Sanjeev Sabhlok's Blog, page 103

Can any government school ever beat for-profit schools for the accountability of teachers?

Extracts from James Tooley’s The Beautiful Tree: One private school proprietor whom I got to know really well was Mohammed Anwar of M. A. Ideal High School in Hyderabad, India. I discovered that he had installed, at not inconsiderable expense, an admittedly rather primitive closed-circuit television (CCTV) system throughout his school. On his desk was […]

Sabarimala issue – compilation of SBP’s and my views to date

I’m currently writing an article on this matter for my TOI blog. Some of my previous thoughts on this issue and some research, below: SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT PDF | Word Good articles on this issue While the Sabarimala judgment soars in spirit, it is weak on legalities The Sabarimala judgment and its impact on Hindus […]

Remembering my Vir Chakar uncle Suresh Sabhlok – who passed away on 20 November 2018

My uncle, Commodore Suresh Sabhlok – who had been awarded Vir Chakra for gallantry displayed during the 1971 Indo-Pak war – passed away on 20 November in Singapore in my cousin’s home at age 90. The Chief of Naval Staff of India got the India’s Naval Attache in Singapore to lay a wreath at his […]

India’s taxes and their breakup

Loknath Rao has provided the following info: ==INFO== Indias total tax revenue – central and state 2016-2017 = 400bn$ Total military budget, incl. paramilitary and reserves – 40bn$ Total Police and correctional institutions Budget all states – 10 bn$ Total Judiciary budget all India, courts and their staff – 1 bn$. Just about 50bn$ for […]

Are Sagarika Ghose’s views on liberalism evolving?

I chanced upon Sagarika Ghose’s ideas sporadically over the years, but did not particularly pay attention since no one had suggested she is a liberal. But upon reading her April 2018 articles on Kathau incident (this and this) I decided to spend a bit of time to explore her views. I looked through: A charter […]

If Marx were still around, he’d agree that India is a communist country

Socialist India currently meets 7 out of the 10 principles laid out in Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto “in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.                 – In India the fundamental right to property has been abolished […]

Some observations/ questions on the agenda of Bundelkhand Kisan Sanghathan

I received this note from Avnish Pratap, a close colleague of Late Sharad Joshi. There are some elements of this that I fully agree with, but there are a few that I’m not clear why these are being raised. Things I agree with are in dark green. Things I don’t agree with or have questions […]

Next TOI blog post: The IAS: to be or not to be

For those who’ve not yet seen it – click here.

A brief mention of Swarna Bharat Party in Sagarika Ghose’s new book: Why I am a Liberal

Sharing this extract from the acknowledgements in Sagarika’s book. As mentioned yesterday, I’ll get to read the book only in a couple of months. I’ll review it on this blog then. In the meantime I strongly recommend the book, from what I’ve seen of it.    

Farmers: A Liberal Agenda – Extract from “Why I am a Liberal” by Sagarika Ghose

As you probably know, Sagarika Ghose has recently written a book, “Why I am a Liberal”. I came in touch with her relatively recently but she has mentioned my work and Swarna Bharat Party briefly also in that book. I’ve ordered the book and will read when I reach Delhi in late January, then provide […]