Most converts to Islam and Christianity, being from the lower castes who had converted to escape the yoke of caste bondage of Hinduism, would be reincarcerated into the hellhole of Hinduism which their forefathers strove to escape.
Indian private banks have done well over the past decade, and have allayed fears of foreign banks dominating Indian banking. Kotak calling the shots after the merger of Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya is an example of this dominance. The major...
The United Nations climate talks in Lima, Peru, were important as the last preparatory meet ahead of the Paris talks in late 2015, where a new global agreement to combat climate change is to be negotiated. While few would characterise the "...
If one were to explore the dynamics of changes in the "social" in a young state like Uttarakhand, one cannot do so without looking at the "material" and "spatial" facets. In hill societies where an ecological sense...
This article argues that the Hindutva drive to "reconvert" Muslims and Christians to Hinduism is essentially about shoring up the numerical strength and political power of the "Hindu community" and has little connection to...
The haste with which a public hearing was pushed through for Sesa Sterlite's expansion of its Lanjigarh facility in Kalahandi, Odisha leads to the assumption that perhaps the acche din promised by the new government are actually for the...
The Bible and Asia: From the Pre-Christian Era to the Postcolonial Age by R S Sugirtharajah (Cambridge: Massachusetts; Harvard University Press), 2013; pp 303, price not indicated.
Sourcing Surrogates: Actors, Agencies and Networks by V Deepa, Mohan Rao, Rama Baru, Ramila Bisht, N Sarojini and Susan Fairly Murray (New Delhi: Zubaan Publishing Services), 2013; pp 98, price not mentioned.
The key to improving the quality of healthcare services in India and reducing costs at the same time can be found by enacting legislation which lays down minimum standards of patient care. In the absence of such standards and the reluctance of...
The earthquake that triggered the south and south-east Asian tsunami of 26 December 2004 also caused a significant and permanent shift in the lay of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The northern Andaman Islands saw a lift of up to five feet while...
Among the various axes of inequality in India, regional disparities have acquired greater salience in recent times, with demands being made for special status for certain states on this basis. What has been completely overlooked in the process is...
The dominant theories, methods or epistemologies in sociological or social anthropological work, or even in the wider human sciences, seem inadequate. In response to that challenge, and written from the “South” with due recognition of...
Coal remains the main fossil fuel for power generation in India. The health impacts of air pollution from these coal-fired power plants include numerous premature deaths and frequent asthma attacks. In the future, the amount of power generated...
Would the Hindutva historians, who claim that the Puranas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are true historical records needing no further interpretation, be able to tell us which of their versions are we to read? This response to Rajan Gurukkal...
