While some claim India is an emerging economic superpower, we still have a long way to go before achieving the kind of growth that goes beyond numbers, that translates into better lives for millions. Growth has been given priority over development, gross domestic product over gross national happiness. Take nutrition for example. The international food policy research institute (IFPRI), an inter
India has not done enough to improve its human rights record. A submission by the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR), a national coalition of human rights organisations and independent experts says the records continue to be `disturbing`. Released this month, the report presents a bleak scenario of the actual state of human rights across India. The report talked ab
India has not done enough to improve its human rights record, so it continues to be ‘disturbing’ according to submission made by the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR), a national coalition of human rights organisations and independent experts. Released this month, the report presents a very bleak scenario of the actual state of human rights across Indi
On November 22, I addressed my column in The Pioneer to self-regulation bodies in the media space. I argued that via Colors, a fairly respectable TV channel, pornstar Sunny Leone is being heavily cross-promoted across the internet, mobile applications and the social media space. I did name Press Council chief Markandey Katju and News Broadcasting Standards Authority chairman JS Verma. But I rea
The news of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death has been received with much speculation with questions related to the nature of political transition in this isolated country, their future foreign policy and the inside situation. Most importantly, the international community is watching closely the nation’s nuclear policy with raised eyebrows asking, “Who controls the Nukes
India has earned the dubious distinction of being South Asia`s most uncharitable country in 2011, if one goes by the ranking in the Charities Aid Foundation`s World Giving Index. In the South Asia region, India is the worst performer with a global ranking of 91. In 2010, India ranked at 134. Pakistan, which was ranked at 142 last year, has made it to 34th position this year. Sri Lanka i
Assuming that the committee that selected PJ Thomas as chief vigilance commission would have included the chief justice of India (CJI) too, how would it have impacted the judicial review of the decision? The answer to this query lies in the domain of ambiguity. But there is no denying the fact that it would have added a rather complex dimension to the appointments of functionaries whose assignm
Terming India`s nutrition policy half-baked, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), says that the country can provide nutrition security to its population only by 2043. “Countries such as China, Thailand, and Brazil have taken bold actions to successfully accelerate reductions in undernutrition and are on track to reach the first millennium development goals (MD
If chief minister Mayawati’s plan to divide UP into four isn’t going anywhere she herself has to blame for it. She hardly had left the union home ministry with any choice other than sending back her proposal with multiple queries. Her rejoinder that the union government wants to keep the issue ‘pending’ by picking holes cuts no ice. To begin at the beginni
Justice Markandey Katju’s assertions, most of which I suppose are picked up by media these days, are too big for his petite table in the press council of India office. The ludicrousness of his statements augurs, if not demands, a bigger role for the man. This time he has demanded Bharat Ratna for Mirza Ghalib and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. No, a Nobel demand for Shakespeare is not to be
Nothing, it seems, moves our elected government as political expediency. Note the alacrity with which the government moved to clear the food security bill and induct RLD leader Ajit Singh into the cabinet on Sunday in sharp contrast with its vacillation over the Lokpal bill. Amid reports of rotting stocks in the FCI godowns even while a large chunk of population faced starvation,
The action research on exploring market-based mediation for generating opportunities for knowledge and resource rich but economically disadvantaged people has generated several new alternatives. We realised that women groups from over 15 districts of Gujarat tried to commercialise their products and cooked traditional foods, they may not be able to compete well with the professionals or more ex
Washington: India witnessed illicit financial outflows of a staggering $128 billion during the 10 years to 2009, making it one of the biggest victims of illicit money among developing nations, says a report. The startling data come at a time when the country is aggressively exploring ways to fight the black money menace. The study by Washington-based research group Global F
People in India as well as elsewhere in the world had to live with rising prices of food and other essentials this year, but they can hope for a bit of relief next year, according to a report of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). “Inflation is predicted to improve in 2012,” says the 2011 year-end update of UN-ESCAP. However, it also sa
It is not often that the words of a ‘literary icon nonpareil’ make sense to the man on the street. But Mani Shankar Aiyar’s comments on the parliament logjam over FDI in retail would make every person who wants his vote’s worth nod in agreement. For those who, out of sheer habit, had reached for their earplugs when Aiyar spoke last, here’s a rewind.
“Didi, are there rivers big like this in your country? Have you ever seen water like what is here below? I have, in Bihar. And in Bangladesh. Once the river got so big that the water came down and took houses and buffaloes away with it. All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye.” Alekh was whispering in the half-light. There was a small group of us who were huddling, unable to
While most of the rest of India may not care about the northeast, retired IPS officer Prakash Singh, who served long years in the region first as DGP of Assam and then as DG of BSF, feels strongly for it. The recurring blockades in Manipur coupled with the state and central governments’ apathy in dealing with it irked him so much that he filed a PIL in the supreme court alleging that
When Anna Hazare sat on a fast demanding a strong Lokpal in August this year, a big fuss was made about the ‘sanctity’ of parliament and its procedures by the parliamentarians, especially in view of the fact that the matter was pending with the parliamentary standing committee then. Now that the standing committee has submitted its report we are wiser about that sentiment
After many international aid agencies failed to replicate the green revolution model in Africa despite billions of dollars they spent, what did they do wrong? They still did not ask themselves whether there was a need for developing not ‘the’ model but a variety of models building upon African genius and ground-level wisdom. Such a question would have taken away the jobs of thousand
Protests, uprisings, upheavals, fasts and revolutions marked 2011, the year that we stand to say goodbye to. Most recently, protests hit the streets of Russia on Saturday after disputed polls that granted victory to Vladimir Putin. In India, all indications are that Anna Hazare will resume yet another fast from December 27. All along when India was rising against graft this year, other countrie
