Gary Singh’s abduction ordeal illustrates the dangers faced by those who rely on smugglers to make their way overseas One day in 2006, 18-year-old Gubachan “Gary” Singh, an illegal immigrant in Manila, Philippines, was on his way to work when he was approached by four stocky Filipinos. One pulled out a gun, pressing the barrel into the small of his back, while another blindfolded him and shoved him into a van....

We come to know about gender discrimination only through the media. Our knowledge about latest global or local gender reports is also media-dependent. But what do we know about the media’s own record of allowing space for women’s voice? The good news is that the mass media is beginning to come under the scanner on this count but the bad news is that the media’s own record is quite dismal. A...

Stating that seismic activity in India differs from that in Japan, Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, said here on Monday that the possibility of a tsunami at Jaitapur, the site for a proposed nuclear power plant, was low. “Seismic activity in Japan and India are two different things. There are certain locations in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. So, I won't say a tsunami will...

An ongoing study on radiation from mobile towers and mobile phones at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has found that the exposure to radiation from mobile towers and mobile phones could have an adverse impact on male fertility and also pose health hazards by depleting the defence mechanism of cells. Though these findings are based on experiments on male rats, Jitendra Behari, a professor in JNU's School of Environmental Sciences and...

Monday’s polling to Kerala’s first all-tribal panchayat, damalakkudy, in Idukki district would be marked in history for the elborate preparations underway to get a reclusive tribal community to participate in democracy. Edamalakkudy, 38 km from Munnar hill station, has no motorable road, no power or communication network. There are 700-odd families of Muthuvan Scheduled Tribe, which live in small settlements at Edamalakkudy, situated amidst dense forest. To fill the communication gap at the...