It is encouraging to note that the National Council for Research and Training in India (NCERT), the authority that sets the curriculum in schools across the India, has introduced Peace Studies as an elective subject from Middle school on, and has provided programs that students can follow in order to develop an understanding of the…
In April and May 2014 , during my travels in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, I talked to hundreds people and none of them said they were going to vote for the Congress party or its discredited allies, including Lalu, Mulayam, Karunanidhi and Mayawati. Based on these interactions…
‘One of the winners rightly said: India is a country of a hundred issues and the mother of a billion solutions.’ At the end of the year, Mumbai has been the centre of much political debate. Following the Maharashtra State elections, The Bharati Janta Party (BJP) forged ahead of the Congress and strong…
It had suddenly started raining. When I left home, it was bright and sunny; everything was covered in a golden hue. The day was beautiful. So I had left my umbrella. The café where I had to meet my friend was still nowhere in sight. I kept walking, enjoying the rain on my face, but…
In the early 21st century—perhaps more than at any other time in recent history—greatness appears to be linked to what we own and possess, rather than what we have done for the human race. There was a time when circumnavigating the globe or single-handedly inventing a cure for a deadly disease could guarantee one’s fame and…
In terms of human capital South Africa has an enviable abundance of wealth that she is not fully aware of. As the world’s ambassadors came together to bid farewell to Navi Pillay, the outgoing United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, they recognised her great contribution to human rights in a destabilized world. Widely acknowledged…
Non Resident Indians—a world of intrigue! A world of people trying to keep their cultural practices alive whilst not noticing that India has changed. A place where men, labouring under their psychological deficiencies, attempt to impose their will. This is the premise behind Shaam bhar baatein the debut novel by London resident Divya Mathur. A…
In his sixth annual State of the Union address to Congress, the United States President has avoided mentioning the burning issue of Guantanamo and its future. In his previous speeches Barack Obama had promised to close it down, but again failed to do so. Millions of African-Americans were expecting him to say something about the persistence…
If you think having a nice cup of tea at the end of your day is a simple case of dropping a tea bag into a pot or brewing some leaves in a pan of boiling water, you might need to think again. Having spent the last 12 months with teagrowers, auctioneers, distributors,…
[SI_section_desc description=”Religious Architecture of Gandhara – Pakistan: Buddhist Stupas and Monasteries is, I state without hesitation, a masterpiece….” text_color=”#393939″] I am happy to highlight a book sent to me by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Authored by the historian and archaeologistShaikh Khurshid Hasan this carefully researched book, illustrated with…