Other Columns

There’s something endearing about seeing people, whose fame doesn’t permit them to live normal lives, step out. And many do. Some of them like Shah Rukh Khan keep getting into trouble for doing that, but others actually do a pretty good job of being anonymous.

Some recent economic initiatives hold out the promise of improving Indo-Pak ties, Rohit Viswanath writes.

Satyamev Jayate endorses the opening up of traditional sources of information. Namita Bhandare writes.

The day Carla Bruni pronounces Banarsi Das Vastralaya right, we’ll proudly start calling Hermés as ‘Air-maess’

Why on earth do we need a national airline? Or at least why do we need one which is run so badly? Chanakya writes.

I feel very proud Hillary Clinton likes Indian food so much. But to truly appreciate our gastronomy, it's important to know its intellectual origins. Manas Chakravarty writes.

I have had a number of mails from angry consumers protesting retail outlets at cinema halls, airports, railway stations and tourist destinations charging more than the maximum retail price (MRP) for soft drinks and water. They want to know if they can take action against such retailers and if so, under what law.

In a world where children's rights are fiercely protected, some in the education system are asking — what about teachers' rights? And how will kids learn in an environment of so much leniency? Neyaz Farooquee writes.

The death penalty may sound a bit over-the-top, but Swaraj was supported by Mashelkar Committee's report on spurious drugs, which recommended stringent non-bailable action.

Last Monday, the carcass of an Olive Ridley turtle was washed ashore on Marve beach in Malad, not very far from where I stay. I have lived in Malad all my life. As a child, I would often go to the beach to play with my friends. Today, plastic debris and cow dung have made it filthy, and unfit even for a leisurely stroll.

As if the Adarsh scam, the CAG reports indicting senior ministers and an inquiry into a city Congress leader's disproportionate assets had not painted a bad enough picture of Mumbai and Maharashtra being completely squeezed dry by its political class, there comes along the drought to make the picture that much bleaker.

Over the past two decades, the Indian media has been flooded with entertainment that commercialises every aspect of human life and promotes the most bizarre voyeurism.

Now that the issue of mysterious cost escalations in infrastructure projects is out in the open and the Congress seems determined to root out corruption, one hopes that the state government will probe or review cost escalations in all major projects.

So, as it turns out, women are important. I was reminded of this last Sunday when Aamir Khan descended from the heavens and broadcast his message against female foeticide through 'Satyamev Jayate', a show that was watched by about seventeen billion people, including tribes that have not been discovered yet.