'People-work'

  A Critique of Randomised Control Trials in Poverty Alleviation Last week, Michael Kremer, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received the Nobel for Economics for "their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty” and for addressing “smaller, more manageable questions,” rather than big ideas. This experimental approach is based on so called Radomised Control Trials. Simply put, in such experiments, a randomly selected group of individuals (randomization is a method of removing bias) receive an intervention whose efficacy is being tested. Changes that result in the conditions of this random experiment group is compared with those in another ‘similar’ group of individuals (referred to as a ‘control group’) that was not provided the intervention. The difference in outcomes is directly attributed to the intervention. The RCT as a scientific research method is primarily widely practiced in clinical research to test the efficacy and safety of new pharmaceutical products/tr...

  Rahul Gandhi has found his voice—Can Congress match it? In problem solving, first ideas are usually worthy of being discarded. They tend to be jaded and borrowed, reflecting established patterns of thinking and stereotypes, without bringing the future into the process. One such first idea appeared in the aftermath of the just concluded general elections in which the Congress party was left gasping for air. It should find a substitute for Rahul Gandhi as its president. Some said, the Congress needs an Amit Shah. Truth be told, even an Amit Shah would fail at leading the Congress, because unlike the BJP, it has an array of people with some intellectual heft, significant domain expertise and an argumentative culture. Lets not forget - Amit Shah is leading a BJP of ‘disciplined soldiers’ sans people like Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and others. The Congress and the political landscape of India needs Rahul Gandhi for only one vital, and counter-intui...

  Ever Noticed That Modi Just Can’t Bring Himself To Say, ‘Mitron, Muslims Are Equal Citizens?’ It is now palpable – the Modi government’s moral paralysis is shaping the destiny of the people of India. It is a time therefore, for contemplative pause; and in equal measure for constructive outrage against how diversity as an organising principle of contemporary Indian society is being challenged, thereby influencing our capacities and intentions to co-exist as one people. (And remember, there is not a shred of evidence from any part of the world, that tax reforms unite people, relentless advertising notwithstanding.) Even before nightfall on the very day that Modi condemned the killing of 15 year old Junaid, Alimuddin Ansari was lynched to death in another part of India, every gruesome detail of which was recorded by the perpetrators, and widely circulated, short of being live telecast. The return of the primitive pleasure in violence and cruelty, all in the name of the greater...

The ‘A’ Certificate For ‘Phullu’ Is Yet Another ‘F’ For The Government’s Judgment I n its wisdom, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Government of India, has deemed the Hindi film Phullu , fit only for ‘adult’ viewing because its story revolves around menstruation. The CBFC Chief, Pahlaj Nihalani, has defended this decision saying that young people in India aren’t ready yet to talk openly about ‘that time of the month’ leave alone watch a film about it.    Funny, tragic, outrageous, anachronistic. Add worse descriptors if you like, and they will fit. Even a couple of years ago, these responses would have sufficed, because underlying the outrage would be the hope that those in charge will learn the ropes and stop fooling around.   However, after three years in government, high officials should not expect any longer to be spoon-fed the basics of well-established feminist and freedom of expression arguments.   We must recognise a pattern when it is starin...

  Has UNAIDS Been Caught Napping? Look who is Paying the Price for the UN’s Political Fence Sitting   I was hoping I would never have to write this. That no one would have to write this, ever. UNAIDS and civil society campaigners have had a special relationship of trust and collaboration. But now that relationship seems to have chipped. Irreparably, even.   Two shockingly opposite statements have emerged after the adoption of the 2016 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS  by Member States of the UN at the recently concluded UN General Assembly Special Session last week.   Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, was quoted in the New York Times  saying that he felt ‘the declaration was something to be proud of’.   In sharp contrast, campaigners from across the world have called the Political Declaration a ‘high level failure’. In  a scathing statement  issued by the global coalitions of civil society organisations,...

  SDGs are our dreams gone official I t is because we dream of a perfect future is why the present becomes worth the fight. Exactly one year ago in September 2015, all nations of the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN general Assembly. At this gathering of world leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed the #globalgoals , committing himself and all of us to their achievement by 2030. And this is what is dazzling about these 17 new goals and their 169 targets. Three generations, including ours, have lived through the struggles and victories of the last hundred years, but it is only now for the first time that we have collectively started dreaming about the world through the eyes of a future generation, our children. What kind of world will your little daughter find herself in when she is a young adult? Will she be surrounded by prosperity, beauty, peace, dignity and equality for them, or will she find herself struggling in a broken planet ...