The pollution of River Ganga is worsening because of the failure of public measures and construction of dams, thereby causing the destruction of ecological balance.
Spiritual and Geographical Significance
Indian mythology provides a vivid description of King Bhagiratha performing a severe penance to bring the river Ganges from heaven to earth. Apparently...
A discussion about the Indian government’s failure to encourage public participation in the formation and implementation of the Ganga Action Plan, environmental policies created to curb pollution in the River Ganga.
Meaningful public participation is important for forming successful environmental policies. Public participation, defined by Thomas Dietz and Paul C. Stern (...
With the untimely death of Ghana’s president the nation’s state of democracy is put to the test.
On 24 July 2012, a dark shroud of sadness seemed to have cascaded over the sub-Saharan nation of Ghana owing to a bright light in the person of Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, President of the Republic of Ghana...
By Andrew Sheng and Geng Xiao
China must balance institutional innovation with orderly reforms to preserve the integrity of its economic foundations and emerge from the forthcoming slowdown in good shape.
During three decades of favorable global economic conditions, China created an integrated global production system unprecedented in scale and complexity. But...
By Yu Yongding
Faced with an economic slowdown, China can no longer enjoy both higher growth and efficient structural adjustment. It must choose between them.
China’s annual GDP growth slowed to 7.6% in the second quarter of 2012, down from 8.1% in the first quarter and the lowest growth rate since the second quarter of 2009. The newly released growth data...
Chinese banks and firms are starved of liquidity as a consequence, respectively, of reckless loaning and unsustainable industry bubbles. The first of a two-part article.
To understand just how bad the health of China's economy has become, look at the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) behavior. Recently, their actions appear frustrated and aggressive. On July 5th...
Laws on rape do not usually refer to the “moral character” of the victim, presumably because it is generally not relevant to the crime. Moreover, the phrase itself is an anachronism, besides being vague and hard to pin down. But it is time that rape laws did refer to a woman's moral character – specifically to prohibit references to it in court during prosecution of...
The traditional feudal society behind the façade of a modern liberal democracy has been revealed after the Delhi rape. It has also highlighted the increasingly bitter clash of civilisations within a civilisation. Although column inches, candles and slogans have been liberally expended over yet another tragic case, it is far from a turning point in India’s inexorable slide...
The gang rape case in New Delhi unveils the government's incapability to impose law and order.
The gang rape of a hapless girl in a bus on busy roads of India’s capital city New Delhi on December 16 is just another slap on the face of Indian democracy. Crime in the city has become a way of life leaving citizens to fend for themselves. Before we are able to recover...
India's public cries for harsher punishment for rapists, but the judiciary is blinded by corruption.
India is not the largest democracy just for its size; it also has world’s most voluminous constitution – 448 articles. And the most amended too; over 100 amendments in 62 years. As against this, the US constitution is the world’s shortest with seven...
The WikiLeaks storm of 2010 seems to be spent. But, as a symptom of what is happening to journalism, the WikiLeaks phenomenon carries profound significance, says Charlie Beckett.
Julian Assange isn’t paranoid: they really are out to get him. Or rather - which may amount to the same thing - ignore him. For a glorious few months in 2010, WikiLeaks was one of the world...
US-China relations are complicated and expansive, characterized by unprecedented interdependence and potential for both deepening cooperation and intensifying competition.
The question is: will Barack Obama's China policy continue to serve American interests? Despite the shortcomings of his foreign policy with regards to China, President Obama has recognized this complex...
Barack Obama’s policy towards Africa has probably not lived up to the expectations that accompanied his election, but instead managed to create an intense debate paving the way for a total change of direction.
When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, expressions of joy were seen across the world, especially in Africa. His origins, the first black American president, created...
In summer 2009, Obama gave a rousing speech in Cairo addressed to the Muslim world, entitled “A New Beginning”. Far from signalling a radical shift in US foreign policy, it was the first step down the by-now familiar path of Obama’s continued circumspection.
Pundits on both sides of the ideological spectrum, in America and abroad, are quick to label President...
In his first term, President Obama has sustained the policy of “creative ambiguity,” mixing firm criticism with calm engagement.
While talk of a 'G2' may have been overblown, the Washington-Beijing relationship may now be the world's most important bilateral relationship. As China continues to grow, some have called for a harsher policy; Vice-...
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar recently said that in case of famine, India has enough food reserves. What he did not clarify is that how much of that reserve is palatable.
Though India officially maintains a food security reserve of three million tons of wheat and two million tons of rice, media has pointed out that more than one...
When talking about agriculture in China, you are likely to hear two statistics over and over again: China is home to 22% of the world's population and has less than 10% of the world's arable land. In a country that has vowed to maintain 95% self-sufficiency in agriculture, this gap has put agricultural reform at the top of the China's political agenda. And it makes China one of...
By Joan Nimarkoh
Following another food crisis in the Western Sahel, is there hope of a new policy direction tackling the causes as well as symptoms of food insecurity?
The Western Sahel region is facing its third humanitarian crisis in less than a decade and it seems that the cycle of famine in the area is set to continue.
This year, millions of dollars will be...
Providing food security for its people is a heavy burden on the Indian government’s already stretched budget. It could potentially be a powerful card to play to lure in voters.
“Policies,” said Sir Geoffrey Vickers, “are decisions giving directions, coherence and continuity to the course of action for which the decision-making body is responsible....
How Technology can be used to curb unemployment in the US.
The sea of joblessness hindering a recovery by the US economy is even deeper than many realize. Long-term unemployment is running at historically high levels, and until we get more Americans back to work, we are unlikely to see real recovery. Fortunately, we have at our disposal technologies that can help. All we...
Donald Marron acknowledges that Mitt Romney’s tax reform proposal can’t accomplish all its stated objectives, but treats the plan as a starting point for negotiation rather than an attack on the middle class.
The Tax Policy Center’s latest research report went...
An analysis of the economic growth during the Obama Administration. Professor Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard Kennedy School of Government examines whether the economic statistics really show no discernible improvement since President Obama's inauguration.
With November’s election fast approaching, the Republican candidates seeking to challenge President Barack...
Free for all, free for all. Can top universities provide premium caliber education at no cost to the student?
Providing free, high-quality education to all may seem like an impossible ideal, but several elite institutions are betting that it is an idea whose time has come. Several aspects of free online education have already been given proof-of-concept: The University of...
A plea for students to get out of their personal comfort zone, change perspectives and live the "real education" out there in the real world.
Get out of town. Go on, scram!
That’s what a graduation ceremony is all about: the big boot. Thanks for those thousands of dollars, here’s a receipt in the form of a diploma, and now hurry up and...
Millenials, the current students and recent graduates of American higher education, are facing a brutal job market with dwindling prospects for the future. Due to the cycle of debt and unemployment, the middle class, once dominated by the college graduate, is facing extinction.
Last September, hundreds of protestors streamed into New York City’s Zuccotti Park with no...
Facing a floundering economy, American graduates are being forced into a perpetual cycle of student-loan debt and underemployment that will not be resolved without a significant reassessment of American higher education.
The imposition of debt on the lives of all, but particularly young people in the United States, is increasingly becoming a significant factor in career path...
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