Contrary to the general assumption, Ashwini Vaishnaw is not from Odisha. The Union cabinet minister in charge of the power-packed portfolios of communications, electronics, IT and railways is from Rajasthan—his family hails from Pali and he grew up in Jodhpur. For all practical purposes, though, he is Odia. He is from the state’s IAS cadre, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from there and he is an ardent follower of Lord Jagannath. In the first five days of his ‘cabinetdom’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new blue-eyed boy sought blessings from the Lord of Puri four times.
Vaishnaw would need more science than spirituality, though, to rise to the task he has been asked to do. The reason Modi chose a low profile insider for the crucial portfolios is not hard to figure out—during his IAS days he was part of Vajpayee’s PMO; he has been a startup entrepreneur and has held corporate positions in the likes of GE and Siemens. The Wharton alumnus’s short tenure in the upper house of Parliament has seen him defending government laws crunching data, and he has often been called in by the PMO for inputs on policy and technology.
Denne historien er fra July 25, 2021-utgaven av THE WEEK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 25, 2021-utgaven av THE WEEK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
