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| THIS
OUR NORTH AMERICA |
| Traffic congestion in
space |
Khushwant
Toor writes from Toronto
ON February 10, 2009, in one of the first every
incident of its kind, a Russian military communications
satellite and a U.S. communications satellite
collided in Earth orbit. The extraordinary crash
of two intact spacecraft has left two massive
clouds of debris in low Earth orbit. NASA reported
that Russian satellite Kosmos 2251 crashed into
the U.S. satellite Iridium 33 on Tuesday, February
10, approximately 790 kilometers above Siberia.More
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| Briliant
debut of music directors Shanker and Jaikishan |
Harjap
Singh Aujla
LATE Raj Kapoor
was the biggest showman of India during his era.
But built to a king’s size and standing
six feet tall, his illustrious father Prithvi
Raj Kapoor was a larger than life character, which
could dwarf any individual. It was difficult for
young Raj Kapoor to grow professionally from under
his father’s shadow. But Raj Kapoor was
a fiercely independent man.More
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| ANALYSIS |
| Through
the peephole: Development planning in India-6
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Vinod
Anand
WE shall briefly look at three indicators
to assess the extent to which the benefits of growth
have trickled down to the people. These indicators
are: Absolute Poverty Line, Gini-Lorenz Ratio, and
Unemployment Rates. We shall also look at the Reforms
and their impact on the economy. It is indicated
that the number of people below the poverty line
declined from a massive 54.9 per cent in 1973-74
to a low of 36 per cent in 1993-94, though there
has been a better improvement in urban poverty as
against rural.More |
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| LAW & JUSTICE |
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| Criminal Law Amendment,
2008 |
Joginder
Singh Toor writes from Toronto
 THREE
kinds of judgments as John Rawls, an American Jurist
puts it, a citizen has to make. First he must judge
the justice of legislation and social policies,
secondly he must decide which constitutional arrangements
are just for reconciling conflicting opinions of
justice. He should also be able to rank procedures
for selecting which political opinion is to be enacted
into law.More |
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| ART & MEDIA |
| 96 journalists killed
during 2008 in 32 countries |
| DURING
the past year, ninety-six journalists in 32 countries
paid with their lives for exercising their profession,
according to the 2008 Press Emblem Campaign (PEC)
report. This figure is lower than the record 115
journalists killed last year, but this drop of
17.5% is due solely to an improvement in security
in Iraq. On average, nearly two journalists were
killed every week in the course of the last three
years (96 in 2006; 115 in 2007; 95 in 2008). Many
others were injured, kidnapped, threatened, imprisoned
or unable to express themselves freely (notably
in Burma, China, Zimbabwe and Eritrea).More
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GDP growth slows down to
5.3% in Q3 | Obama proposes more military aid
to Pakistan | Corruption in Mohali Traffic Police-Alarm
bells for SSP | FBI arrests Stanford Financial
Group exec | Pizarro double sends Milan crashing
out
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| GDP growth slows down to
5.3% in Q3 |
| Indian
economic growth has slowed down drastically to 5.3 percent
in the third quarter of fiscal 2008-09 against 8.9 percent
in the same period a year ago owing to the cut in demand
and exports following the ongoing global economic crisis.
The slowdown is sharp as the GDP had grown by 7.6 percent
in the July-Sept quarter.More
Updated on February
27, 2009 at 01:00 p.m.
|
- Obama proposes more military
aid to PakistanMore
- Corruption in Mohali Traffic
Police-Alarm bells for SSPMore
- FBI arrests Stanford Financial
Group execMore
- Pizarro double sends Milan
crashing outMore
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| E D I T O R I
A L |
| The Befuddled Republic |
| INDIA celebrated
its 60th republic day in bewilderment. There was,
we are told, an unprecedented security all over
the country to ward off terrorist attacks. Good,
but how about the poverty and deprivation. Over
40 crores people, totally illiterate, living in
abject poverty and without any basic amenities
like water would know very little of this aging
republic or an emerging super power. Indians are
more illiterate than even our poor neighbour,
Bangladesh. Forty crore people have little access
to safe drinking water. 70 crore or even more
have not enjoyed the privilege of toilets. Another
45 crore live a pitiable life on less than Rs
50 per day. More |
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| FOCUS |
| Dynasties: Enter Sukhbir,
Goodbye Papa
|
 PUNJAB
can boast of adding another dimension to dynastic
rule. On January 21 in the holy city of Amritsar,
a history of sorts was scripted in Indian politics
with 47 year old Sukhbir Singh Badal taking oath
as Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab. This is the
first case of father-and-son duo occupying the top
two posts in a government. Punjab chief minister,
Mr. Parkash Singh Badal is also chief patron of
the ruling Akali Dal and his only Sukhbir Singh
is its president. They together nominate the president
of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee,
the all powerful body that controls Sikh gurudwaras,
the source of patronage and political power in Punjab.More |
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Mideast: Obama's
quick start raises hopes
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| Jim Lobe
 A
series of unexpectedly swift moves to begin addressing
the Arab-Israeli conflict taken by Barack Obama in the
week since he was sworn in as the U.S. president is
being hailed by many regional specialists here who were
deeply frustrated by George W. Bush's relative indifference
and virtually unconditional support for Israel. A series
of unexpectedly swift moves to begin addressing the
Arab-Israeli conflict taken by Barack Obama in the week
since he was sworn in as the U.S. president is being
hailed by many regional specialists here who were deeply
frustrated by George W. Bush's relative indifference
and virtually unconditional support for Israel.More
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| FEATURES |
| Inflation and recession
dilemma-3
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| Professor
Vinod Anand
OUR country
has been in a fix, because of the fact that, on
the one hand, lowering of various interest rates
(as a short-run way out) to control the rising
inflation has gradually reduced the liquidity
of money, and therefore, the demand for various
goods and services, but, on the other hand, this
remedy has also added to the recession in terms
of lesser employment, and retrenchment of already
employed persons in the various sectors of the
economy. The dilemma is, therefore, linked with
inflation and unemployment. When inflation comes
down because of reduced demand for goods and services,
it leads to lesser production, and eventually
it leads to unemployment.More
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| Chandigarh,
the deficient democratic quotient |
| Gobind Thukral
 OVER
a million Chandigarh citizens are privileged people.
They earn the highest in the country and spend the highest,
perhaps. Per capita income, though a not very correct
way to judge the real wealth of the people last year
was over Rs one lakh, highest in the country and beats
even Delhi, the national capital. Its literacy rate
of over 84 per cent should provoke its neighbors. Over
90 per cent live in urban areas.More |
| COMMENT |
| Poor under attack in the
national capital of India
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| Bharati Mirchandani
 THE
razing of houses continues along the sewage drain that
extends from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to the new
sports facilities behind INA market. In the past 35-40
years these families have dwelt here in their homes
which have been razed twice before. This is the third
time and they have learnt to cope as their livelihoods
are here and they hoped, as promised during the last
election, that all the dwellers here would get pukka
houses nearby.More
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