The blame game has already been going on, and is likely to become ugly and fierce as to who is causing maximum pollution and contributing towards visible changes in environment. On the one side we have “developed” countries refusing to have a critical look at their reckless consumerism. While on the other are the “developing” countries wanting to mindlessly ape the Western lifestyle and thus putting an unbearable burden on the scarce resources on our planet earth. All this...

If the criminals are multiplying fast courtesy the internet, the same technology is also helping the police to nab them. Australian law enforcement agencies have so far arrested 70 persons, in the 19 to 81 age group, for child pornography and abuse offences across the country. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a further 20 people have been issued with summons to appear in court where they will be charged with possessing child exploitation material. More arrests are expected in coming weeks and...

A drug based on an ancient Chinese herbal remedy, first used more than 2,000 years ago, holds the promise to save millions of children who die each year from malaria. “Within two years there might be enough supplies to meet the needs of everyone in the world suffering from malaria – up to 500 million people – at a 10th of the cost of existing drugs.” More here…

One of the tests of a good leader is how he/she talks about the opponents in the wake of a heady victory. Barack Obama scored full marks in his speech delivered after his triumph in Montana primary. Now he stands poised to win the Democratic Party nomination to take on Senator John McCain in the US presidential polls. I listened to the Obama speech live…its was oratory at its best, and the words flowed with sincerity and humility, befitting a potential leader of a great nation. Obama began...

President Nicolas Sarkozy was joined by fashion giants from around the globe yesterday in paying tribute to the iconic French designer, Yves Saint Laurent, who has died aged 71, reports The Independent. “Yves Saint Laurent was the last of the French pioneers, including Chanel and Christian Dior, who established Paris as the fashion capital of the world. His death late on Sunday night, after a long struggle against brain cancer, has plunged France into a kind of unofficial national mourning…”...

Senior clerics from the 150-year-old Muslim seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, which is said to have inspired the Taliban, have issued an edict saying they wished to wipe out terrorism. The Indpendent reports: “The Deoband institute was established in the aftermath of the 1857 uprising against British rule, an uprising that was brutally suppressed by the imperial forces. Highly influential, it controls thousands of smaller seminaries and madrassas around the world, from Britain to Afghanistan....

As Nepal’s deposed King Gyanendra begins house-hunting as a common citizen in view of the deadline to vacate his palace within a fortnight, The Independent discusses various issues related to Nepal’s monarchy as well as the institution of monarchy in the world. Why is Nepal ending its monarchy? So where do royals still have power? Once they’re gone, do they ever return? What does a royal do when they’re sacked? Is the game up for the world’s monarchies? More here… Meanwhile...

The medical fraternity has hailed as “miracle” the birth of an “ectopic” baby at Darwin in Australia on Thursday. The healthy 2.8 kg baby survived despite developing in her mother’s ovary instead of her uterus. The delighted parents have named their daughter Durga, after one of the most powerful goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. Most ectopic pregnancies end in miscarriage or are terminated early because of the risk to the mother, reports the BBC. “The mother and...

A landmark treaty banning cluster bombs was formally adopted at Dublin on Friday by 111 nations, including many of America’s major NATO partners. It aims to outlaw all current designs of cluster munitions, and requires destruction of stockpiles within eight years, reports AP. The treaty also opens the possibility that European allies could order U.S. bases located in their countries to remove cluster bombs from their stocks. “The United States and other leading cluster bomb makers —...

Can you think of a better caption for this Associated Press photograph? (The Times of London gave this photo caption: “President Bush and Theodore Shiveley, a US Air Force graduate from Plano, Texas, bump chests at a graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado.”) More on “real” He-Man here…

As they say “visibility has become big business”. Apart from businesses/writers/bloggers, there is a whole range of organisations/people turning to the internet for increased visibility. Have you ever thought of a scenario when, for some reason, you decide to end your visibility on the net and start enjoying total anonymity…by erasing any mention of your name from the net? In other words, unGoogle yourself. The brutal truth is YOU JUST CAN’T…Read on…

Nepal has emerged as world’s youngest democratic republic after the Constitutional Assembly voted to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy. On Thursday morning, the flag of the Shah dynasty was taken down from the main palace in the capital city of Kathmandu. The palace will now be turned into a national museum, reports AFP. The vote in the 601-member assembly saw just four lawmakers oppose the declaration transforming Nepal into a secular republic. Nepal, sandwiched between India and China,...

