India may be the world`s largest democracy, but it fares abysmally poorly in a human freedom development index brought out by two international institutes. While India ranks 92nd among 123 countries ranked in the most complete index of human freedom yet available, New Zealand leads in human freedom, followed by the Netherlands and Hong Kong with the US and Denmark tied at seventh
Forty-eight hours after making a mutilated response to Pakistan sending back a jawan’s mutilated body, defence minister AK Antony is still busy taking guard (“right hand middle, umpire sir”) even as the bowler is halfway through his over (left-arm over, two bouncers on the trot, anyone?) Antony, who on Wednesday had called the Pakistan army’s action “inhuma
While both defence minister AK Antony and external affairs minister Salman Khurshid condemned Pakistan’s recent action as “inhuman” and “highly provocative”, the incident brings to mind Kargil of circa 1999, when Captain Saurabh Kalia was imprisoned during the war and Pakistan later sent his mutilated body. But even if we take that as a wartime casualty, th
Upon searching for “social contract” in Google, one comes up with the Wikipedia article for Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s 1762 treatise, which suggests that “For “social contract” as a political and philosophical concept” one divert to this pa
India ranks lowest among the world`s major economies for its preparedness to tackle global environmental risks and second-lowest for economic risks, while Switzerland is on the top, a report said today. As per the annual Global Risks Report published by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), the biggest global risk in terms of likelihood is `severe income disparity` for the next 10 ye
"A group of their (Pakistan’s) regular soldiers intruded across the Line of Control in Mendhar Sector on January 8. Pakistan army troops, having taken advantage of thick fog and mist in the forested area, were moving towards our posts when an alert area domination patrol spotted and engaged the intruders... The fire fight between Pakistan and our troops continued for approximatel
Delhi has been infamous as the rape capital of India as well as the crime capital of India. It is not new to failure of governance either. Yet, a gangrape in December was a trigger point, people were enraged and came out in streets to protest like never before. The crime and the response both call for a deeper understanding beyond headlines. We need to come to terms with whatever is happening d
In the two weeks leading up to my arrival in India, I followed the story of the high-profile gang rape in Delhi with horror. The sketch of the crime left little doubt about the excessive violence involved in it. However, in the days after the initial reports my greater interest has been in the silence of the media on the victim’s identity and the tenor of the public protests. The governme
Self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu is not new to controversies. There has already been an attempt to murder charge against him (remember the mysterious deaths of two boys - Dipesh Weghela and Abhishek Waghela - studying in a residential school in the premises of Asaram`s ashram in Ahmedabad in 2008; there are charges relating to tax evasion against him ). This time he is being talked about beca
Girls, the word of caution is to carry rakhis in your bag throughout the year, you never know when you may be in need of them. And if a man tries to molest you, hurt you, do not fight. Remember you are a girl – you can and should always only beg. So if the Delhi gagrape victim would have begged on the night of December 16 when she was being assaulted by six men, she would have been saved.
Only two words escape my breath after listening to Asaram ji Bapu – Oh God, that too without the exclamation mark. I am sorry but I cannot give the guy more attention than he deserves, which in my world is nothing. I laughed a little too, considering it was funny to see who between Neelam Dubey, bapu’s spokesperson, and the CNN-IBN anchor will have the last word. I laugh and
The reactions from the foreign investors were dismissive. The day the government set up the cabinet committee on investment (CCI) to fast-track infrastructure projects of over Rs 1,000 crore, the research head in a foreign brokerage house commented that “Isn’t this a typical Indian solution to tackle any problem? Will this not add another bureaucratic organization to the existing on
Internet and other components of information communication and technology (ICT) industry annually produces more than 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, and is expected to double by 2020, a new study has found. Researchers from the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) and Bell Labs explain that the information communications and technolo
Hours to go before the union government launches what is being touted as the ultimate game changer, Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) – handing over cash for subsidies and other social welfare schemes directly in the Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of the beneficiaries – and yet little is known about it. Earlier called Direct Cash Transfer (DCT), this programme is supposed
Joke 1: News channels flash ‘breaking news’. Why? Delhi Police arrived on time at a crime scene. Joke 2: Police would now get training from Domino’s guys in how to arrive at a crime scene within 30 minutes. Those are the jokes going around on social media soon after Zee News aired an interview with the Delhi gangrape and murder victim’s
C Rangarajan’s suggestion to increase the marginal tax rate on those with higher income will garner a lot of popularity. At first glance it seems to be a valid and well thought out suggestion. After all the rich are getting richer. They always did. But after liberalisation the pace at which the rich have gotten super-rich is astounding. The battle-scarred victor of many a fiscal war and c
The justice delivery system in our country offers some protection to juveniles. Their identities are kept a secret, they are kept in rehabilitation homes away from dreaded criminals in jails, and they are dealt with softly to allow them scope to be better citizens in future. But these applications sound fine only when the magnitude of crime in question is small, in keeping with the off
After a common New Delhi woman — yes, a common New Delhi woman — who just wanted to watch a movie with her friend on a Sunday evening was raped and brutally assaulted by six men in a bus, a lot has been said, primarily by politicians, about the poor, the slum dwellers, and the migrants to the big cities. And their combined retrograde attitude toward women. The netas explaine
It is an amazing coincidence, but this is about the two C`s that matter to us most: customer service and coincidences. You know, about how Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy and Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln (or is it the other way around?). And how your call is important – not to Kennedy or Lincoln, but to customer service. Some coincidences have already become classic
December 29 in Indian history will go down as a day when the nation was shamed first in the eyes of its own people and then in Singapore when the 23-year-old Delhi girl succumbed to the brutalities meted out to her in a moving bus by six young men, who are neither beast nor human. An enraged nation is bruised and battered today with no explanation to offer to its people on the question: are we
