76% minors under age of 13 use Youtube: ASSOCHAM Survey

New Delhi: Despite government’s strict norms that prohibit children under 13 from joining the social-networking site, nearly 76% of children ages 7 to 13 visit ‘YouTube’ daily in tier-I & tier-II cities which can lead to negative outcomes such as cyber bullying and online sexual abuse, reveals the ASSOCHAM latest survey.

The statistics are sad and worrying. YouTube requires account holders to be 18, but even a 5 year-old can easily sign up with parent's permission. Despite these clearly stated and published age restrictions, large and growing numbers of children between the age of 7 to 13 are using social media networks, access youtube assistance from their parent's knowledge and consent, reveals the ASSOCHAM findings. 

According to the ASSOCHAM latest survey conducted under social development foundation (SDF), nearly 76% of Indian tweens are using ‘Youtube' daily and other social networking sites, as majority of the parents help kids to access the site, reveals the ASSOCHAM findings. The most watched clips on YouTube, 69% are music videos. 

The survey was conducted under ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) of 4,750 parents of the age group 6-13 years old in major metropolitan cities like Lucknow ranks 1st followed by Delhi-NCR (2nd), Mumbai (3rd), Ahemdabad (4th), Chennai (5th), Kolkata (6th), Bangalore (7th), Hyderabad (8th), Pune,  Coimbatore, Chandigarh and Dehradun etc. 

The vast majority (75%) of the parents of 7-13 year-olds are aware of their child for signing up for the youtube site. 

While releasing the survey, ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr. D S Rawat said, “children are gaining access to social media sites like ‘Youtube’ at a younger age, which could expose them to content, people or situations that are out of their depth”.

As per the findings, nearly 76% of 13-year-olds, 69% of 11-year-olds and 65% of 10-year-old are on Youtube, while 40-50% of 8 & 9 year-olds are also active on the other site, reveals the findings.

Dr. B K Rao, Chairman of ASSOCHAM Health Committee said, “minors lack the experience or judgment to use a social network and this raises the scary predators tracking down kids who reveal their age in an online chat, cyber bullying and online sexual abuse”. 

Mr. Rawat said, “the easy availability of technology with lack of parental supervision is a significant reason for this ever-increasing menace of technology addiction”, highlights the survey.

An aspect which emerged out of this survey is that children of working parents are found to be more technology addictive in the absence of parental supervision, as compared to those whose single parent is engaged in employment. This trend is abundant in metros where normally both the parents are employed, reveals the survey.

“Having a genuine and transparent two-way communication with children is absolutely fundamental to establishing a safe and positive cyber experience,” reveals the ASSOCHAM paper.

Despite these clearly stated and published age restrictions, large and growing numbers of children 13 and under are using social media networks, often with their parent's knowledge and consent.

Watching video clips is also widely popular in part to YouTube – which happens to be the most popular website.  Kids, of course, love watching video clips – especially the funny ones. They are also using it as a “search engine” to find video clips. 

Kids in developing countries also use computers more frequently. On average, they use computers 12-14 hours a week versus 8 hours a week (for kids in developed countries).

‘YouTube’ is now the world’s third most popular online destination. Of the 3.2 billion people who have Internet access, more than 1 billion watch YouTube. It has more Indian viewers ages 18 to 49 just on mobile than any cable network, adds the paper. 

As per the ASDF’s findings:

95% of teens (12-17) use the internet

81% use social media (compared with 72% of internet users overall)

72% log into social media more than once per day

65% of kids under 13 use social media sites

76% of kids under 13 have a YouTube account

51% of those said that they have a smartphone

The majority of teens are using laptops (35%) and tablets (32%) to access their favorite websites

YouTube is the most popular site, with 75% of teens saying they access it most often.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Failing the test of gender

It is only in the absence of the Agamas that women have entered the “holy of holies”, as the sanctum sanctorum is claimed to be.

A strange feature of the Supreme Court verdict on who can be appointed priests in temples run by Agama rules is that two sides with contrasting views — the orthodox, who oppose any government interference in the appointment of priests, and some reformist groups that want the posts to be thrown open to all castes — have both welcomed it.

