Deccan Chronicle - DC Comment

Women in military must get a fair deal

publisher1@dc.com — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

In India, women suffer enough in the home, in their workplaces, and in public spaces outside the home. For all the enlightenment that modern education is supposed to bring, the socially-dominant men are still quite far from according equality to women when it comes to habits of mind and the basic way of doing things, though lip-service is routinely paid to the idea of equality before the law.

Bill, will & the way

publisher1@dc.com — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

Fourteen years of struggle followed by 62 years of deprivation, inequality and finally, the Constitution amendment mandating 33 per cent seats to be reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies was passed by the Rajya Sabha amid high drama. There can be no doubt that it was the will of one woman, the AICC president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and the commitment of one man, the Prime Ministe

A unique protest to celebrate languages

publisher1@dc.com — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

On March 8, there was a gathering of languages, some 320 of them at Baroda. These languages had come together not only to protest but to create a celebration of language, to state that language is and that was enough. The discussions suggested that language can be a basis for democracy.

The history of language has been the history of its dominant metaphors. Two images, in particular have domin

Old friends remain strategic partners

publisher1@dc.com — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The Russian Prime Minister, Mr Vladimir Putin’s visit to India last week reinforces the quality of ties between the two countries, which never stopped being geo-strategic in nature except briefly when Communism ended in Moscow and there was a clamour among an influential section of the former Communist brass to establish a firmer foundation of friendship with “our common European home”, the

A balance of power

publisher1@dc.com — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left, along with several regional parties, have shown their support for the Women’s Reservation Bill. The Bill has cleared the first hurdle with the Rajya Sabha giving it a green signal, and I have little doubt that despite dissension it will be passed in the Lok Sabha, too, though with a few amendments.

Important issues such as reservat

Recession and world’s tallest city for the rich

publisher1@dc.com — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

COME April, the first tenants may finally be able to move into Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, now the tallest building in the world. Despite a series of setbacks since its ostensible opening two months ago, including the closing of the observation deck, the tower has already prompted an exuberant proliferation of record-breaking statistics: it soars more than half-a-mile high, stands twice the height of

’02 riots: Modi, at last, to face probe

publisher1@dc.com — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

Eight years on, it is clear that the ghost of the hair-raising violence committed against the Muslim minority in Gujarat is still not dead. The Special Investigation Team, constituted by the Supreme Court to conduct a fresh examination of several important cases, has issued a summons to chief minister Narendra Modi to appear before it on March 21. This is an awkward reminder that system cleansing

Learning to read

publisher1@dc.com — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

“The break of day — the broken day
The fall of night — the fallen night
No such thing as a single ray
Behold the undivided light...”
From Crumbs by Bachchoo

Living in London after my university days and beginning to write and sell the occasional article to newspapers and magazines, I was introduced to a sunken Sri Lankan whose name I won’t mention, for fear of libel lest he be sti

Scene Unseen

publisher1@dc.com — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

No ram for top cop

Not many tears are being shed for the controversial cop, Mr P.S.R.Anjaneyulu, who had to go on leave after the High Court pulled him up for caning students and journalists in the Osmania University. According to sources, the OU incident is being seen as a blessing in disguise by many senior cops who were not comfortable working with Mr Anjaneyulu. This included the city commi

It’s masala cricket time: IPL-3 is here!

publisher2@dc.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

In a few short hours, instant cricket’s latest extravaganza — the Indian Premier League — will get its third edition under way in Navi Mumbai’s D.Y. Patil Stadium, and already all bets are off on who will emerge the champions from among the eight participating teams in 45 days’ time. Included in the cast for the hour-long opening ceremony is ageless crooner Lionel Richie, who will serena

The Afghan equation

publisher2@dc.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

As the Pakistan Army Chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, works to preserve his strategic space in Afghanistan, he is a worried man. The February 13 Pune blasts, the February 26 Kabul suicide attack and ramping up of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir are manifestations of his unease. Two radical departures have been made by Pakistan after the unveiling of the new re-focused International Security Ass

Teach for the world, learn a thing or two

publisher2@dc.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

A drumroll, please. In a moment, the winner of my 2010 “win-a-trip” contest.

