 |
Are leprosy figures being reduced any which way?
A startling new study that surveyed 700,000 people in Raigad and Mumbai suggests that the burden of leprosy could be three to nine times the official figures. Obviously, people are not being detected and treated in time. Are the misguided policies of the National Leprosy Elimination Programme leading to a public health failure? More... Winds of change set to sweep through Bretton WoodsDeveloping countries are the sole market of the World Bank. But they collectively have only around 38% of its voting rights. All this is set to change, with developing nations set to get more representation and power. An exclusive report More... Whatever happened to our freedom?In a gender-equitable democratic polity, matters of dress, behaviour, mobility and personal life choices are no less important than people’s rights to livelihood, dignity and empowered citizenship. The attack on women in a Mangalore pub must be seen as an attack on the hard-won freedom and autonomy of Indian women More... Morality through the ages: Old strategies, new threatsWhy is there such a resurgence of the moral police in recent times, threatening women in jeans or beating up women who go pubbing, as in Mangalore recently? Is it because ‘morality’ has historically been a powerful tool of social and political control, and now there is a fear that women are going out of control, and must be contained? More... Making a difference in the AmazonAt the World Social Forum held in Belem, Brazil, this year, John Samuel meets an unusual activist-researcher from Palai in Kerala who has fought for the rights of the Amazon’s marginalised communities for 20 years More... Dying for a livingIn most developed countries, manhole workers are provided bunny suits and respiratory apparatus. In Hong Kong, a sewer worker needs to have 15 licences in order to enter a manhole. In India, conservancy workers – mostly from the balmiki subcaste of dalits -- go in almost naked. The mortality rate amongst them is appallingly high More... Name gameCalling someone by a diminutive such as “boy” or “little” is a way of one race subjugating another. Calling a land a “new world” is a way of wiping out its history and prior identity. The media has inherited many of the assumptions and attitudes of the colonialists, with naming often taking on specific class and gender contours, says Sharmila Joshi More... Security and democracyAfter the Mumbai terror attacks a loud and angry public called for anything from action to revenge. On the other hand, the government chose to react slowly and diplomatically. What was the correct democratic option? Swarna Rajagopalan explore the labyrinthine relationship between ‘security’ and ‘democracy’ More... Living in an Urban AgeSao Paulo is arguably the most violent city in the world, with 120 murders per 100,000 population in the poorer areas of the city. At the second Urban Age conference in Sao Paulo, participants discussed the problems of crowded urban areas and looked for ways to make these spaces less violent and more inclusive More... Figure it out: Reporting on trafficking in womenMedia coverage of trafficking of women and children, migration and sex work is confused and inaccurate. Media wrongly uses the terms ‘sex work’ and ‘trafficking’ synonymously, perpetuating stereotypes and stigmatisation and contributing to the violation of women’s right to free movement and livelihood options, say these authors More... Another kind of terrorThe Indian State and citizens are pledging to fight against political terror. But what about the sexual terror that all women have faced, survived and continue to silently battle? Why has no government ever called for a war against this kind of terror, asks Manjima Bhattacharjya More... The hunger indexIn every one of India’s major states, less food is available for growing populations. The first India States Hunger Index shows alarming falls in per capita availability of cereals. Industrialised Gujarat ranks lower than Haiti on the Global Hunger Index, and Madhya Pradesh beats Ethiopia by only 0.07 points More... India’s new mineral policy will usher in gloom for adivasisIndia’s new mineral policy is long on ways to maximise the benefits of mining for “the economy” but short on measures to alleviate the social and environmental destruction that mining activity inevitably brings in its wake More... Acts of healingIn the heart of Washington DC is an official museum that is brutally honest about the genocide that the white man wrought on the native Americans five centuries ago. When will India begin to provide a more balanced view of the history, culture and current status of its indigenous people? More... Security lessons amid disaster ruinsDisasters like the tsunami are so destructive that in their wake, everything has to be rebuilt. This destruction actually leaves a blank slate upon which societies can inscribe more equitable norms, more sustainable structures and more rational processes, says Swarna Rajagopalan on the fourth anniversary of the Asian tsunami More... |
View articles by page |
| Microsites | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Newsletter |
|---|
| Syndicate |
|---|
 |