All stories by Kanika Datta
Covid & festive politics
Rediff.com5 Nov 2020Shifting positions on religiosity and Covid may confuse the Hindutva citizenry, but you can rely on Bengal to turn a non-arguable issue into a raging controversy, notes Kanika Datta.
The Age of the Loh Purush
Rediff.com20 Oct 2020Overt displays of physical machismo is the stamp of the strongman and it's a symptom that manifests itself in direct proportion to their sense of insecurity, says Kanika Datta.
What WFH is doing to office 'time-pass'
Rediff.com24 Sep 2020The centrality of idle office chitchat has only recently come to be acknowledged by executives as they jettison their access cards and work from home in larger numbers, notes Kanika Datta.
Indian Matchmaking ignores reality of arranged marriage
Rediff.com3 Sep 2020Indian Matchmaking has clearly been produced to pander to Western audiences's awful fascination with the institution of arranged marriage, notes Kanika Datta.
Why a flop called SEZ remains attractive to politicians
Rediff.com2 Sep 2020SEZs account for just about a third of India's merchandise exports (and roughly the same proportion of services exports). Yet, the notion of creating global manufacturing centres of the kind that propelled China to superpowerdom retains a durable appeal within the Indian policy-making establishment, notes Kanika Datta.
How India Inc is making the most of PM-CARES
Rediff.com15 Apr 2020'If the government was serious about co-opting the corporate sector meaningfully in the fight against COVID-19, it could have specified activities beyond cheque-writing,' notes Kanika Datta.
The Saffronisation of Corporate India
Rediff.com6 Mar 2020'All these incidents go to show that the day of the anodyne, apolitical corporation is running out fast,' says Kanika Datta.
Has Nirmalaji's tax plan made India CAs mukt?
Rediff.com18 Feb 2020If the finance minister's tax proposals have stimulated demand at all, it's for CAs, notes Kanika Datta.
Do Modi's ministers understand business?
Rediff.com31 Jan 2020Piyush Goyal's comments about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's investment in India reveals an inability to understand how businesses function, says Kanika Datta.
Is India Inc against gays?
Rediff.com29 Nov 2019'It is inconceivable that there are no gays working in Indian corporations but obviously, the subject remains taboo enough in the workplace for those of alternate sexual orientation to feel safer remaining in the closet,' notes Kanika Datta.
'They chose Ram carefully'
Rediff.com10 Nov 2019'...by combining religious and political missions -- to destroy the Babri Masjid and establish Ram Rajya.' 'Hindutva was successful in creating synergy with the aspirations of devotees,' Dhirendra K Jha, author of Ayodhya: The Dark Night, tells Kanika Datta.
Businessman. Leader. Philanthropist. Role model. Convicted felon. Author
Rediff.com26 Mar 2019Rajat Gupta, 70, the first Indian managing director of McKinsey and who of 17 months in US prison for insider trading, gets ready to tell his side of the story. And he is less than complimentary about Preet Bharara, then the famous crusading US attorney for the Southern District of New York. "The jury, the press and the public saw only... a 'cropped picture', he says. For someone whose life story was a model of the Great American Dream - an Indian of modest means who rose to the highest circles of politics and business, mingling with the White House and Davos crowd - his indictment in 2012 marked a stunning fall from grace. Many ascribed it to the hubris of the rich and powerful, says Kanika Datta.
Who's afraid of #metoo
Rediff.com18 Oct 2018'#metoo has put front and centre an issue that society has suppressed for far too long,' says Kanika Datta.
Of Serena, Rafa and tennis' dress sense and sensibility
Rediff.com14 Sep 2018'The conventional view is that it's the women who are being provocative and drawing attention to themselves. Has anyone considered the alternative view?' asks Kanika Datta.
We won't see the likes of Aretha Franklin again
Rediff.com1 Sep 2018To say Aretha ticked all the boxes when it came to voice technique is like calling Cristiano Ronaldo an efficient footballer, says Kanika Datta.
Return of the Licence Raj!
Rediff.com6 Mar 2018Are we creeping back to controls on corporate decision making? Three moves over the past eight months reinforce this notion, says Kanika Datta.
Modi @ Davos: No great expectations
Rediff.com22 Jan 2018The question is whether Prime Minister Modi can convince the world's investors that India is the ultimate investment destination of 2018, says Kanika Datta.
Why the world's cheapest car failed to win India's heart
Rediff.com11 Dec 2017The distinction between "cheap" and "affordable" is a fine one, but no one understands this better than India's aspirational first-time car-owner, says Kanika Datta.
Britain finally discovers how the Raj hurt India
Rediff.com26 Nov 2017Unlike the Germans, Britons began to face the hard truths about their colonial empire only recently.