A good question. Hilary Rosen’s interesting explanation appeared in HuffPost recently. She wrote: “Lately I am asked by lots of friends, including my new colleagues at the HuffPost — who I am so privileged to work with — just what it is about Hillary (Clinton) that makes me stick with her now, knowing that her chances to gain the nomination are slim to nonexistent… “There are all of the political reasons that keep her campaign going like the popular vote, the...

The 1997 movie Titanic, the highest-grossing film of all time, became popular worldwide for its powerful depiction of romance and pathos. Now The Times of London reports that “the man who located the wreck of the Titanic has revealed that the discovery was a cover story to camouflage the real mission of inspecting the wrecks of two Cold War nuclear submarines.” More here… Titanic: The Final Secret will be shown on the National Geographic Channel at 9pm on June 8.

We bloggers/journalists love to chase political stories, while our response to the critical economic issues is generally similar to those related to climate change. I wonder when our fraternity would realise that environmental and economic issues are as much “political” and important as the ones perceived as the “real political” ones. I was again reminded of this when I read a report in a recent issue of The Economist that “double-digit price rises are about to afflict...

In the present historic US Democratic presidential nomination marathon, the media and the blogs have now begun to write the obituary of Hillary Clinton’s ambition to become the President of America. (Did someone say that the media ‘obits’ had begun to appear right at the start of her campaign?!!!) But the recent ‘obits’ also reveal a grudging admiration for the spirited fight she put up despite several odds, including (what her team has been alleging) media hostility. Two...

Prophets of (Hillary Clinton’s) doom have again been proven wrong. The prophets’ strident claim that this Pa. primary elections would sound the death knell of Clinton’s ambition to get the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, has yet again fallen flat on its face. To those living abroad, the American media/blogs might have contributed in a substantial manner in accentuating a virtual “civil war” within the Democratic Party. There is a visible air of “aggression”...

Kevin Rudd’s tenure as Australian prime minister would be ‘historic’ in more ways than one. Recently he invited 1000 “brightest” among his countrymen for an “ideas summit” to develop key goals for Australia. And now comes the sensational news that suddenly Australia gains more territory equivalent to 20 times the size of the United Kingdom!!! “Australia, already the world’s largest island, has just become substantially larger. A United Nations...

It is said that American youth voters would play a crucial role in this US presidential election. But have we ever wondered that most of the wisdom pouring out in the media/blogs on Iraq and Afghanistan “wars”, and other issues, is the monopoly of people who have possibly left their youth far behind? And these “wise” people may have basically lost what is called a zest for life. I remember in the 1960s when I was in school how emotional/angry we felt at issues/events/developments...

History will provide many interpretations of George W. Bush, his life & times. Here comes the cinematic version. Oliver Stone, a three-time Academy Award winning film director and screenwriter, is making a film on President George W. Bush (simply called W) and would be shot in Louisiana. Bush experts have already begun to dissect the screenplay. W would come as a farewell gift to Mr Bush who could view it from the comfort of the White House before he leaves office next January. This is Stone’s...

One can understand when a staunch Republican declares that he/she “hates” a presidential candidate from another party. But it stumps me when even the so-called Democrat-supporters are quoted in the media saying they “hate” Hillary Clinton. I can understand Democrats “opposing”, “disagreeing”, “dis-approving”, “disliking”, etc., etc., their own party candidate, but why “hate”… It has been pointed out that many...

While Pope Benedict’s visit to the US, and the UN, was highlighted in the media with special emphasis on the US priests’ misdemeanours in the US, and the veiled criticism of the military adventures in Iraq and concern about human rights (see here), what I really enjoyed reading was 50 religious insights from George Bush…please click here…

Why is the media, and the blogs, overlooking the “real” issues? The recent Clinton/Obama debate once again brought under spotlight a serious lack of professionalism among journalists and their growing penchant to trivialize serious issues. To give another example, few seem interested at the looming food crisis that is likely to have worldwide political and economic ramifications. Would the media wake up only when the wolf reaches their doors or the dinner table (when it is too late)?...

Why was a wellknown photographer jailed in Iraq? Was he punished for doing professional work in an independent fashion? “The U.S. military released Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein on Wednesday after holding him for more than two years without filing formal charges,” reports AP. In New York, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon, said Hussein “now joins a growing list of journalists detained in conflict zones by the U.S. military...

India lives at two levels. Urban India is enthusiastically chasing a mirage that Western style consumerism holds the key to happiness. But nearly 70 per cent Indians still live in villages or small towns where contentment, and living within one’s means, is still the prevalent traditional mantra. What is best option for an average person with limited means? The debate goes on… Many people in big “rich” Western consumeristic societies have now begun to tear their hair as the...