Precis Exercise It has been a bad year for politics. It has been a good year for law. What has been revealed exposes much that is rotten in our society. The trustees of the people have forfeited their trust. The ‘Bofors’ deal – ignominiously absolved by a Joint Committee of Parliament — was the tip of the iceberg. There is virtually no activity of government not tainted by corruption in some...

Precis Exercise  The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prize in economics, continues to spring surprises. Not that the selection communities goes against the intention of Alfred Nobel which was to award those who make the most important discoveries. The prizes so far have gone to economists who made ‘important contributions. The surprise comes because the word ‘important’ means the thing to many people. Economics despite its pretensions...

Precis Exercise  Every year, June – August are invariably months of great anguish and anxiety for the parents whose wards appear in final examinations of classes X and XII. The declaration of results brings happiness and joy to many. It also plunges many more into a period of uncertainty. Even those with more than eighty per cent of marks in senior secondary examinations are unsure of admission in the desired stream...

Precis Exercise In two days of meetings, the participants carried out extensive consultations on various aspects of the situation in Afghanistan, particularly in light of the recent developments. The conference expressed concern at the escalation of armed hostilities in Afghanistan, which has resulted in immense human losses and irreparable damage to the country in the economic, social, and cultural spheres. d endangered regional peace, stability, and security. The conference deplored the...

Precis Exercise  World reaction to India’s nuclear explosion has so far been on expected lines. Bhutto has been terribly upset. The western powers particularly the U.S. are not exactly happy and the Afro-Asian countries of the Third World have taken it in their stride. The reasons for this varying reaction are not so difficult to understand. Pakistan’s leaders seem incapable of reconciling themselves to the realities of the sub-continent, and they...

The inauguration of the Republic of India is an act of high faith in the people of this country, a gesture of dedication of all the nation’s talent and resources to the realisation of worthy purposes. It amounts to an implicit pledge on the part of every Indian that he will, to the extent of his strength and capability, uphold the honour of his country augment her strength for good and...

For long after independence, the Civil Service attracted the country’s best brains, but bureaucracy became a dirty word — it was held responsible for all that went wrong in we areas where the Government’s role mattered. Was it the sinner or was it sinned against? Perhaps both, Bureaucrats did not function in a vacuum or in lofty isolation. They were part of the new milieu, where the machinery was concerned not...