Issues today have to be dressed up in ways certified by the corporate media. They have to be justified not by their importance to the public but by their acceptability to the media, their owners and sponsors.  That the terrible tragedy in Pune demands serious, sober coverage is a truism. One of the side-effects of the ghastly blast has been unintended, though. The orgy of self-congratulation that marked the media...

Saving the world’s myriad diverse species, which are being lost to human activity at an unprecedented rate that some experts put at 1,000 times the natural progression, is vital not just for environmental reasons but for the economic well-being of humankind, a senior United Nations official said today. “Without preserving biodiversity and preserving our natural habitat, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) just cannot be achieved,” UN Development Programme (UNDP) Environment and...

With 35 deaths reported in 2009 at the Asha Kiran home for the mentally challenged, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) submitted a report in the High Court citing deplorable medical Attention, poor administration, lack of adequate staff and unhygienic conditions as reasons for the deaths. Placing the report before a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah on Wednesday as a PIL on the...

According to a press release of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), 28 tribal children have become victims of malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh. The AHRC believes that the families of the children were deprived of their right to food under existing government schemes and right to health. Attributing its information to field reports by MP Lok Sangharsh Sanjha Manch and the state’s Right to Food Campaign, the AHRC has expressed...

In 1960, when I was enrolled for my MA at the Delhi School of Economics, the shining star at the School was certainly K.N. Raj. The founder of the School, V.K.R.V. Rao, had left the institution, but came back every Founders’ Day to remind us of its glorious past and of the enduring values it embodied. Raj’s style was much lower key, but it soon became clear that his dedication...