Frank Krishner asks some searching questions, it’s for the College Administration to find the answers! The past few days have been particularly traumatic for the ‘veteran’ professors of Patna Women’s College. Why? Because there is this overpowering sense of a loss of innocence. The students, with some tacit support from inside and outside forces (one […]
Over the weekend one attended a ‘Hijra Habba’ at Patna, organized by an organization working on the HIV/AIDS platform providing technical assistance to for the MTH interventions of Bihar state AIDS Control Society. Commendable job, talking about mainstreaming, and getting a government minister to pitch in, bolstered by a reps from few government and non-government […]
Bihar Food and civil supplies minister Shyam Rajak on Friday said that it is high time that society accords the third gender (TG) opportunities for mainstreaming. He announced that his ministry would give preference to applications from eligible TG and Hijra residents who wish to open PDS shops. The minister was among a slew of […]
‘“Miniscule” & Powerful!’- that was the theme of a national consultation for ‘drawing a collective roadmap for MSM and other gay men in India’ held at New Delhi this day last week. Representatives of the Gay and transgender communities from all over India reflected on the main issues that impacted their lives and rights. Ever […]
Heroes are often found in the unlikeliest of places, and while doing a stint to encourage journalists to report more proactively on child issues, I literally stumbled across this guy at an emergency shelter run by People First, a Gaya based NGO. People First is the brainchild of Nick Hanson, a Brit who fell in […]
PJ Abdul Kalam was buried today. He died in action. Contributing towards education with his last breath, in a manner of speaking. He led a remarkable life. From an ordinary, poor Muslim household, he educated himself to become a well known engineer, beloved of the hawks, who christened him with the nickname, ‘The missile man’ […]
Bodh Gaya on a late July evening is balmy with the evening breeze, fresh washed with monsoon showers, but there’s more action here than what meets the off-season tourist’s eye. A new vegetarian restaurant called Magadh has sprung up opposite the Thai temple, and they serve surprisingly good vegetarian Chinese and south east Asian fare […]
Let’s get all gooey eyed over ‘the future of the nation’ once more. The buzz on some English language TV channels this weekend has been about the sudden realisation that India has forgotten about planning for children in the urban slums. Children living in city slums are far more vulnerable and at risk than kids […]
Wake up folks and smell the cocaine! Come sundown, at least 20 persons not yet 18 years old somewhere, someplace in Bihar have got their virgin ‘fix’ out of a hypodermic needle. That’s a ballpark figure thrown out by Jojo Bimal, a chap with an NGO working with IDUs or intravenous drug users in Bihar. […]
About three years ago, representatives of civil society, especially those connected with education, archeology, design, and media were invited to a quiet gathering organized by the Bihar Museum Society, where a team of young experts unveiled a plan to energize the moth eaten Patna Museum into an engaging, exciting venue for education. The questions and […]
What does a common cop do to ensure his police station has ‘contributed’ to International Day against Drug Abuse? How does he show that they are all very serious about the ‘War on Drugs’? The big drug cartels are too powerful and far away. The local drug peddler is a continuous source of ‘income’ for […]
Are the doddering agents of patriarchy conniving to put a padlock on the Women Studies department of Patna University? The intrepid lady professors of the Department of Women’s Studies took umbrage at a report ‘planted’ in a local daily that seemed to suggest that the Master of Arts and Post graduate Diploma Courses in Women’s […]
