The Social Lens: Insights on Institutions, Inequality, and Innovation

The 6th ministerial meeting of WTO at Hong Kong, once again brought to the frontiers, the pro-globalisation and anti-globalisation campaigners. The globalisation, when on one hand implies that when one part of the world gets into trouble, it can appeal to the rest for help; on the other, it implies that trouble in one part can quickly be exported to the rest. Globalisation, as a phenomenon has been existing since ages, as is evident in trade relations with Roman world in ancient period, presence of silk route etc. The debate that is ensuing between the two groups is of more recent origin, starting in 1990s when WTO was formed as an embodiment of globalisaion. What the two groups are arguing over is the framework which globalisation is following after the formation of WTO. The pro-globalisation campaigners argue that……………… * Globalisation is the soul of the laissez faire economy and the spirit of the principle of relative advantage of Adam Smith, according to which each country woul...

The issue of giving reservation to women in Parliament continues to linger on session after session, with no consensus being reached, while the opinion continues to be divided over the bill. It remained a non-starter through seven Lok Sabhas, from 1996 onwards. In 1952, the women representation was 4.4% and after fifty years, it is 8.8%. It is far below the world average of around 15%. In the present Lok Sabha, only 44 MPs are women, i.e. less than 10%. As per the report of Inter-Parliamentary Union on June 30, 2005, India ranks 134th among 183 countries in terms of percentage of women legislatures in the Parliament. Those who are in favour of reservation for women in Parliament argue that……….. * The basic premise of giving reservation to any section of society is positive discrimination, which implies granting greater benefits to those sections that due to certain social and historical circumstances are not at par with rest of the society. To reap the benefits of equality of oppor...