In the context of this case, Agamas are the rules that govern temple construction and worship and dictate the eligibility of those to be appointed to important religious positions in the temple, including the priests. (In general Agamas are expansive, with some elaborating complex philosophies in Saivism, Vaishnavism and Shakthism.)

A 2006 government order issued by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) regime allowed “any Hindu” with “requisite qualification and training” to become an archaka (priest) in Hindu templesin Tamil Nadu. This was challenged before the Supreme Court.

After hearing extensive arguments over nine years, the court held that priests can be appointed only in consonance with the Agamas wherever applicable, but said constitutional parameters and non-discrimination should also be respected. What it ignored was the question whether there is any scope for women to become priests under Agamic rules. The court has ruled that usage as prescribed by the Agamas determine the eligibility of a priest. In particular, “denomination” of the aspirant is crucial.

In Tamil Nadu, the discourse around this sensitive issue had been framed as a Brahmin versus non-Brahmin battle, with the legislative attempts to push the reforms often being dubbed as measures to put the non-Brahmin on par with the Brahmin in the sphere of temple worship, which is seen as the last bastion of the upper castes. In the course of framing such arguments, what had been completely neglected is the position of women vis-a-vis priestly functions. The Supreme Court judgment too seems to have ignored gender discrimination in temple worship, in general, and in Agama temples, in particular.

Right to equality

In the present case, the Supreme Court had two important aspects to adjudicate on. On the one hand, it had to ascertain if the government order violated the freedom of religion enshrined in the Constitution by being invasive in essential practices vital for the survival of the particular religion. Second, it had to ascertain if the Agamas, which the petitioners insisted had to be devotedly followed in the appointment of priests, violated Articles 14 and 15 (right to equality) and 17 (abolition of untouchability). Article 17 came into play as Agamas invoke the concept of defilement and pollution of the idols in case its rules are violated.

Writing the judgment, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, relying on a number of past pronouncements of the apex court and the arguments presented before it in the current case, takes the view that “denominations” are not caste- or class-based. “Surely, if the Agamas in question do not proscribe any group of citizens from being appointed as archakas on the basis of caste or class, the sanctity of Article 17 or any other provision of Part III (fundamental rights) of the Constitution or even Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 will not be violated,” the order says.

The court extracts the opinion of Sri Parthasarathy Bhattacharya, expressed during Seshammal & Ors.(1972), which the current order reiterates. Agama rules for archaka appointments are not caste-based since even some sections of Brahmins are not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum for the performance of pujas. A “denomination”, the eligibility for priesthood, is more sharply defined, such as membership in a particular gothra.

But is the purported non-existence of caste-based discrimination alone enough to pass the tests of Article 14, 15 and 17?

In the entire 54-page judgment, the word “women” finds mention only once, that too in a citation.

M.P. Sathiya Vel Murugan, an expert in Saiva Agamas and philosophy, and one of the members of the A.K. Rajan committee that analysed the appointment of people from all castes to the position of priests, says the Agamas do not address the question of women donning the role of priests at all. It is only in other texts, such as the Periyapuranam, that one finds stories of women assuming the role of priests, albeit temporarily.

In the Vaishnavite tradition, women have at times been equated to the position of those who are last in the caste hierarchy. In her essay in the book Jewels of Authority: Women and Textual Tradition in Hindu India, McGill University Religious Studies Professor Katherine K. Young states how Vedanta Desika, the Vaishnava philosopher, explicitly stated in his works that women and the those belonging to the fourth varna may not pronounce the Vedic mantras. One of the reasons cited for Desika’s rigid position is “the integration of late and conservative Agamic materials in his works”, including theNaradiya Kalpa.

In the judgment, the court cites how certain Agamas clearly specify from where members of different communities could worship the deity. The lowest in the caste structure, it says, should be content with seeing the gopura (temple tower).

In non-Agama temples

In practice, women have been systematically kept out of priestly roles with menstruation often cited as the reason. In none of the major Agama temples in Tamil Nadu would one find a woman archaka. In fact, it is only in the absence of the Agamas that women have achieved entering the “holy of holies”, as the sanctum sanctorum is claimed to be.

In a 2008 judgment upholding the right of a woman to become a priest in a small non-Agama Amman temple, Justice K. Chandru of the Madras High Court said: “Fortunately, the present temple is not trapped under any Agama sastras. The sub-cultural deities established in the southern parts of India are freed from the norms of Manu Smriti and hence women being subordinated to home making alone was not warranted.”

