Coming soon: World Drinking- water Shortages?

Coming soon: World  Drinking- water Shortages?

If you are still getting a good supply of clean water from your taps at home, you are very fortunate. More than half the population from 31 countries is seriously concerned about water shortages, says a global study.  On the other hand,  another global report says that the expansion of ‘bottled  water industry’ is actually […]

Is the Northeast drowning in drugs?

Is the Northeast drowning in drugs?

A white Bolero, coming from Dimapur in Nagaland was halted by police in Assam’s Karbi Anglong area. A check revealed heroin concealed in soap cases. In Manipur, policemen intercepted an auto rickshaw, with soap cases filled with  brown sugar . The fight against drug and narcotic trafficking in the north-eastern states is an ongoing saga. […]

8000 Crore Dreams and the Sikkimese People

8000 Crore Dreams and the Sikkimese People

Deepak Tiwari is a former Assistant General Manager at Sikkim State Cooperative Bank Ltd, and an alumnus of Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School. This piece first appeared as a Facebook post, and it makes a very interesting point or two. We believe it deserves wider attention. Mr Piyush Goyal, the sharp union minister, during his […]

Hostile Government raids BBC Delhi and Mumbai offices

Hostile Government raids BBC Delhi and Mumbai offices

 Indian tax authorities raided the BBC’s offices and seized its journalists’ phones in a stunning — and apparently retaliatory — move on Tuesday (February 14), says The Washington Post.  This Valentine Day move against the British broadcaster  came weeks after it aired a polarizing documentary examining Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise and his handling […]

Journos Jailed in Iran for reporting on Mahsa’s Death!

Journos Jailed in Iran for reporting on Mahsa’s Death!

Two women journalists in Iran, saw an injustice and  did what independent journalists are supposed to do— they reported on it. Now they are in jail for ‘espionage’, a crime that has a death penalty.  Reporters Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi reported on  Mahsa Amini,  the young Kurdish Iranian woman,  who died Sept. 16 after […]

National Commission to study Dalit Converts to Islam, Christianity

National Commission to study Dalit Converts to Islam, Christianity

The Central Government is to constitute a ‘national commission’ to study the social, economic and educational status of  Scheduled Caste, or Dalit converts to ‘religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism’, it  is learnt. The proposal is being actively discussed at the Centre, and a decision is likely to be taken soon, according to some […]

Poverty is caused by Harm to the Environment

Poverty is caused by Harm to the Environment

Poverty has been the world’s most persistent development challenge. Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world has to end poverty by 2023. A soon to be published World Bank report says that we are much behind the target. Poverty remains consistent in a few countries. These also account for the largest chunk of the […]

Supreme Court says ‘non-traditional families’ are entitled to equal social benefits

Supreme Court says ‘non-traditional families’ are entitled to equal social benefits

A family may consist of various configurations of adults taking care of biological and non-biological children. A decision by Supreme Court last week declared that same sex couples and other non-traditional families are entitled to equal social benefits same as the other traditional families (having one male as father and one female as the mother). […]

‘Naga people are in a self-imposed crisis’

‘Naga people are in a self-imposed crisis’

Dimapur: Convenor of the Working Committee, Naga National Political Groups (WC, NNPGs) and Ato Kilonser of the GPRN/NSCN N Kitovi Zhimomi on Sunday stated that it was neither the British nor the Indians who gifted the Naga people their land. In a speech during the 76th Naga Independence Day on Sunday, Zhimomi remarked that the […]

Freedom @ 75! Whose?

Freedom @ 75! Whose?

 Today is the 15th of August, India’s Independence Day. We carry a piece by Peace Activist and writer Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ, who asks a few searching questions that thinking citizens should ponder about. The article has been slightly edited for clarity- Editor. The official lines on this ongoing festival of Independence state, “Azadi Ka […]

Raped, subjected to forced conversions and marriage, jailed for blasphemy: Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Raped, subjected to forced conversions and marriage, jailed for blasphemy: Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Human rights observers say that every year as many as 1,000 mostly Christian and Hindu girls and young women in Pakistan are raped and subjected to forced conversions and marriages to Sunni Muslim men. As a result, Pakistan is designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” on the U.S. Department of State’s Religious Freedom Report. […]