enhance energy security, reliability, and affordability. As climate …
Shale Renewables and the New Energy Paradigm at SXSW Eco