VINDICA

Amartya Sen talks against classifying people purely based on their religious identity.

An interesting article about poverty in rich countries, and how it could be just as damaging as poverty in poor countries. Amartya Sen is quoted. Being relatively poor in a rich country can be a great capability handicap, even when one’s absolute income is high in terms of world standards.

42% of the rural residents in Tamil Nadu have TVs. Only 14% have toilets.

Kissinger writes this piece in the wake of President Bush's visit to India. Some ideas expounded here are novel, and I have never seen them expressed anywhere else. Kissinger believes that India and America differ in their perception of the world. America believes itself to be the "shining city on the hill" whose ideas are relevant to the entire world. India on the other hand, has no interest in spreading its ideas and is interested only in creating a secure bubble within which its diverse society can thrive. Hindu society does indeed also consider itself unique but, in a manner, dramatically at variance from America’s. Democracy is not conceived as an expression of Indian culture but as a practical adaptation, the most effective means to reconcile the polyglot components of the state emerging from the colonial past....Huns, Mongols, Greeks, Persians, Afghans, Portuguese and, in the end, Britons, conquered Indian territories, established empires, and then vanished, le

In a sign of increasingly close relations between India and the US, the two countries recently signed a nuclear deal that would enable US companies to cooperate with India's civilian nuclear program. In return, India designates 65% of its reactors as civilian and agrees to have the IAEA inspect these facilities. The deal has come under vicious attack from leading left-wing newspapers like New York Times was well as by right wing commentators like Pat Buchanan . Such bi-partisan attacks make Bush's courage in making the deal during a weak time for his Presidency even more impressive. Now, finally the deal is getting some traction, and positive opinions. A recent column by Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace argues that non-proliferation concerns should not come in the way of the US Congress approving the deal . As an Outlook India article points out, watching the deal being made is like watching a hurdles race. The next hurdle is the Congress, whe

In a sign of increasingly close relations between India and the US, the two countries recently signed a nuclear deal that would enable US companies to cooperate with India's civilian nuclear program. In return, India designates 65% of its reactors as civilian and agrees to have the IAEA inspect these facilities. The deal has come under vicious attack from leading left-wing newspapers like New York Times was well as by right wing commentators like Pat Buchanan . Such bi-partisan attacks make Bush's courage in making the deal during a weak time for his Presidency even more impressive. Now, finally the deal is getting some traction, and positive opinions. A recent column by Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace argues that non-proliferation concerns should not come in the way of the US Congress approving the deal . As an Outlook India article points out, watching the deal being made is like watching a hurdles race. The next hurdle is the Congress, whe

A brilliant essay detailing the atmosphere in Damascus during the days leading up to the start of riots protesting the Danish Cartoons.