It is important here to revisit the language of Article 14, 15 and 17. The first two bar discrimination on the basis religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The third is also clear in its dictate: “Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form [emphasis added] is forbidden”. Thus, it should be essential for any custom, denomination or usage to pass the test of gender to be declared as being in consonance with the Constitution.

Startlingly, none of the parties to the case, including the State government, raised the issue of gender vocally before the Supreme Court. In fact, when the DMK government established training centres for non-Brahmin priests in 2006 after issuing the government order, it exclusively recruited men, indicating how truncated the reform attempt was.

While the Supreme Court judgment asserts that “the exclusion of some and inclusion of a particular segment or denomination for appointment of archakas would not violate Article 14 so long as such inclusion/exclusion is not based on criteria of caste, birth or any other constitutionally unacceptable parameter”, the fact that the judgment, while upholding the Agamas, fails to deal in detail the aspect of gender leaves a major lacuna.

Perhaps, with the clamour for a petition for revision from the State gaining ground, this could be set right.

sruthisagar.y@thehindu.co.in

Keywords: Tamil Nadu temples, temple priests, Agama Sastra, Supreme Court verdict

Source: The Hindu, 22-12-2015

Why the FIR doesn’t tell you the whole story

A complex picture emerges from the analysis of a year of Mumbai sessions court rulings on sexual assault: false cases foisted by parents, wide variation in the sentences, societal prejudices and vulnerabilities at play, and a tendency for investigating high-profile cases with greater rigour

Over half of all sexual assault cases decided by Mumbai’s sessions courts in 2015 involved either parents filing cases against young couples who had eloped, or the breach of promise to marry, an analysis of court data shows. Among the rest of the cases, men preying on children playing outdoors in slums formed the largest category, but many of these cases were poorly prosecuted, the data showed.

In July 2014, The Hindu analysed all 500 cases involving sexual assault that had been decided by Delhi’s six district courts in 2013 to present for the first time a more complex picture of the nature of rape cases that were coming before the police and courts than the media narrative, based almost entirely off First Information Reports (FIRs), would seem to tell. Over the last month, a similar analysis was done of all 142 cases decided by Mumbai’s two sessions courts hearing sexual assault cases in Fort and Dindoshi this year. These cases included those filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 354 (molestation), 363 (kidnap), 366 (kidnapping a woman for marriage), 376 and 377 (rape) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Parents on the prowl

One-quarter of all cases involved parents filing cases of kidnap and rape against young men whom their young daughters had eloped with; several of these were inter-caste and inter-religious couples, and many recounted parental opposition to their relationship. These 33 cases followed a similar pattern; following the registration of the FIR, in which the girl was described as a minor even though it would eventually be proved in court she was of age 18, or nearly 18, the couple would usually be retrieved from another part of the State or even another State by the police, and the boy would be arrested and the girl would be sent to a children’s shelter. “I ran away in the middle of the night with him and we got married and stayed with his relatives in Assam,” a complainant in one such case said. “When the police brought us back, I said I am an adult, but they gave me two options — go back to your parents or go to Dongri [children’s home]. I went to Dongri but it was such a terrible experience till he was acquitted that if I wasn’t strong and already pregnant with our baby, I would have given up.”

Several senior police officers I spoke to were unwilling to comment on the record on such cases, noting that they were usually criticised for being sexist if they spoke of elopement cases. “If the parents approach us saying their daughter has run away with a boy from the neighbourhood, we have to register a complaint of kidnap of minor and later when she says she had relations with the boy, we add the rape charge. Then it is for the court to decide whether it was rape or not,” one sub-inspector said, explaining why most such FIRs followed a similar script. The media reports what the FIR says, he added.

The element of subjectivity

Mumbai trial court judges — like their Delhi counterparts — rarely convict in such cases, particularly if the girl does not support the prosecution’s case throughout the trial. In six cases, however, the judge chose to take a strict view of age, convicting for kidnap in two cases, rape in two cases and under the POSCO in two since the girl was under 18, irrespective of her consent. This is an area of great subjectivity; other judges presented with similar cases chose to take a lenient view if the girl was over 15 or 16 years of age, noting that the facts implied that she was aware of the meaning of her decisions. “Since the law says we have to pronounce the boy guilty if she is a minor, earlier we would reduce the sentence if it was clear this was a case of elopement,” one trial court judge explained to me. “But now with the new law, that is not allowed.”

