We seem to be passing through a phase in which people worldwide are displaying low level of toleration towards other religions or points of view. The growing suspicion is leading to bullying and hostility. This is posing a serious threat to world peace. An interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor throws light on the subject. Writes Walter Rodgers: “Today political and religious leaders tend to snooze their way through the various manifestations of religious coercion and intimidation...

On the World Press Freedom Day (May 3), Sri Lankan journalist Nalaka Gunawardene chose to pay a warm tribute to Pete Seeger, the American folk singer and a pioneer of protest music, who turned 90. Gunawardene wrote: “Since media freedom is inseparable from the democratic rights to dissent and protest, I will devote this blog post to salute Pete and his many decades of music for worthy causes — ranging from the American civil rights movement and opposing the Vietnam war to saving the environment...

The going rate paid by the Taliban for an attack on a police checkpoint in the western part of Afghanistan: $4 (repeat FOUR Dollars). While foreign consultants working for the Western aid agencies in Kabul can command salaries of $250,000 to $500,000 a year. Such are the profound ironies one comes across in the war-torn Afghanistan. “The high degree of wastage of aid money in Afghanistan has long been an open secret. In 2006, Jean Mazurelle, the then country director of the World Bank, calculated...

President Barack Obama’s 100 days in office were marked by diverse reactions in the media. A Sri Lankan journalist, Nalaka Gunawardene was impressed by Obama’s unusual step of using a prime-time televised news conference to deliver a public health message regarding swine flu on April 29, 2009. He quoted “President of the New Media World” Obama: “Wash your hands when you shake hands, cover your mouth when you cough. It sounds trivial, but it makes a huge difference. If you...

Alex Lees, 97, who was immortalised, not only in military, but cinematic history (in The Great Escape film – 1963) for his daredevil escape from the German prison camp in 1944, was buried yesterday at Paisley, the U.K. “But, while 50 of his fellow plotters were executed, after one of the most valiant but tragic escape attempts of the war, the young Royal Army Service Corps driver survived,” reports The Independent. More here… And here’s a snippet from The Great Escape...

Vienna, a city that has managed to remain clean, green and safe, and known for its music, theatre, art, history, coffee-bars and trams, is “world’s most liveable city”. According to a recent survey, Vienna is followed by Zurich and Geneva, while Auckland and Vancouver come joint fourth. All of these cities have a reputation – perhaps undeserved – for crashing dullness, reports The Independent. Cities with romantic, glitzy reputations, from New York (49th) to Rome (55th), fare...

Pakistan Government’s appeasement policy seems to be boomeranging. The Taliban has seized control of the strategically important district of Buner near Islamabad, provoking fears that militants are attempting to spread their insurgency and their extreme brand of Islam, reports The Independent. “The seizure by militants of the district in recent days underlines the strength of the insurgency and its ability to advance from the neighbouring Swat Valley which the Taliban controls, into...

In this age of super specialization, journalists also find themselves being labelled as ‘science’, ‘environment’, ‘development’, ‘politics’, ‘film’, ‘health’, ‘defence’ journalists, etc. In the ‘science’ category one person that became a legend was Sir John Maddox. Sir John, who is said to have reinvented science journalism, passed away on April 12. The Economist pays tribute to his memory: “Sir...

Although I was born and brought up in Delhi, India’s capital city, I now find it a challenge to live there for more than a fortnight at a stretch. Sam Miller, a former BBC journalist who has made Delhi his home since 2002, quite succinctly describes the city as ‘India’s dreamtown — and its purgatory.’ Sam Miller’s recent book Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity vividly captures the fascinating past, the generally unexplored sites, the smelly underbelly, and the strange magnetic...

India, described as world’s biggest democracy, goes to the polls to elect 543 members to the 15th Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament) in five phases (beginning April 16, and ending on May 13, 2009). The results of the election will be announced on May 16, 2009. India has 714 million registered voters (of the total 1,161,460,000 population). See here… And here… Indian authorities are stepping up security for political leaders, fearing possible militant attacks as a general...

In May 2008 Nepal (world’s youngest Republic that shares its borders with India and China) abolished monarchy, and King Gyanendra was given 15 days to leave the palace. A fortnight later the ex-king and his wife left Narayanhity Palace, thus ending 240-year-long Shah dynasty. The palace is now a museum and has so far attracted over 36,000 visitors in the capital city of Kathmandu. (The former king Gyanendra’s stepmother Queen Mother Ratna, and his grandfather’s 94-year-old concubine...

Italy celebrates this year the 2,000th birth anniversary of Roman Emperor Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus responsible for many of the Roman buildings, including the Colosseum. He also took drastic measures to restore sanity to the Roman Empire’s finances, which had been emptied by Nero’s extravagance (One is tempted to make comparisons with the present times!!!). The Independent pays handsome tribute to Emperor Vespasian: “In the judgement of one contemporary historian, Vespasian...

