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13 Feb 2012

Staying in touch

Touchiness has taken on a whole new meaning

Staying in touch

With the advent of touch screens, ATMs, and other touch-gadgets, "touching" has become a widely pursued activity.

-The Times of India, February 13, 2012

People Are Strange

The dangers of psychiatric empire building

People Are Strange

Some US psychologists have circulated an updated version of the 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which will result in millions of 'normal' people being labelled as abnormal or ill.

"Such cases might include loners, brooders, rebels, incurable romantics, compulsive gamblers and even those frequently fantasising about sex."

Murder in the classroom

"The murder of a school teacher by a 15-year-old boy in Chennai who was angry at being reprimanded for his poor performance in class has thrown up deeply disquieting questions on parenting, teaching, and social and cultural mores."

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Murder in the classroom: Many factors are at play, some of them at larger societal levels that are not easily controllable. Blaming parenting is easy, but this is no more than a way of absolving the rest of society of all responsibility.

The teacher's murder is indicative of a collective failure of society — our schools cannot remain untouched when the world outside is not peaceful, fair and just. We need also to pursue remedies at the school level itself

A past that will not pass

The Gujarat High Court lit into the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of “inaction and negligence” resulting in the destruction of over 500 Muslim places of worship during the 2002 post-Godhra pogrom. A day later, came the news that Mr. Modi had been cleared of the charge of abetting the 2002 violence in a final report filed to the magisterial court by the Special Investigation Team.

It is clear that the last word on the question of criminality will not be said for some time. So the CM's camp followers will do well to show some restraint, not least because his administration has come in for repeated censure by courts in the past year.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : A past that will not pass: "Whatever the final view taken by the courts on Modi's individual legal culpability for the tragedy of Gujarat, the fact that he remained — at best — a mute spectator to the killing of hundreds of innocent citizens and did nothing to ensure justice for the victims afterwards is a moral and political badge of dishonour that will ensure the higher office his supporters seek for him remains out of reach."

Slow Train Coming

Only a drastic change in government policy can make a difference to Indian Railways

Slow Train Coming

The Indian Railways has consistently eluded reform, says the editor. Right from the speeds at which trains run to passenger fairs, the Indian Railways lags much behind International standards. It is in UPA's interests to "rescue Indian Railways from becoming an antique relic."

-The Times of India, February 13, 2012

The Republic of Hurt Sentiments

"The protest-readings from Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses must force a rethink of our religious hate speech laws and what they mean for freedom of expression."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : The Republic of Hurt Sentiments: If the ‘Rushdie readings' trigger a much larger rethink about our religious hate speech laws and what they mean for freedom of expression, then the controversy would have been well worth the making.

Nation in a State: Why are politicians not being held accountable, IAS officials ask

"Andhra Pradesh's ‘steel frame' rattles with indignation as the CBI goes after top bureaucrats in scam cases."


The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Nation in a State: Why are politicians not being held accountable, IAS officials ask: Where does the buck stop in government, at the desk of a minister or that of the bureaucrat who signs the files? This question has stirred a passionate debate in Andhra Pradesh, where the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two bureaucrats and questioned many more in connection with a slew of corruption scams.

A battle without winners

"The row over General V.K. Singh's age has created fissures between the Army and the Ministry of Defence. The main victim is the modernisation of the Army."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : A battle without winners: Irrespective of the outcome of the Mexican stand-off between General V.K. Singh and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over his disputed date of birth, both the Army and the Defence Ministry are eventually bound to be the losers in equal measure.

Welcome show of judicial muscle

"The 2G judgment goes beyond telecom, spoiling the party for corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and big business."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Welcome show of judicial muscle: The reverberations of the judgment actually extend far beyond telecom, crushing the subjective power of the government to issue licences and contracts in any sector like power, coal, minerals, mines, land, and even special economic zones (SEZ), that allocates scarce national resources.

This effectively attacks the fountainhead of all large corruption linked to government contracts.


Putting down the burden of borders

"Addressing unresolved bilateral issues would silence the Bangladeshi Opposition from questioning the value of improving ties with India."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Putting down the burden of borders: In an era of globalisation marked by a phenomenal growth of science and technology, Bangladesh and India cannot lag behind — nursing and sustaining mistrust and hostilities. Let us hope the relations put in place by the two countries, after decades of acrimony, will emerge as an example for South Asia.

Confusing signals on Afghanistan

With the Obama administration balancing election year with concerns about stability in Afghanistan, the confusion that passes for Washington's Afghanistan policy is very evident. With regional players such as Pakistan, India and Iran and international big powers all jostling to position themselves in the so-called Afghan endgame, the situation can only get more muddied.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Confusing signals on Afghanistan: " Afghan civilians have borne the worst of more than a decade of war, and they will continue to do as long as that country is viewed more as a geo-strategic piece of real estate rather than as a nation with real people. "

Clinical trials in the dock

For multinational companies eager to cut corners, India is a favourable destination for human clinical trials, since it offers an attractive package of weak laws, lax and almost non-existent oversight of trials, a huge illiterate, vulnerable population that can be easily exploited, very little volunteer protection and a sizeable number of unscrupulous doctors willing to compromise on ethics for gain.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Clinical trials in the dock: "Having amended the patent laws in 2005 to make India an even more attractive destination for trials, the government is duty-bound to put in place a proper regulatory and monitoring mechanism that would prevent unethical trials from being initiated and flagrant violations from taking place."

Doctors and companies earning handsome profits by throwing ethics and procedures to the winds and turning vulnerable people into guinea pigs will then, hopefully, become a thing of the past.