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• Date: Feb 1, 2012
Minutes after I had put up a status message on Facebook saying that I was planning to pen first-hand accounts of domestic violence survivors, I was flooded with messages.
Among those who responded was my friend, Nargis Yousuf *, from Bangalore. Er, was she a victim?
No. But she had an account of someone. “Would you need the person to narrate it herself? As in, meet her?”, she asked. I thought otherwise. “But she won’t be able to speak to you here (on Facebook).”, Nargis added. So, was this person seeking anonymity? “No, it is just that she can’t be on a comp.”, she...
• Date: Dec 12, 2011
One would need to be blind not to notice the signs – that of the Indian publishing industry being on a roll. Every other person seems to be penning a book, and everyone seems to be buying and reading them. Newspapers every other day carry reports of one book launch or the other. To top it all, there are the literary festivals that all and sundry want to attend.
Yes, the Indian publishing industry is certainly on the upswing, if one goes by sheer numbers, recession or otherwise. But then, all book lovers would have been taught while at school never to judge a book by its cover....
• Date: Nov 19, 2011
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is not just an environmental group — it is a monolith. It is also a big brand. And like all big corporate brands, it manages its media coverage quite well. There's so much of positive stories there to be read in the print media or seen on television, that you don't even know that there's a dark underbelly somewhere. Things, in fact,are so murky that your faith in the hitherto thought of as venerable NGO will stand shaken. Probably, for good.
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• Date: Sep 29, 2011
As much as 227 million hectares – an area the size of Western Europe – have been sold, leased or licensed in largescale land deals in the developing world since 2001, mostly by international investors.
This modern-day land rush follows a drive to produce enough food for people overseas, meet damaging biofuels targets or speculate on land to make an easy profit, an Oxfam International study ‘Land and Power: The growing scandal surrounding the new wave of investments in land’ has warned. Most of these deals are ‘land grabs’ where the rights and needs of the people living...
• Date: Sep 19, 2011
The fashion community worldwide is not known to get into political wrangles. But the New York Fashion Week this time did – it booted out the daughter of Uzbekistan’s dictator who had planned to unveil her spring fashion line at the event.
The organisers of the New York Fashion Week cancelled the show of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Uzebekistan’s authoritarian leader Islam Karimov, after intense pressure from groups like the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
According to HRW, “Her father’s government forces up to two million Uzbek children to leave school for two...
• Date: Sep 19, 2011
The black-naped hare, or the Indian hare, is so commonly found in the wild in India that it is described as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and accorded least protection by India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act. But a recent spurt in poaching of this animal in South India has wildlifers worried.
This came to light earlier this month when forest officials nabbed 21 poachers involved in the hunting of the Indian hare (Lepus nigricollis) in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.
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• Date: Sep 18, 2011
In July this year, the Editor of Mint, R Sukumar, created a bit of a flutter when he wrote of an anchor with a business news channel who got three times her earlier salary, for agreeing to leave the top two buttons of her shirt unbuttoned, after switching jobs. Sukumar admitted that the column was all about losing friends and offending people, and maintained a diplomatic tone throughout.
But did he have a point?
Maybe. But a study conducted by two Indiana University researchers recently found that women looking to break through the glass ceiling into senior broadcast news...
• Date: Sep 8, 2011
Did Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest insurance companies in the world resort to a back-door entry into India in order to circumvent caps on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance industry?
A closer look at the facts indicate enough grounds for suspicion.
Berkshire India Private Limited is a majority owned non-direct subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc incorporated in India, with 100 per cent FDI in paid-up capital. It is a licensed corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited (BAGICL) and sells BAGICL’s products directly to retail consumers...
• Date: Sep 5, 2011
This tiny hamlet is a birdwatcher’s paradise. It’s also an ornithologist’s nightmare. For, Jatinga remains a place where birds are supposed to commit suicide.
Jatinga village, inhabited primarily by members of the Jaintia tribe, on the foothills of the Barail Range in the Northeast Indian state of Assam is a halting place for many birds. This mysterious phenomenon which has had ornithologists from the world over fumbling for answers is known to locals as a suspected mass suicide committed by birds.
The occurrence happens during the late monsoon months of September to October,...
• Date: Sep 1, 2011
This should come across as good news to one and all – Adidas has joined Nike and Puma in committing publicly to eliminate all discharges of hazardous chemicals throughout their supply chain and across the entire lifecycle of their products by 2020.
The move from Adidas comes after a relentless detox campaign waged by environmental organisation Greenpeace International on the issue since July this year.
Adidas acknowledged that Greenpeace had directed its campaign towards sporting goods companies in the belief that they can act as a catalyst for change for the whole industry. Why?...