The world-wide interest in Titanic tragedy (of 1912) was fueled by the 1997 film on the sinking of this Olympic-class passenger liner. Interestingly, tales relating to The Titanic keep surfacing with surprising regularity. Here is the latest one attributed to the survivor Ms Barbara West (photo left)… The latest story emerged after the death of Barbara, one of the last survivors of the disaster, in 2007, reports The Times of London. Barbara narrated the bravery of her father Arthur West “who...

Followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism may have lots of differences, but when it comes to the disposal of the dead body, they share a common, and a strong, belief that it must be buried. On the other hand, Hindus, and followers of other Eastern religions, opt for cremation of their dead. Down the centuries India has remained highly tolerant towards diverse religious practices on its soil, allowing people to bury their dead or even follow other different religious practices. But it is not...

In the blogosphere the second birth anniversary of a blog may not look exactly a big deal. However, Sri Lanka-based Nalaka Gunawardene’s “Moving Images” deserves mention as it vividly captured not only his country’s traumatic/critical journey through ethnic turmoil/terrorism, but also his pertinent observations on global issues. I first met Gunawardene at Vestras (in Sweden) in the late 1980s where we were attending an international seminar on “Media In Times Of Crisis”....

During the past few days Pakistan witnessed a high drama with top opposition leaders, including the powerful former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, put under house arrest. When the confined leaders broke free and began a big protest march to the capital city of Islamabad, the Pakistani government buckled under and agreed on Monday to reinstate the independent-minded former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. This followed a hectic backroom consultations/diplomacy involving...

India (or, for that matter South Asia) has been described as a rich place but inhabited by poor (especially in the rural areas). In their race to catch up with the developed world, the rulers in the Indian subcontinent simply forgot that a SYSTEM (and a proper INFRASTRUCTURE) has to be in place in the teeming villages/towns to prevent an ensuing chaos. At this juncture, Israel’s expertise in the field of agriculture can be of great help. Martin Sherman, a research fellow in the School of...

The image shown above of George W. Bush smartly ducking a shoe aimed at him, is unlikely to be erased from public memory whenever there is a mention of the former President of the USA. Similarly, the perpetrator of the shoe-missile incident, who has now been awarded a three-year jail term for this indiscretion, is unlikely to be forgotten. “Long live Iraq!” shouted Muntadar al-Zaidi, the 30-year-old Iraqi television journalist, as the sentence against him was handed down, reports The...

Paul Cézanne played a pivotal role in the birth of modern art. “Cézanne and Beyond” exhibition, hosted by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is a “beautiful and powerful collection of modern and post-modern art by some of the most talented painters of the past 100 years,” reports The Economist. Lucky are those who can be part of this major event that continues until mid-May this year. “Pablo Picasso, who, with Georges Braque, invented cubism, called him ‘my one and only...

To remain fit and fine once you are over 60 is a big challenge. An interesting book tells us that the best recipe is to continue to remain curious and communicative. Irma Kurtz, 73, once a “proper journalist” who reported from Vietnam and interviewed celebrities long before they were called that, has written a book Growing Old Disgracefully. She was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York, moved to Paris and finally came to London. In 1970, she joined Cosmopolitan magazine as its first Agony...

After the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, there have been numerous articles by Jews from different countries narrating their own wonderful experiences in Mumbai, and how much they loved the city. In this series, I am grateful to our colleague Holly for sending me yet another moving and informative piece. Leila Bilick, who works for Pro Mujer (a nonprofit organization that gives small loans to Latin America’s poorest women), narrates a fascinating story of the Jews in India. She and her husband...

During my six-month stay in Adelaide (Australia) last year, I was struck by the fact that more women (as compared with men) smoke in public. While in the US more and more smokers are kicking this addiction. In India an increasing number of women are lighting up. Why? The typical response of all women: Tension! Men don’t give a clear answer! (Last year, a WHO study revealed that nearly two-thirds of the world’s smokers live in 10 countries led by China, which accounts for nearly 30 percent,...

Thank you Jason Gale (of Bloomberg) for your important story “India Failing to Control Open Defecation Blunts Nation’s Growth”. India has enough strength to withstand the periodical attacks by terrorists. But its Achilles heel could very well be the lack of proper sewerage facilities/hygiene in overcrowded cities and small towns. Ironically, in the Indian subcontinent, the cradle of over 5000-year-old Indus Valley Civilization, archaeological findings reveal that while planning their...

There was a high drama. Despite Government of India’s attempts to prevent the auction of Mahatma Gandhi memorabilia at New York, the auctioneers went ahead…And there was furious bidding. Finally, representatives of Vijay Mallya, the billionaire chairman of United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, outlasted other collectors. Mahatma Gandhi’s five personal items, including the iconic round eye glasses and a pair of leather sandals, that went under the hammer on Thursday were...

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one, as this (Gandhi), ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” — Albert Einstein Today “the sacred pieces of Indian heritage” would go to the highest bidder in the USA. These are Mahatma Gandhi‘s few surviving personal effects, including a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles, a Zenith pocket watch and a pair of sandals. Indian-American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal said Wednesday he plans to bid on several belongings...