Monday night’s [22 Oct] presidential foreign policy debate probably won’t change the opinion of many voters. Proponents of President Barack Obama are still convinced that Mitt Romney is a fool and a liar. Proponents of former Gov. Romney have the same view of the president. Of course, this is normal in any American presidential race. Al
October is a festive month, with Dusshera quickly succeeded by Bakr Id. Both festivals epitomise the victory of all that is just and righteous. Dusshera has a military significance as it denotes the victory of the righteous Lord Ramachandra over Ravana, the haughty king of Lanka. Bakrid denotes the willingness of Prophet Abraham to obey the command
Since time immemorial, human beings have been going from one place to another for short trips. These travels and visits to places away from their place of usual dwelling have resulted in the rise of hotel, motel, lodge, inn, chalet, cabin, tavern, public house and what not. Thus, the movement of human beings is not a new phenomenon nor is the creat
Anyone who watched the two national political conventions last month couldn’t help but be impressed with the nearly total lack of racial diversity at the (“White’s Only”) Republican National Convention. The large number of racially-diverse delegates at the Democratic National Convention was truly impressive. It should be obv
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zubi harshly criticized the Turkish government early last week [8 Oct] over Ankara’s proposal that an interim government succeed the al Assad regime, saying that “Turkey isn’t the Ottoman Sultanate; the Turkish Foreign Ministry doesn’t name custodians in Damascus, Mecca, Cairo and Jerusal
Much confusion was created when the words devas, devatas, and devis, originating initially from the time of the Vedas (knowledge), (that were compiled and trans-generationally transmitted accurately through oral tradition,) were translated into English as gods and goddesses. The words have to be understood in the context of the Vedas. Ag
The heavy loaded cargo boats, passenger liners, cruise ships and plentiful ferries packed with tourists steam by the Maiden Tower rising from the black rock amid lucid waters; they gingerly make their way past the mountain-like mosques on the mainland into the Bosporus, this huge God-made river running between the Med and the Black Sea. The City, o
The world is now trapped in deep interlocked crises that could precipitate an extended economic depression, global environmental disasters and war; but we have the capacity to deal with them by effecting a global spiritual transformation. This book is a guide to what ordinary people can do to direct the course of events. Its recommendations emerge
The answer to that question is no, simply because of the many Buddhisms that grew up in Asia, Tibetan Buddhism as a genre is the closest to Hinduism and like Hinduism has had a long civilisational history and will continue to have it. Much has been written about the historical/ political/ legal aspects of the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949 and t
This is the season of Nav-ratri - nine nights, the celebration of which centers around the worship of Durga Devi in most parts of India and in the Indian Diaspora overseas. Most Hindus are knowledgeable about the significance of this festival. To enjoy these special nine nights with fun and frolic while simultaneously engag
It is a measure of the new openness in our public life that outgoing Chief Justice of India, Mr. S.H. Kapadia, was subjected to a pointed critique of his tenure in office. Citizens who have for long looked at the judiciary as a bulwark against the corruption and cussed indifference of governmental authorities have experienced a sense of dejection d
On October 3, 2012 the Turkish military launched repeated mortar shellings inside Syrian territory. The military action, which was used by the Turkish military, conveniently, to establish a ten-kilometer wide no-man’s land “buffer zone” inside Syria, was in response to the alleged killing by Syrian armed forces of several Turkish
Today, October 20, 2012 marks the 50th year of the Indo-China war. The current national preoccupation with corruption and incessant attention to other tomfoolery that keeps modern Indian society busy has resulted in miniscule level of attention to this historically significant event. Another reason for this important episode being sidelined is the
The two Asian giants, India and China, have coexisted peacefully since times immemorial. There is no historical documentation before the Indo-China war of 1962 of the two great civilisations having resorted to hostility and war to resolve issues. What makes things even more distressing is the fact that even a few years before the war, from 1950 to
Recently, President Barack Obama said that India needs a second “wave” of reforms. It will, of course, be driven by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and MNCs like Wal-Mart. Like it was in the late nineties when these entities led by the shameless Enron, the US energy giant which fleeced India and had to finally flee o
In what is one of the Free World’s best kept secrets, farmer suicides – a phenomenon popularly associated with India – are rearing their heads in America and Europe, and are becoming difficult to push under the carpet. Though Big Media has largely dodged the story, local newspapers have carried occasional reports. The suicides hav
Last winter, fossil-fuel enthusiasts began trumpeting the dawn of a new “golden age of oil” that would kick-start the American economy, generate millions of new jobs, and free this country from its dependence on imported petroleum. Ed Morse, head commodities analyst at Citibank, was typical. In the Wall Street Journal he crowed, “
Baluchistan, the most restive province of Pakistan, has entered into a new era of violence. The pattern of violence has witnessed a change of late with the new trend being based more on religious polarisation than nationalist ideology as was the case earlier. This is quite evident from the ongoing massacre of Shias in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtun
In the Middle Eastern corrida, the moment of truth is approaching fast. Assad’s Syria is running around the arena like a wounded bull, fraught and worn down by a year of cruel strife. Banderillas of mujaheeds stick out of his broken hide. The public, the Europeans, the Americans, the Gulf rulers call: Kill him! And the Turkish matador steps f
On India’s southern frontier, New Delhi’s failure to develop a strategic relationship with Sri Lanka, separated from India by the 33-50 mile wide Palk Strait, is most intriguing. What is to be noted is that unlike India’s relationship with Pakistan, which was orchestrated by the British Raj when it partitioned the Indian subcontin