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, passed by Parliament in the wake of the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape set a minimum sentence of 10 years for rape in the case of minors to take discretion in sentencing out of the hands of judges.

Another fifth of cases involved breach of promise to marry. Here, too, courts are unlikely to convict but there is substantial variation between judges; in four of 25 such cases, judges handed down convictions. In one such case the man was already married, in another he had refused to marry the woman, and in a third he married someone else; in these three cases, the courts ruled that the woman’s consent for sex had thus been fraudulently obtained. In the fourth case, the girl was a minor. In seven of the remaining 21 cases which led to acquittals, the complainant told the court that since the accused had since married her, she did not want to pursue the case.

Societal prejudices at play

Such cases need to be seen in the context of societal condemnation of premarital sex, says a report by the women’s rights law group, Majlis. Analysing 644 cases since 2008 in which they had studied or intervened in, Majlis found that 20 per cent of the cases involved breach of promise to marry. In a quarter of such cases, the complainant was pregnant, highlighting the vulnerability of her situation, Majlis noted.

Thirteen cases involved alleged sexual abuse by close family members including the father or stepfather, mostly of minor girls. Eight of these resulted in convictions. Of the five acquittals, in three the complainant and her mother turned hostile in court. Of the remaining two, the court did not believe the testimony of the child and her mother in one, while in the other, the three-year-old complainant was unable to explain her injuries or the spot of the attack to the court, the judge held.

Around 16 cases involved men allegedly preying on children in slums and on footpaths, often luring them away with sweets while they were playing outside unsupervised. “My husband works till night and I work till evening. When I reach home, I have all the housework to do. There are always children playing outside, so I send my kids also. What else could I have done?” the mother of one such victim from a Govandi slum tearfully recounted. At least two such cases involved the rape of a male child.

Let down by lapses

While the majority of these cases involving neighbours and children resulted in convictions, many them were indifferently investigated and prosecuted; in one case, a 16-year-old homeless girl said she had been gang-raped, but from the hospital to the police, little attempt was made to collect evidence or correctly identify the accused, and all five boys were acquitted. In another case involving the alleged rape of a nine-year-old boy in a slum by his 60-year-old neighbour, the man was acquitted despite the child and his mother’s evidence as well as medical evidence because the police had failed to have the child’s statement recorded before a magistrate.

Public prosecutors The Hindu spoke to said that they were often confronted with next to no usable evidence with which to prosecute a case when it wasn’t high-profile. “Just look at the difference in the thickness of the file (of evidence) I have in a case that has got media attention and all the rest,” one prosecutor said. “Maximum two prosecution witnesses are called in such cases, while you will see more than 10 in high-profile ones,” the prosecutor said. Judges on their part will sometimes convict with little corroboration and at other times place a high burden of proof on the prosecution, the prosecutor said. In six cases, the complainant was named in full in the final judgment.

In all, fewer than five of all cases involved alleged sexual crime by strangers.

rukmini.shrinivasan@thehindu.co.in

Source: The Hindu, 22-12-2015

On diversity and inclusion in the ‘Harvard of the east’

With a vast residential campus, an emphasis on academic rigour and selection of students through the highly competition Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), National Law School, which is sometimes wishfully referred to as the ‘Harvard of the East’, is without doubt elite and exclusive. The students who gained admission through the ‘general’ category at NLS are typically extremely meritorious in the CLAT every year, with ranks ranging from 1-60 out of around 30,000 test-takers (this number increases every year).

A team of students, currently studying at the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, carried out a diversity census to assess demographics of the student body and found that the composition of its students is also elitist and exclusionary. The exercise involved 16 volunteers going to each and every student to get their data recorded. With 97.9% students covered, the data collected threw up interesting and disorienting results.

