The death of an elderly activist raises many questions about the knee-jerk reactions of our investigating agencies, lack of application of mind of prison authorities and limitations of our criminal justice system. How Indian democracy responds after the tragic death of the elderly undertrial is yet to be seen. If we fail, the tragedy of Stan Swamy will haunt us for many years
Such heartrending stories abound. The suffering caused by the military’s takeover of a country with a population of 54 million has been relentless.
Economic compulsions have led to increasing codification and introduction of the rule of law without which a market economy would be unable to function efficiently. This has significantly reduced the power of the political elite and led to important political reforms like limiting the terms of office holders to two terms of five years each.
If the powerful military establishment that dominates Pakistan shares this view, India and other countries in the region might feel reassured.
There were indignant people who asked why the game was being commercialised.
The supply and use of Covid vaccines will of course hinge on the follow-through. In what appears to be a bow in the direction of female education, the G7 said it would try and get 40 million more girls into school around the world.
EU leaders are due to discuss their response at a summit in Brussels on Monday. Nato ambassadors are due to meet on Tuesday.
The ‘America First’ policy of President Donald Trump seems suddenly well in the past as the Biden Administration moves to strengthen multilateral relationships and international institutions, and reassure allies that US leadership on the world stage is back.
In essence, Biden is trying to steer what American futurologist Buckminster Fuller called in 1978 the Critical Path of Spaceship Earth between two existential threats of nuclear destruction or climate burning.
Science has progressed at an astonishing pace during the pandemic. Six months ago, there were a handful of vaccine candidates in clinical trials. Today, 13 vaccines have been approved and 29 are in Phase 2 or 3 trials. Despite the incredible achievement of proceeding from scratch to having so many approved vaccines within a year, the final challenge remains: producing enough doses to vaccinate the world's population, and distributing vaccines in a fair and equitable manner because till everyone is vaccinated the danger of recurrence of coronavirus would not be over.
