Opinion

The alleged gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Kashmir should bring the nation's attention to bear on, among other things, the apparently growing practice of child rape. At the time the murder of the little girl burst on India's consciousness, the media reported at least two, if not more, child rapes elsewhere, with one child murdered, as well as 

The baton seems to have been passed on to new hands in Cuba. The National Assembly recently placed the reins of the communist nation in the hands of Miguel Díaz-Canel. This means that the name, Castro, would no longer be associated with premiership in the island nation for the first time in almost six decades. Yet, as is the case with communist States, the transition could well be ornamental. What strengthens the suspicion of the change of guard being symbolic is that the 

The intriguing drawings of the Dutch master, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), closely based on Mughal paintings, demonstrate how trade and commerce brought faraway countries and disparate cultures in close contact with each other long before economic globalization, as we know it today, was even thought of, and how this cross-fertilization 

Best friends

• Sir - It was saddening to learn that Willow, the pet corgi of Queen Eliza... | Read»

Dark time

• Sir - India is striving to achieve prosperity. But this means little when... | Read»

Better solutions

• Sir - I read in a newspaper report that if tonnes of garbage are burnt, t... | Read»

Good work

• Sir - The teenaged Mehuli Ghosh must be lauded for winning the silver med... | Read»

Dangerous tracks

• Sir — The death of four elephants — they were hit by a speeding train in ... | Read»

Great damage

• Sir — Vandalism during the two recent bandhs led to the loss of property ... | Read»

Safety measures

• Sir — The row over security cover to Lalu Prasad’s family is amusing. The... | Read»

Leaders and spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party were particularly exuberant all through last week, adopting a tone that was triumphant and aggressive. Looking at them from afar, it would seem that the party had won a war, or, at the very least, an election.

"I will do such things, -/ What they are, yet I know not: but they shall be/ The terrors of the earth." - ( King Lear, Act II, Scene 4).  There are occasions when only Shakespeare will do, and Donald Trump was really, really cross.

The image of India and its leaders in the eyes of the world has changed - for the worse. This was articulated by the Bombay High Court, which reportedly observed that the dominant ideas about India among the international community involve "crime and rape". The high court is not off the mark; the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua sent so many shockwaves through the global community that the International Monetary Fund chief, Christine Lagarde, asked the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to pay greater heed to keeping women in his country safe.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. No matter which dispensation in is government, the utter disregard for the state's cultural heritage is alarming. Last week, on World Heritage Day, a number of intellectuals and conservationists took to the streets of Calcutta to protest against the rapid disappearance of several heritage buildings of the city.

Traffic stopper

• Sir - Lakhs of stray cattle roam the streets of urban India. They cause t... | Read»

Reasonable advice

• Sir - It seems that the historian and a veteran member of the Communist P... | Read»

More misery

• Sir - The Syrian civil war, which started in 2011, has worsened in the la... | Read»

Aruna Roy is unusual. Unusual in what she thinks, says, does; unusual in what she means to people and organizations, unusual in all that she has been. Her friends, colleagues, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan of which she is the inspiration, know this to be so. All those who have worked by her side for the Right to Information Act and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act know this to be so.