While the students are somewhat evenly divided across sexes, the income, caste and religion statistics are telling of what constitutes ‘merit’ in this country. While 15% of the students reported their family’s annual income to be above Rs 36 lakh per annum, more than 50% reported an annual income of more than Rs. 12 lakh per annum. Eighty two percent were Hindus and the next largest religious group was the wealthy Jain community (5%), which constitute less than 0.5% of India’s population. On the other hand, Muslims, who constitute 14% of India’s population, make up only 0.5% of that of NLS. The NLS also has predominantly upper-caste students at 65% with about 27% identifying as Brahmins.

To assess whether the NLS was a sui generis case or reflective of larger inaccessibility and exclusivity in NLUs and other five-year law colleges, we carried out a survey across 14 such colleges and found worrying trends. While the income distribution is much more equitable and the upper-middle class dominates in a majority of the law colleges, but when looked at NLUs - which are ranked similar to NLS, ie, NALSAR, WBNUJS and NLU Delhi - the student population there too is as elitist as at the NLS. And it is the Jindal Global Law School that has students belonging to the most elite backgrounds - 75% come from families with annual income greater than Rs. 12 lakh per annum compared to 50% at top NLUs. This is hardly surprising given that Jindal charges an exorbitant fee of nearly Rs. 6 lakh and being a private institute, it has no compulsions of implementing reservations and rendering the much required social justice.

The NLS and most of the other NLUs charge upwards of Rs 1.5 lakh per annum as fees. The cost of a CLAT application form was Rs. 4,000 in 2015. By way of comparison, the cost of an IIT-JEE application form last year was Rs. 500 for boys and Rs. 250 for girls. The CLAT exam itself is administered only in English - with English skills further forming a major component of the exam. No wonder that 97% of the students who get into NLS come from English medium schools and only 10-12% of students across the country reportedly study in English medium schools. The very nature of the examination clearly excludes an overwhelming share of the talent pool.

Increase in diversity

Fortunately, the trend in demographics is slowly changing and the NLS is becoming more diverse every year. The data shows that while almost 50% of the senior-most batch currently at NLS come from Tier-1 cities and barely 10% are from small towns and villages, amongst the junior-most batch nearly one-fourth comes from towns that are not Tier 1 or 2. Moreover, there are fewer students from metros such as Delhi and Mumbai, and more from cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow and Bhopal.

Perhaps, this could be a testimony to the growing popularity of the legal profession, efforts of organisations

like Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) and the fact that the CLAT - common entrance examination to all NLUs - is now administered in around 40 towns and cities.

Need for inclusiveness

However, while NLS seems to be fostering more diversity every year, there arises a greater need for examining its inclusiveness.

While the CLAT has ensured that students from all parts of India can attempt to gain admission into the coveted NLUs, the prohibitively expensive forms, the pattern of the paper and the sky-high fee structure at NLS ensures that the top university remains out of the reach of many. There is still a long way to go for NLS to become a truly ‘national’ institution.

Worryingly, the survey shows that there is also a relationship between family income and the students’ performance at NLS, with those from higher-income families averaging higher grades. Students with English skills below 8/10 have a very poor representation in the extra-curricular activities. It also shows that there are only six first-time college goers at NLS. Nearly 63% of students are those whose great-grandparents also attended college meaning they come from families which would have been a part of the minute Indian elite during the colonial era. The debate about merit versus reservations falls flat when we see that as far as in context of NLS at least, merit largely overlaps with ‘privilege’.

Hopefully, upon a close examination of the systemic factors that determine performance in the law schools, there will be a time when the NLUs will pave the way for equitable higher education.

The authors are currently engaged in a detailed analysis of the data collected and are conducting interviews, surveys and group discussions in order to prepare a comprehensive report which shall look at intricate patterns between socio-economic background and performance at NLS and hopefully would make legitimate and strong recommendations to make NLS and other NLUs more inclusive and accessible.