But first, a message from the sponsor — that’s me. A generation ago, the most thrilling programme for young people was the Peace Corps. Today, it’s Teach for America, which this year has attracted 46,000 applicants who are competing for about 4,500 slots.
Peace Corps and Teach for America represent the best

Pitroda’s decision on BSNL correct

publisher1@dc.com — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The cancellation of the Rs 30,000-crore tender by BSNL for the 93 million lines to be laid underscores the unending roadblocks faced by this once-upon-a-time telecom giant. The problems of this once blue chip corporation started when the then telecom minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, delayed the first tender, which was floated in 2006 for 45 million lines. By the time he was ready to take a decision h

Testing times ahead

publisher1@dc.com — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

National politics operates in two concentric circles. The inner circle concerns the day-to-day running of government and of Parliament. Parliament is a universe of its own. Its motivations and stratagems — floor coordination, cornering the government, dividing the Opposition, pulls and pressures within committees — are dramatic and all-important to its practitioners. To be fair, this is someth

It’s up to Iraqis to build their nation now

publisher1@dc.com — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

Of all the pictures I saw from the Iraqi elections last weekend, my favourite was on nytimes.com: an Iraqi mother holding up her son to let him stuff her ballot into the box. I loved that picture. Being able to freely cast a ballot for the candidate of your choice is still unusual for Iraqis and for that entire region. That mother seemed to be saying: When I was a child, I never got to vote. I wan

History is made, may have fallout

publisher1@dc.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The Rajya Sabha missed the deadline of International Women’s Day in passing the Women’s Reservation Bill, as the 108th Constitution Amendment Bill has come to be known, but was able to pass the proposed legislation — although amid considerable acrimony — with the required two-thirds majority a day later on Tuesday. The first clear hurdle in the life of this bill has thus been passed, altho

Put states in order

publisher1@dc.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

Most people who have been following the functioning of Parliament in recent years would have noticed that which causes protests and disorder in the House is the complaint that the government has not been taking the leaders of the Opposition parties into confidence while taking decisions on policies which are in violation of the national consensus evolved over a long period. An interesting feature

Economic insecurity is troubling Obama

publisher1@dc.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The Obama administration and Democrats in general are in trouble because they are not urgently and effectively addressing the issue that most Americans want them to: the frightening economic insecurity that has put a chokehold on millions of American families.

The economy shed 36,000 jobs last month, and that was trumpeted in the press as good news. Well, after your house has burned down I supp

Actions of some MPs disgraceful

publisher1@dc.com — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

It is a matter of abiding shame that the Women’s Reservation Bill introduced by the government in the Rajya Sabha — the House of Elders, no less — could not even be taken up for discussion and voting on International Women’s Day on account of the disruptive conduct of the opponents of the proposed legislation. What was meant to be a historic occasion was turned into a dangerous farce by a

Do a strategy rethink

publisher1@dc.com — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

In mid-February this year, a devastating attack by Maoists in the adivasi-dominated Jangalmahal region of the West Bengal-Jharkhand border overran a camp of the paramilitary Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) in Sildah, West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, killing 24 personnel and looting 40 automatic and semi-automatic weapons. A Central Reserve Police Force camp at Dharampur in the vicinity was a

Looking at US recession in an Irish mirror

publisher1@dc.com — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

Everyone has a theory about the financial crisis. These theories range from the absurd to the plausible — from claims that liberal Democrats somehow forced banks to lend to the undeserving poor (even though Republicans controlled Congress) to the belief that exotic financial instruments fostered confusion and fraud. But what do we really know?

Well, in a way the sheer scale of the crisis —

A historic day for Indian democracy

publisher1@dc.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

India is set to make history on Monday when a long-overdue bill that aims to forever alter gender equations in our country will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on the 100th anniversary of the International Women’s Day.

Let hostility decline

publisher1@dc.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

After the Prime Minister’s Sharm el-sheikh speech, it took quite some time for India to begin foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan because of some misunderstanding of the issues. They should be discussed openly with the options that we have.

First, what is it that we want from Pakistan and what do we expect from Pakistan? Surely we want better relations with expanding trade and investm

Dreaming the possible dream in America

publisher1@dc.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The thing I love most about America is that there’s always somebody who doesn’t get the word — somebody who doesn’t understand that in a Great Recession you’re supposed to hunker down, downsize and just hold on for dear life. I have a couple of friends who fit that bill, who think a recession is a dandy time to try to discover better and cheaper ways to do things. They both happen to be

Poor are cannon fodder for Naxals

publisher1@dc.com — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0530

The detailed characterisation of the Maoist movement by the Union home secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai, at a seminar on Friday offers a perspective with which many will agree, but this is a view whose basic premise is under challenge from an influential section of civil society. A wide measure of silent support for the government’s understanding of the issue can be said to derive from the increasing e