November 29, 2008

If there is one problem that keeps India’s progress in check, it is that of caste. The Hindu caste system divides society so rigidly that everyone is either an outsider or insider. There is always a side, depending on where one is looking from. This also prevents the country from moving forward in a single-minded manner, for there is no unifying social force that can make everyone come together to change their lot. Political parties, of course, are the worst exploiters of caste. But there (…)

While interviewing environmental activist, Medha Patkar, in 2004, Robert Jensen from the School of Journalism, Texas, made a conscious dig at the partial and biased perception on Nehru. When Medha referred to the general criticism of Nehru for describing dams the “temples of modern India”, Jensen shot back: Nehru said that in 1955, but three years later he changed tack and described big dams as “a disease of gigantism”. In other words, Nehru took three years to realise the need for judicial (…)

Taro Aso, a Roman Catholic, a “manga”-loving conservative with a wry smile and a sharp tongue, a colourful nationalist with a knack for offensive gaffes, was chosen by Japan’s beleaguered ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), battling recession, demographic crisis, financial turmoil and a general election, to be Japan’s 92th Prime Minister on September 24, 2008. The LDP must now wait to see if Aso’s ascendance will be enough for the party to regain the five-decade legislative (…)