Source: Hindustan Times, 22-12-2015

The Power of Humility

OSHO





Why do people want power?
Because whatever they are doing is not respected. A shoemaker is not respected like the president of a country . In reality , he may be better as a shoemaker than the president is as a president. Abraham Lincoln's father was a shoemaker, and Lincoln became the US president.The first speech that Lincoln delivered on the inauguration of his first term was interrupted right at the beginning. A man stood up and showing his shoes said, “Mr Lincoln, by accident, you have become the president. But never forget that your father was a shoemaker. In fact, in my family , your father used to come to make shoes for everybody . The shoes I am showing you were made by your father.“
The whole Senate laughed; they thought they had humiliated Lincoln. But with tears in his eyes, Lincoln said, “I am immensely grateful to you for reminding me of my father.He was a perfect shoemaker, and I know I cannot be that perfect a president. I cannot beat him. But I will try my best to at least reach close to his greatness. As for your family and the shoes my father has made, I can inform the whole Senate that there may be other aristocratic families that my father used to make shoes for.He has taught me a little bit of the art of shoemaking too. If his shoes are not working well -if they pinch you, if they are too tight, or too loose -I can always mend them. I am my own father's son. Of course, it will not be the same as my father, but he is dead.“

Survey: More Indians now opting for higher studies

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





There has been a substantial increase in the overall enrolment in higher education, from 27.5 million in 2010-11 to 33.3 million in 2014-15. There has also been improvement in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from 19.4% on 2010-11 to 23.6% in 2014-15.GER is a ratio of enrolment in higher education to population in the eligible age group (18-23 years).
Gender Parity Index (GPI), a ratio of proportional representation of female and male, has marginally improved from 0.86 to 0.93 in the corresponding period. The number of institutions of higher education listed on All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) portal has also increased significantly -universities from 621 to 757 and colleges from 32,974 to 38,056 during the same period.
The survey initiated in 2011 to prepare a robust database on higher education is now collecting data for 2014-15.
Releasing the sixth AISHE on Monday , HRD minister Smriti Irani said the fact that the GER has shown significant improvement from 19.4% in 2010-11 to 23.6% in 2014-15 gives hope that the target of 30% GER by 2020 is achievable. She highlighted the efforts being made to increase number of female teachers in higher educational institutes.Irani said the database acts as rich depository that gives direction while devising policies to improve higher education.
The survey covers all the higher education institutions of the country , including universities, colleges and stand-alone institutions. The entire survey has been voluntary , based on motivation of respondents; and without any statutory mandate in place for collecting information of this nature. The survey compiles and manages statistics directly online from respondent institutions.

Source: Times of India, 22-12-2015

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 50, Issue No. 51, 19 Dec, 2015

Editorials

Disenfranchising the Deprived

Punishing Nepal

Taking Food Safety Seriously

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago

H T Parekh Finance Column

Trade in Financial Services

C P Chandrasekhar

Commentary

Implications of American Islamophobia

Vinay Lal

Community Radio'Under Progress'

Vinod Pavarala

Kerala Civic Polls 2015

J Prabhash

Gender Question and the CPI(M)

Erinjiyal K Santha

Dimapur Lynching and the Impossibility of Remembering

Anna Kurian

Automobile Manufacturers, Advertising and Traffic Safety in India

Dinesh Mohan, Abhaya jha

Book Reviews

Changing Hearts and Minds through Non-violent Protest?

David Hardiman

Wars as Sources of Meaning

Manjari Katju

Clubs of the British Empire

Shakti Kak

Perspectives

Human Migration as Crisis of Europe

Ranabir Samaddar

Special Articles

Indian Insolvency Regime in Practice

Aparna Ravi

Diffusion of Broadband Internet in India

Sunil Mani, V Sridhar

Communal Riots in Gujarat

Pooja Bakshi

Narratives of Health and Well-being

Anu Sabhlok, Hoiwan Cheung, Yogesh Mishra

Notes

A Note on the Elementary Macroeconomics of Austerity

Prabhat Patnaik

Muslim Women's Views on Muslim Personal Law

Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Zakia Soman

Discussion

GDP of Financial Corporations: Errors in Critique?

K Syama Prasad

Reply to PIB's Rejoinder

R Nagaraj

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Postscript

​Unconquerable Nemesis

Radha Kapuria

​Bordering Tranquility

Gauraang Pradhan, Anu Kumar, Mridul Chakravorty

​A Festival of Surveillance?

C S Venkiteswaran

Last Lines

​Bangladesh

Anjum Altaf

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

Letters

'Contempt of People'

Megha Bahl, Sharmila Purkayastha

Getting It Wrong

A Narayanamoorthy

Micro-irrigation Neglected

K Palanisami

Roy Raised the Bar, Indeed!

Kartheek