Electronic waste rules: In letter, but without spirit
Ever wondered what happens to your old mobile phones, computers, television sets and refrigerators the moment you discard them? They are most likely to land in an unauthorised scrap yard waiting to be recycled in a hazardous and unscientific manner — causing great damage to the environment. The rapid growth of the information technology sector [...]
Has India lost its ‘cartoon’ humour?
The Indian government’s decision to withdraw a controversial cartoon from a political science textbook this week couldn’t have been more ironic. Just a day earlier, India had observed the 60th anniversary of the first sitting of its parliament, seen as one of the pillars of the world’s largest democracy. While it is best left to [...]
As the economy struggles, India needs tough actions
Slowing growth, a falling rupee, sliding stock markets, a rising current account deficit, drying foreign inflows and policy paralysis at the centre. Things certainly don’t look rosy for India. With the rupee down 22 percent in the last 10 months and a 6 percent drop in stock markets so far in May (as of Friday’s [...]
As the economy and markets struggle, India needs tough actions
Slowing growth, a falling rupee, sliding stock markets, a rising current account deficit, drying foreign inflows and policy paralysis at the centre. Things certainly don’t look rosy for India. With the rupee down 22 percent in the last 10 months and a 6 percent drop in stock markets so far in May (as of Friday’s [...]
In optimism over India-Pakistan trade, a warning flag
In 1997, the business-friendly Nawaz Sharif was prime minister, relations between Pakistan and India were thawing and the two countries were trying to use improved trade to put decades of animosity behind them. Or as the Indian journalist Salil Tripathi wrote at the time, “this sorry state of affairs may be about to improve – through [...]
“Good that the jerk died”: When Web links go bad
The Indian Express published a story, filed from Lucknow, about the son of a local BJP bigwig who died after a security guard at a hospital shot him. The gunfight began after another guard told him and his flunkies to move his car from an illegal parking spot. The situation escalated, the goons beat the [...]
Climate change means doing Asian development differently
In the face of climate change, is it time to re-examine the way we do development in Asia? For years, many developing countries have believed it can be only one or the other – economic growth or reducing carbon emissions. But a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says it’s possible for [...]
Does India need ‘Bollywood activism’ to bring social change?
For India, it took a Bollywood actor’s weekend TV show to openly debate female foeticide, a rampant practice in parts of the country that has struggled with a lopsided sex ratio for decades. The impact of the show Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails) was evident when its host, actor Aamir Khan, convinced the chief minister [...]