That the economies of Asia, in particular China, India and Australia, are responsible for whatever growth is currently taking place on the planet is now acknowledged and underlined by the West as well as by multilateral financial agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The 3.5 per cent growth in the American economy in the July-September quarter has enthused many into believing that the worst of...

Tuition is seen as a minimum requirement for any kind of achievement in our academic scene, which is marked by competitive pressure and high aspirations. ONE of the more remarkable features of our education system is the way it has allowed and even encouraged the proliferation of private tuition outside the regular school system. This is something relatively unique to India, as it is not found to this extent even...

Civil society groups and non-governmental organisations have strongly voiced their disapproval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) recommending commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal in India. This is happening even as there are many unresolved issues surrounding the environmental release of the transgenic vegetable and genuine concerns over its safety for human consumption. There is also the threat of all future seeds and therefore Indian agriculture coming under the control...

Women currently make up around half of the world’s migrant population, even without taking into consideration short-term and seasonal movements. Despite the widespread prevalence of female migration, there are still some common stereotypes about its nature: that it is mostly women and girls accompanying their male heads of household, or dominantly by young, unmarried women, mostly for marriage or for some defined work enabled by contractors. Yet the migration of...

The draft agreement being discussed ahead of December’s crucial Copenhagen summit is long, confusing and contradictory.  It is a blueprint to save the world. And yet it is long, confusing and contradictory. Negotiators have released a draft version of a new global agreement on climate change, which is widely billed as the last chance to save the planet from the ravages of global warming. Running to some 200 pages, the...