Our girls are badgered day in and out by multi-national companies to become fairer ad infinitum. And guys too are now targeted. Duskiness is hated and derided. Open any marriage columns in news-papers and you will find the requirement from would be...

The mainstream media wants to appear objective and universally true. Yet nothing is ever ideologically unbiased. Take the case of the BBC reporting on Israel’s incursions into the Gaza Strip. The BBC first declares the error of it all; how Israel is...

The UK Independent characteristically highlights the changing status of Asia and Africa in world diplomacy, nonetheless pointing out the Eurocentric nature of technological advances. In the last few years, technology has progressed in amazingly fast,...

Case History I I am traveling from Bishnupur, Dt. Bankura, West Bengal to Arambagh in Hoogly District. The bus is packed with local youth returning home from their colleges. In the seat behind me two salwar clad girls are whispering about the need for...

Nandigram is a blot to West Bengal’s new image as an investor–savvy state. The CPI(M) is accused of unleashing a huge cadre-force to grab land from poor peasants. Intellectuals in Kolkata have taken to the streets to protest what they term as...

A white man is distraught at the way big, bad and unscrupulous Chinese businesses are destroying the world’s crystal clear environment. Bill Miller in the desmogblog raves against the Chinese habit of buying wood from poorer nations in South...

I know a rickshaw-puller in the sub-divisional town where I work. He is a good man in every possible way. But he loves his country liquor after a hard day’s labor. Then he turns into a monster. This same man is aware that adulterated country...

The Indian growth story depends heavily on infrastructure development. And the infrastructure sector is showings signs of weakening. Due to sluggish capacity additions in key infrastructural sectors, the economy as a whole will slow down. Cement,...

Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR) has, for the 4th consecutive year, forecast an optimistic outlook for the Indian economy. India will have a growth upwards of 8 percent compared to China’s projected double digit...

A classmate of Rizwanur Rehman from his days at St.Xavier’s College, Calcutta remembers the eager young scholar devouring Indian novels in English. He was not called Riz then, but Rizwan. He had wanted to become an English professor. The first...