India & the sex selection conundrum

"Let us agree to go beyond billboard exhortations to ‘love the girl child.' "

The decline in child sex ratio is cause for alarm, but also occasion for serious policy re-think. This artificial alteration of our demographic landscape has implications for not only gender justice and equality but also social violence, human development and democracy. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : India & the sex selection conundrum.

Sex selection is located at the complex interface of cultural attitudes, patriarchal prejudice, socioeconomic pressures, the changes wrought by modernity, and the commercialisation and misuse of modern medical technology. The impact of modernity and materialism on the decreased valuation of females i.e. enhanced daughter aversion, the lack of old-age social security i.e. son preference, increasing violence against women, property rights, inheritance laws — each of these and more play a role.

We must demand of ourselves an equally comprehensive national policy on the sex ratio, capable of addressing each contributory factor.

Niger braces itself for year of food, aid emergency

"Erratic rainfall and western financial strife mean improved crisis preparations are being stretched to the limit"

As Niger braces itself for a food emergency after late and erratic rains last year and a surge in food prices, humanitarian agencies are stepping up malnutrition screening so that children receive swift treatment to prevent permanent damage. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Niger braces itself for year of food, aid emergency. At the best of times this vast landlocked country has trouble feeding itself. This year threatens to be particularly severe.

Humanitarian organisations estimate that 1.3 million people are suffering from acute malnutrition across the Sahel, a belt of countries. Other nations must take up the baton to ensure that the international response is fast and effective. The question is whether Sahel countries will receive enough help for such measures at a time of financial crisis in the west.

World Food Programme's food-for-work scheme means families receive grain, vegetables and oil for three months in return for work designed to build up the community's ability to sustain itself. Alas, all such efforts to build resilience will fall short as long as Niger continues to have one of the world's highest population growth rates.

Wanted: a communications policy

"Market forces may decree that millions of viewers can no longer afford the television service they have had many years, unless the government takes pre-emptive steps to treat television as a public utility and guarantees citizens access to it."

India's democracy rests among other things, on a free media, but this may soon change in one important respect. The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Wanted: a communications policy

Full digitisation of cable television across the country is being made mandatory in three years. The rationale is that digitisation will provide more and better channels, and value-added services that benefit the consumer. Also, digitisation enables large corporates to control a greater segment of the hitherto fragmented television market. 

But if the media industry is given a free hand in digitisation, it can lead to the abrupt disenfranchisement of scores of millions of citizens, who will be shut out of communications they now take for granted.

Should the government treat television as a public utility, as some States are now doing, and subsidise consumer access to it? 

Revenue's wrong call

"The Supreme Court's judgment in the Vodafone case has long-term implications for tax administration and jurisprudence, especially when it comes to taxation of cross-border mergers and acquisitions. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Revenue's wrong call: Supreme court's acceptance of investment structures in offshore tax-havens as genuine tax planning devices, is a boost to tax planning through use of intelligent structures within the framework of the law so long as they are not outright sham structures conceived only to evade tax.

The judgment sends out an extremely positive signal to foreign companies and investors on the rule of law and the independence and fairness of the judiciary, and that certainty and stability are the cornerstones of any fiscal system. For its part, the government is unlikely to be a silent spectator!

Brutality on the border

"New Delhi needs to make an unreserved apology to Bangladesh for the brutal conduct of its Border Security Force personnel who were seen in a recent video torturing a Bangladeshi man. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Brutality on the border: Anti-India sentiment has been high in Bangladesh since the killing of three of its nationals by the BSF in two separate incidents on the border last month.

The enquiry needs to focus on the overall climate of impunity that makes such incidents possible.

Gautam Gambhir advocates 'rank turners' for matches at home

Times View - Complete on all pitches


Counter View - Play to India's strengths


-The Times of India, January 24, 2012

When Health Is Security

To truly benefit the needy, the microfinance sector must focus on the issue of health

When Health Is Security

-The Times of India, January 24, 2012

"After all, financial services are not just about money or about giving loans to the poor. They are really about building assets to secure lives and livelihoods."

Blackboard bungle

Stop asking whether education is about trick or teach

Blackboard bungle

-The Times of India, January 24, 2012

Madhumita Gupta, in a glorious satirical prose, has our education system "found out." Personally, it is a must-read for those who have an interest, let alone passion, for matters relating to education. 

Push The Pedal

Expedite projects to raise investor confidence

Push The Pedal

-The Times of India, January 24, 2012

"Boosting industrialisation and infrastructure with smart, reforms-based policy support will promote investment. This in turn will facilitate ambitious projects with positive multiplier effects on the economy. That's the virtuous circle the government must establish."

Stop The Hate

Kashmir's main political parties must act to prevent zealotry in the Valley


Stop The Hate

-The Times of India, January 24, 2012

Besides Rushdie issue, religious bigotry is on song in Kashmir. Christians and NGOs have been targeted for persuading young Muslim youth to give up on their faith in return for liquor, women and money. They were in fact made to appear before a sharia court. Unfortunately for them, only a proper court can take any decision on infringement of laws. The national conference-led government must act swiftly, and with great purpose, to instill confidence in our proposed secular traditions.