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“The significance of the protest was no longer defined by the number of people who take part, but by the issues it reflects,” said Hong Kong Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-Leung in a radio interview on the July 1 protests in Hong Kong, a pro-democracy icon in the region. It has been an interesting time […]

International and national researches, surveys and news reports have recognized that the incidence of poverty has been increased in Pakistan during the recent years.  Massive corruption, primarily from top to bottom, mismanagement, unemployment, inefficiency, incompetence, terrorism, extremism, energy crises, torrential rains and subsequent flood and a number of other reasons have resulted that more than […]

The strange riddle that the Magistrate’s Court of Colombo must now untangle is this: what is the plot that the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) was trying to hatch against the well-known Hultsdorf lawyer Gunaratne Wanninayaka and why was such a plot considered necessary in the first place? Perhaps the more important question is as to […]

The Constitution of India explicitly states that the right to life, equality, education, and to participate in elections as fundamental rights. When these rights are violated, the Indian system does not uphold the right to justice as a fundamental right. However, the right to justice is an essential feature of democracy. India may be pursuing […]

महात्मा गांधी ग्रामीण रोजगार गारंटी योजना केवल एक आर्थिक गतिविधि नहीं है. इसका मकसद केवल मजदूरों को मजदूरी देना ही नहीं है. अगर ईमानदारी से देखा जाए तो यही एक ऐसा कार्यक्रम है जो समाज को यह कानूनी अधिकार देता है कि वह पंचायत और सरकार से सामाजिक अंकेक्षण के जरिये सवाल पूछ सके. मनरेगा […]

The National Food Security Bill (NFSB) has been the center of much debate since it was introduced in Parliament by the UPA government in December 2011. One of the most persistent arguments against a food security bill from the corporate lobby, lead by the FICCI and CII, is that its costs will burden the budget and […]

प्राकृतिक आपदाएं बता कर नहीं आतीं, न ही अक्सर उनका सटीक पूर्वानुमान कर पाना संभव होता है. इसीलिए उनसे जानमाल का नुकसान होना लाजमी है, पर यह नुकसान कितना होगा यह आपदाओं से निपटने की प्रशासनिक क्षमता और तैयारी पर निर्भर करता है. इस नजरिये से देखें तो हजारों नागरिकों की बलि ले लेने वाली […]

मध्य प्रदेश में देरी से हुए भुगतान की कुल राशियाँ जिले का नाम वर्ष (राशि करोड़ रूपए में)   2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 (जनवरी’13) अलीराजपुर 27.65 23.66 13.68 बडवानी 88.44 51.51 31.92 खंडवा 45.01 43.44 27.58 खरगोन 71.52 68.59 31.31 शिवपुरी 35.63 32.21 18.66 डिंडोरी 49.91 52.93 41.63 बालाघाट 70.12 73.97 52.32 श्योपुर 25.78 19.38 11.34 […]

INR 17, or approximately 30 cents in USD, is what an average poor spends a day in rural India. Their urban friends are no better off either; they have to content with spending INR 27 for seeing a day off. Adjust that amount for the cost of living in urban centres and they are just […]

In India, death has a myriad ways to prey on hapless children and sniff the life out of them. Often, it has rather trustworthy accomplices: the union and state governments. Take but one way it strikes, killing more than a thousand each year. Since 1978, when it first struck, it has never failed to collect […]

“Out of 4835 Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly analysed, 1448 members or 31% have declared criminal cases against them in a self sworn affidavit filed with the Election Commission of India.” This alarming statistic is taken from a report conducted in 2012 by the Association for Democratic Reforms in India (full […]

India prides itself as a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people”, worthy of praise for being a rare model of democracy in the region. Yet, the government is criticised as the perpetrator of injustice upon the very people whose rights it is to protect. Even though India is a resource-rich […]

There is an ongoing debate about the Right to Information (RTI) Act in India, and the proposed amendments to the scope and extent of that legislation. It is tempting to express one’s sentiments for or against it but the RTI debate is a layered discussion, which requires sensitivity to the nuances it involves. To break […]

“It was in her fate to die this way”, these shameful words were said by a mother after she threw acid on her own daughter. These are the words used commonly by many families in Pakistani society in order to justify their actions and take shelter in this orthodox society. This incident took place in […]

सरकार ने नये साल में देश के चुनिन्दा 20 जिलों में अभी 7 सामाजिक सुरक्षा योजनाओं में हितग्राहियों के खाते में सीधे नकद राशि पहुंचाने का महाभियान शुरू किया है| सरकार के मुताबिक़ यह एक एतिहासिक कदम है और इससे देश में कायाकल्प हो जाएगा | लोग अब सीधे अपने खाते में राशि पायेंगे और […]

From the early ages in Pakistan women have lived in a society which is anti-women where they are treated as unwanted creatures. Pakistan is a country where violations against women are the highest and conditions become even more alarming as women are discriminated against on the basis of gender even before birth. Women in Pakistan […]

The Council of Islamic Ideology in Pakistan held a meeting on May 29, headed by Maulana Sherani, and warned that if the blasphemy laws are amended, the country’s minorities will be unsafe, but how much worse could the situation get? Minorities have been suffering since these laws were introduced by General Zia Ul Haq in […]

That the United National Party (UNP) has published a few ideas on the changes to the constitution they would bring about if they come to power is an indication that a serious critique that has been made about the 1978 Constitution can no longer be ignored. As it is good to have even an inadequate […]

The days I spent at the RFK Centre, with those who desired personal liberty and freedom Change cannot be achieved by forcing others to accept the world that you have conceptualized as per your will, desire and imagination, it happens through the attitudes that you improved throughout the work in which you engaged in and […]

The people in Hong Kong will be celebrating what they call Buddha’s Birthday tomorrow (May 17). The term ‘Buddha’s Birthday’ is similar to what is referred to in Sri Lanka as Vesak. However, the overall emphasis here is on birth and it is a sober celebration of life. The Chinese are imbibed with the philosophy […]