[This piece was written before the Venezuelan elections; Petras correctly predicted victory of Chavez 55% (actual result 54%)]: On October 7th, Venezuelan voters will decide whether to support incumbent President Hugo Chavez or opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. The voters will choose between two polar opposite programs and social sys
The Syria war drags on. Continuing it has become too expensive and too dangerous for its neighbors. Russia, which aims to re-establish itself in the Middle East, is trying to show the United States that it is in their best interest to allow Moscow to resolve the conflict. The military situation in Syria is turning against those in Washington and Br
Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), as a part of its road map for fermenting terrorist activity in Jammu and Kashmir, misguides and indoctrinates Kashmiri youth into the fold of terrorism. These indoctrinated youth are sent to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) for training before being re-inducted into Jammu and Kashmir as indigenous
“People always keep on saying to me, so you are the maker of the Constitution. My answer is I was a hack. What I was asked to, I did much against my will. I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it. It does not suit anybody”- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in a statement in the Rajya Sabha on 2 September 1953. Yet Ambed
The October 1973 anniversary has arrived while the region has witnessed numerous developments, coups and transformations during the last forty years. Nonetheless, a series of factors require us to look at the occasion which constitutes a historical turning point in Arab-Israeli conflict and Arab reality. Firstly, regardless of what is sa
The outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011 brought significant attention to groups -- known as Islamists -- seeking to establish Islamic states in countries once ruled by secular autocrats. The bulk of this attention went to already established political groups such as the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which caused consternation in the West when its Fr
The West was disappointed after it thought it could change Egypt’s face, i.e. this great Arab country which – in the 50s of last century – played a leading and progressive role in initiating social change, national independence and Arab unity. Indeed, the West’s calculations were going against history, after the Camp David A
Syria, the story thus far: “Today, many Americans are asking — indeed I ask myself,” Hillary Clinton said, “how can this happen? How can this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated, and at times, how confounding the world can be.” [
When people forget history, mystery repeats itself. History tells us that Nepal evolved a sophisticated democratic system over two thousand years before Aristotle’s Greece did; the mystery is that ethnic identity federalists are still groping for a viable one and the Maoists want Stalin’s collectivist solution. Nepal’s ancie
When Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi triggered a walkout by elected Panchayat members in J&K last Friday by saying it was the state government’s prerogative to implement the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, he was hinting that a deal had been clinched with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Should this pan out as expected, it w
A political storm is brewing on the decision of UPA-II, notified on September 20, to allow 51% foreign equity into the multi-brand retail market in India. Compared to the infrastructure push or restructuring labour laws, this is relatively a minor economic policy measure. Yet, it has precipitated a political crisis. Ms Mamata Banerjee has left the
If you’ve ever wondered how Monsanto – a company that admits it wants to own the world’s food supply through its patented genetically engineered seeds – gets away with not having to label its products, all you have to do is follow the trail of money leading from their coffers into the pockets and campaign funds of well-place
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07 Oct 2012
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As the eleventh meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP) to the two decade old Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) takes place in Hyderabad next week, immediately following a session of the Meeting of Parties to its Biosafety Protocol, the state of CBD begs several key issues to be addressed - issues not on the agenda of the meeting. The tre
The last few months witnessed considerable forward movement in diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan. Consistent rounds of meetings between the Foreign Secretaries and even Foreign Ministers of the two countries created an impression that things would soon take a turn for the better. There was talk of a possible visit to Pakistan by Prime Mini
The word “Vedas” is translated in English to mean “Knowledge.” The verb “Vid” to know or comprehend is the root in the “noun,” when transformed to “Vedas,” meaning that which is known or comprehended (or realized). Vedas are thus the expressions of “what is known” in poeti
Bharat has to contend with two major enemies – the Christian-imperialist-West axis; Jihadi terrorism; and an inimical entity, China, whose great power ambitions pose a threat to her security. All three forces are asuric, and are not listed in any special order of priority. As a Hindutva-vadin, the present writer is concerned with all three, t
The world is going to be inundated with torrents of dollars and euros in the hope that this incessant flood of liquidity will lift the economies of the US and the euro zone out of the morass of low growth, high unemployment, unnerving uncertainties and sagging confidence among consumers and businessmen. If the central bank of a Third World country
In September 1980 Iraq carried out an unprovoked attack on Iran which lasted over 7 years. This war was supported by the US, UK and at least 10 countries with the former actually providing military hardware such as weapons, nuclear components that would allow Iraq to have the ability to build a nuclear bomb and Chemical and Biological technology wh
Foreign Minister Patino, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen. I speak to you today as a free man, because despite having been detained for 659 days without charge, I am free in the most basic and important sense. I am free to speak my mind. This freedom exists because the nation of Ecuador has granted me political asylum and other nations have r
A recent article, “Al-Qaeda’s American Spring,” in the Syrian news daily Tahwra al Wehda, pointed out that al-Qaeda, always having been financed by the Wahhabi regime of the House of Saud, is now being transported from Yemen and the Pakistan-Afghanistan borders to Syria, to fight against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. What the Sy