Opinions

For a country which has a full-fledged ministry dedicated to its expatriates around the world, and also conducts an ostentatious Pravasi Bharatiya Divas with considerable sound and fury, it is rather astounding and lamentable that the government is yet to speak out against the persecution of the oldest Indian diaspora population – the Roma – in Europe. France has deported around 1,000 Roma to Bulgaria and Romania since August and has been accused by Amnesty International of "stigmatising" the...

A few months back a UN Human Rights office report on poverty in Afghanistan described a situation where an overwhelming majority of people were living in poverty: a situation which reinforced a strong sense of disillusionment and growing scepticism about the future of the democratisation process. The report identified abuse of power as a key driver of poverty. It described corrupted power structures at all levels of Afghan society and a lack of will on the part of the country’s leaders and...

A week from now world leaders would be meeting in New York to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to chart out a course for accelerated action between now and 2015. There are apprehensions that the goals may not be achieved after all. According to a round-up released by a UN agency in March this year, the failure to achieve the MDGs so far is not because they are unreachable, or because time is too short, but because of unmet commitments, inadequate resources, and...

In a society and during times, when money is said to be a determinant for almost everything, it is not surprising to see researchers striving hard to link it with happiness. The most recent one points out that money does buy happiness, or something close to it, but the effect diminishes above incomes of $75,000 a year. Now that’s a lot of money needed to purchase happiness, you will concur. That would be more than Rs 32 lakh a year in India. The research by Princeton University’s Daniel Kahneman...

The two recent strikes by doctors have set extremely dangerous precedents. In both cases, in Rajasthan and in Delhi, the authorities went down on their knees and yielded to the demands of the doctors. Stalemates were avoided, but what went out to the entire country were dangerous signals — blackmailing tactics work. Around 1,200 doctors of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital called off their strike on Wednesday after they were assured of more security. The doctors, including medical students, had gone...

The ongoing India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations have been non-transparent. They are a threat to the livelihoods of millions of people, and any hasty conclusion of the talks will only fuel poverty, inequality, and environmental destruction. The terms of a new deal between the EU and India, negotiations of which have been “hijacked” by big business and vested interests on both sides, will jeopardise the livelihood of millions of small farmers and patients, a joint study by...

Many Indian hospitals routinely subject rape survivors to forensic examinations that include the unscientific and degrading "finger" test, Human Rights Watch has said in a report. The 54-page report, "Dignity on Trial: India's Need for Sound Standards for Conducting and Interpreting Forensic Examinations of Rape Survivors," documents the continued use of the archaic practice and the continued reliance on the "results" by many defence counsel and courts. The medieval practice, described in...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assertion that the Supreme Court should stay out of the realm of policymaking is valid. But his contention that his government cannot give to the poor the grains that are rotting in State godowns is not. If anything, it is an anti-people emotion. The Prime Minister was interacting with senior editors at his residence, when he made these points. He went on to insist, “How can foodgrains be distributed free to an estimated 37 per cent of the population which lives...

It’s now the turn of an Indian journalist to be a victim of America’s Islamophobia. Zia Haq, an assistant editor with Hindustan Times, was part of a seven-journalist delegation invited to participate in a week-long technology and farm show that began on August 28 at Iowa in the United States. The US embassy here suspended the processing of his visa on unexplained grounds, and Haq had to drop out of the tour at the last minute. The HT journalist says on his blog that he has been singled out, “All...

Two months after his right palm was chopped off by Muslim fanatics for allegedly insulting Islam's prophet in a question paper, a lecturer in Kerala has now been sacked by the diocese which runs the college. That's a classic case of what you would call adding insult to injury. Old proverbs wreaked anew. Fr Thomas Malekudy, manager of Newman College, Thodupzuah, where TJ Joseph had been a selection grade senior lecturer at the Department of Malayalam, on Saturday announced the decision to remove...