There is nothing more frightening than being frightened. Fear takes away the powers of rational thinking. It makes one pause before one performs acts that were previously considered routine. Does one forward an email containing a cartoon or a joke about a political leader who holds the most important job in the state of West Bengal? As a journalist, does one dare to write an article that is critical of...

-The Indian Express A new study has found that mothers born in India but living in Canada are significantly more likely to have male babies for their second and third births compared with women in Canada. Researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto conducted the study. "Our findings raise questions about why there are more male liveborns than female liveborns among Indian couples who have had two or more previous...

 Poverty could not rein in the spirit of this youth and hold him back from fighting his way through all odds.  Unlike many youngsters in his neighbourhood who had resigned to fate, Monoranjan Bera worked hard to change his destiny. Bera has ranked 50th in the IIT entrance examination to a joint MSc-PhD programme.  Bera, living in a single room tenement at Bhatapukur in Kharagpur, can serve as an example to youngsters.  "One...

-Economic and Political Weekly India’s fast food products must be subject to mandatory labelling. The role of fast or “junk” food with its concentration of fats, sugar and salt in the rapid multiplication of non-communicable lifestyle diseases has been the subject of countless studies over the past few decades, especially in the west. (A classic book from the United States with a title that says it all is Fast Food Nation.) Now, the...

—New York Times News Service   Switzerland has agreed to a revised tax deal with Germany, with Switzerland to pay billions of dollars on funds hidden in its banks by German tax dodgers. The deal was the latest step in an international charm offensive that is meant to salvage at least some of Switzerland's famous banking secrecy. The accord, which was tougher to reach after a deal in September was criticised by German...