Sparsh

1- Barefoot - The other side of life Harsh Mander -: Can anyone really live on Rs. 26 a day, the income of the officially poor in rural India? Two youngsters try it out. 2- Powerhouse on your plate! - Easily accessible and affordable, millets are making a comeback to Indian kitchens, says Shonali Muthalaly. 3- The everyday embrace of inequality :The institution of paid domestic labour produces cleanliness, meals and childcare, but it also produces and reproduces an unequal home and society. 4- Salman Rushdie & India's new theocracy :-India's secular state is in a state of slow-motion collapse. The contours of a new theocratic dystopia are already evident. 5- BCCI: Billionaires Control Cricket in India by P. SAINATH 6- 42 per cent of Indian children are underweight - Hunger and Malnutrition (HUNGaMA) report by the Naandi Foundation – were described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “national shame” at a release function here on Tuesday. 7- The complex co...

Harvard professor Larry Lessig is one of our foremost authorities on copyright issues, with a vision for reconciling creative freedom with marketplace competition. 1- The Indian state of Bihar has long been a byword for bad governance. It was however governed particularly badly between 1990 and 2005, and has since experienced something of a ‘governance miracle’. How can we account for the 1990–2005 deterioration? Through this working paper - State Incapacity by Design: Understanding the Bihar Story , we will understand that the low state capacity is often a political choice . 2- La Grande Revolution, Encore? A comparison between France of 1787 with present USA as both had financed an overseas war with borrowed money. 3- The War Dogma : This article appears in the July issue of Agenda/Infochange for the theme on the ‘Limits of Freedom’. An insight on Dantewada and Operation Green Hunt. 4- Playing fast and loose by Pratap Bhanu Mehta : A overview of tussle on Janlokpal Bill ...

1- Dark side of giving: The rise of philanthro-capitalism --- Large philanthropic resources are being utilised to further the interests of business. 2- Noam Chomsky interviewed by Ajaz Ashraf and Anuradha Raman in Outlook magazine, November 1, 2010. The man NYT called “arguably the most important intellectual alive” finds the media in Pakistan more vibrant than it is in India. 3- Elections come and go. But the immigrant issue goes on forever [PDF]: A quarter century post the Assam Accord, political parties in the state still seek votes on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigration, reports Tehelka Reporter Kunal Majumdar. 4- Stan Ovshinsky’s Solar Revolution : His inventions from 50 years ago enabled cell phones, laptops, and flat-screen TVs. Now, at age 88, he’s aiming to make solar power cheaper than coal. 5- Why Do Some Countries Win More Olympic Medals? Lessons for Social Mobility and Poverty Reduction :- Not everyone in our country has equal access to competitive s...

When an individual fights in enabling the voices of the powerless to be heard and exposes the corrupt game behind power corridors, one faces the persecution from the people in power. Julain Assange (wikileaks) commitment to transparency, peace and justice by exposing and holding governments to account for closed room deals, human rights abuses and for fearless challenges to censorship in any form is cheer worthy. Exclusive: The Wikileaks Manifesto , by Julian Assange. Interview of Julian Assange ; I have also written on wikileaks before on my blog. : Why the world needs WikiLeaks ! Read more in detail and well crafted : Wikileaks is Good for You and Me Personal Stand on Transparency: Capitalism and Democratic political system may not be an effective model, but it provides relative more space to an individual. Nationalism has always served the regional interest of the elites. Socialism and Islam are forms of political nihilism, and that both contend that the life of the ind...

I will start the first part of trilogy on the blind faith. Trilogy will be composed of the essay on Prohibition, Denialism and Irrationality. This is an attempt born out of my anger on the ignorance, intolerance and indifference surrounding us. The need to confront violence and injustice began through questioning taboos and rituals. Overall, I am not here to worship what is known, but to question it. Prohibition When a small authorising groups such as state, businessmen or priestly class of a given population disapproves of and/or feels threatened by an activity in which a smaller group of that population engages, and seeks to render that activity legally prohibited. Most of the Blasphemy Laws, censor rules on piece of art like books, movies or music form in this category. Prohibitions are used as a tool to maintain status quo of the authority in the power. Authority wants everything to be governed and monitored by too much closeness. It is all done in name of protectin...

I often blog about culture but partially global politics. I do care about injustice, but the global scale and systematic nature of it has left me stunned. There is so much attempt to curb our freedom, liberty and public information in the name of secrecy and security. This blog post is compiled in the span of 30 minutes as soon as I became aware of about Wikileak. Wikileaks is an international organization, based in Sweden. It publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive documents while preserving the anonymity of sources. It has set a new standard in free information flow across the world. Afghanistan War Logs, Baghdad airstrike video, Guantánamo Bay procedures, 2008 Peru oil scandal and Toxic dumping in Africa: The Minton report are few important leaks of the secret government documents. You can read more about them in encyclopedia . It is more productive to engage with, rather than censor. There is an intimate and indissoluble link between inte...

1- Have anyone watched or know about Iranian, Chinese or Russian cinema ? If yes, then you will know about the struggles of the director with state or clergy to express his thoughts in public. I wrote below paragraph after watching the movie Marmoulak : Artists are born in the environment of suppression. The more the external suppression, the greater is the degree and urge for expression. Sometimes in their life, they met beloved one/ones and there art touches the crust. More the design and glamour in the expression comes from the dream or psychedelic effects. Drugs, weeds and alcohol are compatriot of artist. What lies hidden is the supreme desire of not being general masses. The expression disturbs the stable order of the society and creates ripples in the youth minds. And as the age takes toil on the youth, the rebel expression is submerged into the abyss of social mind. The rebel of art lies in an unfathomed corner of the the underground movements, far away from the burden of t...

Just reading few views & counter-views about freedom of expression and moral policing. These articles are must for each individual who thinks and cares about present situation and upcoming future of the society. May be, I am too novice to raise my voice but there is magic in fighting battles beyond endurance and limits. 1- Bloggers can be nailed for views: Verdict by Supreme Court . And, Bloggers unite against SC verdict . Remember if you try to muzzle something, it proliferates. Warning to SC ....... 2- Pramod Muthalik has created controversy in Indian Intellectuals view:  Sagarika Ghose (IBNLive Blog): Two Indias are pulling in different directions and Counter view of Sagarika Ghose article : Moral Policing, Socialistalgia and Millikan’s Special Drops, Fussing About Speed Math and Thanks to Gowtham . 3- Mint article on controversial 'Pink Chaddi' Campaign: Gender grouse beyond the bar . The pink-bloomer war against the moral police managed a victory of sorts, b...

Ok,not my voice has done the winning effect.But all ITians have done it.Now, most of the useful websites are open to us.The jaws of websense has been removed from most websites.Hail democracy!!!! PS:I was using yourfreedom software to counter websense.

What an average guy of ITBHU wants in his span of 4 years stay at institute with B. Tech degree. A little bit of free space and time taken from society to live best years of his life. He enjoys his life to full extent with little bit of studies of engineering. Most of guys aim for MBA, GRE, Core area or a Software job. Nothing more and nothing less is expected. He is self content with his studies, entertainment and extra circular activities. Surfing Internet is primary pass time for ITians except playing games on LAN or watching movies. He surfs Internet, watch movies (rarely porn) but all in limits. Guys uses proxy server to open the ORKUT or any other website (for minor purpose) banned by CC at ITBHU. Now all this is going to be changed by the shrewd behavior of our college. Now new software has been in testing condition by CC. They are using software called Websense . Some of the affected sites are imdb, YouTube, cricinfo, stage6 etc. It is the courtesy of this software that bloggin...