A financial crisis in Dubai will hurt remittances to India and reduce job opportunities for Citizens of the south Asian nation, said Thomas Issac, finance minister of the southern state of Kerala. About 4.5 million Indians live and work in the Gulf region and remit more than $10 billion annually, according to the Ministry of External Affairs annual report for the year ended March 31, 2009. Remittances from the Middle...

The recently enacted Right to Education Act, 2009 has extensively been debated in the media, civil society and academic palaver. Mainstream also intervened in the debate, and to the best of my recollection, published two pieces: first, a rather elaborate one by Muchkund Dubey on September 19, 2009, and thereafter by N.A. Karim on October 3, 2009. While entirely endorsing the views expressed in these two articles and sharing the...

The article presents the political and economic impacts of various kinds of natural and man-made disasters and associated displacement of populations, and argues for a wider and more inclusive definition of disasters in the interest of human rights, social justice and equity for the victims of disasters. Legislation, Disasters and People Numerous disasters at national and international levels have caused governments to recognise the need for rapid and effective response to provide...

The Department of Personnel and Training Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday assured RTI activists of initiating a public debate before going ahead with amendments to the Right to Information Act. Allaying widespread fears among the public, the minister at a late evening meeting with a delegation of RTI activists said the amendments would not be used to emasculate the transparency law which has since its inception in 2005 given Citizens...

After strong protest from civil society organisations, the government has admitted that it is considering amending the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It has, however, assured activists that a transparent and consultative process will be adopted before any action is taken, and the amendments will not be persevered with if activist groups are able to convince the government that they are either unnecessary or counterproductive. These assurances notwithstanding, it is...