Human Rights Watch this week released its 2012 World Report. The 676-page write-up covers some of the biggest stories of the year, including China’s crackdown on dissent, ongoing attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic …
India
At India’s Jaipur Literary Festival, Oprah and the Tiger Mom, But No Salman Rushdie
Thick with palaces, elephants and crowded old bazaars, the Pink City of Jaipur is a postcard from ‘exotic India’ brought vividly to life. Its annual literary festival may be only six years old, but it tries to live up to its …
Rushdie’s Lit Festival No-Show: A Defeat for Free Expression in India
Salman Rushdie cancelled his scheduled appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival on Friday with an explanation worthy of one of his own improbable plotlines: “I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and …
Not Just a Pakistani Problem: India’s Army Chief Challenges His Own Government
Side by side on the front page of today’s Hindu newspaper are two stories about conflict between the Army and the civilian government in two South Asian countries. One of them, of course, is Pakistan, a country whose political …
What the Controversy Behind Salman Rushdie’s India Visit Says About the Author’s Country of Origin
It still surprises me how easily it is to stir up controversy over Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses in India. Rushdie is due to visit the Jaipur Literature Festival next week, and his trip coincides with all-out …
India-Japan Talks: A ‘Post-American’ Partnership?
With the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda completing his state visit to India this week, the relationship between these two Asian countries bears a close look. Their recent moves toward greater economic and political …
Yet Another Fast by India’s Anti-Corruption Crusader
The Indian anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare began another public fast today to pressure Parliament to pass an anti-corruption law that meets the demands of his movement. While a similar fast this summer — a 13-day marathon …
The Aryan Race: Time to Forget About It?
A new scientific study raises more questions over the existence of the Aryan race —a tribe of all-conquering Central Asian chariot-riders and horse lords that supposedly swept through India and Iran (“land of the Aryans”) a bit less than 4000 years ago before depositing their linguistic legacy in what’s now Europe.
Deadly Kolkata Hospital Fire Shocks Nation, Kills At Least 89
A massive fire at a private nursing home in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata killed at least 89 people in the early hours of Friday morning, and before the embers had cooled the finger-pointing had already begun.
Indian Police Charge a Tibetan Spiritual Leader with Financial Conspiracy
The waiting room in the Tibetan Buddhist monastery in northern India is unremarkable, save for the small signs pasted on the wall: “Kindly do not make any offerings in foreign currency.” Many of the pilgrims who have come to …
Retail Wars: India Plays an Economic Double Game
In 1991, Manmohan Singh was finance minister of a struggling, fractious government that was running out of money and ideas. Under pressure from international lenders, he championed a sweeping program of economic reform that took …
Crunch Time for the Euro and Europe: Taking Note of the Elephant
Elephant, meet room.
Doubt and despair returned to Europe by Tuesday despite positive reaction a day earlier to the French-German proposals to save the teetering euro. The reason? The pachyderm in the room that markets see all …
The Bonn Conference: Can Afghanistan Be Saved Without Pakistan On Board?
It’s rarely a good sign these days when a summit gets referenced by the city that hosts it: Kyoto is now synonymous with the international community’s failures dealing with climate change; Oslo has become another watchword for …