Extreme times call for extreme measures. India is reeling under a chronic economic crisis. If the Indian government takes these measures then it will go a long way in mitigating the economic fallout of the COVID-19
From Farm Chickens to Cockroaches: Why South Asia’s Gen Z Is So Restive
Until the region’s economies produce jobs, and its ministers produce respect, at the pace they produce graduates, South Asia’s Gen Z will keep finding new, and increasingly desperate, ways to be heard
Bridging the Policy Gap: Why Northeast India Cannot Tap Bangladesh Pharma Market Across the Border?
The real question is simpler: do Indian states want to use a resource that is geographically closer, internationally certified, available already, or would they prefer to continue to suffer from a yearly deficit on the other side of the Corridor?
Green AI? The Global South Cannot Afford the Wrong Kind of Digital Growth
In the case of the Global South, this would mean designing AI according to the demands of that particular place and within the bounds of its available power. It would mean opting for small language models, frugality, and less energy-intensive infrastructure over costly mimicry of Silicon Valley.
Inside India's Modern Counter-Terrorism Strategy: The Zero-Tolerance Mandate
The government is also engaging doctors, psychologists, lawyers, civil society organisations, NGOs, religious leaders and community representatives to facilitate de-radicalisation and reintegration. Young people are encouraged to participate in constructive social activities that promote communal harmony and reduce the appeal of extremist ideologies.
More on Education and Gen Z Voices
The Ashok Desai I knew: A tribute
On 13 April 2020 Supreme Court advocate Ashok Desai, a legal luminary and former Attorney General of India, passed away in Mumbai. He was 77
Sermons and substance: Did the Indian state abandon all responsibility towards the poor?
The novel coronavirus is causing havoc worldwide. For a country like India, on top of the creaky public healthcare system and scanty health care data, lies a widespread social media campaign recommending yoga, inhaling cannabis and consuming cow urine and dung as measures to prevent infection has made the battle against COVID-19 even more challenging
When I feel ashamed to be a Muslim
I had penned articles under the same agonising title in 2006, followed in 2007, in the spate of terrorist attacks by some wayward Muslim youth, who, totally misinterpreting Islam, took innocent lives either as murderers or as suicide bombers
Lockdown musings: When elephants return and peacocks fly away
I cannot remember when it came to invade our mind. Whether it was in the early hours of the morning or late evening or perhaps, at night. I ought to because it announced its arrival with fanfare and drums
Islam at crossroads: Moderates need to assert themselves
Islam and Christianity are two religions that are well entrenched in all countries in the world. However, other religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism have only a marginal presence in most countries
India's stark inequalities make social distancing much easier for some than others
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing its spread around the world, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced a three-week complete nationwide lockdown of 1.3 billion people on March 24. The government advised people to observe social distancing even before the lockdown came into place – but it was only partially effective.
Our new-born mind
I am learning many things anew
SAMDEN protests actions against Mir Shakilur Rahman and The Wire
Leading editors and media professionals from South Asia today protested actions against the media in Pakistan and India - the detention of Pakistani editor and publisher Mir Shakilur Rahman in Lahore and legal action against the independent Indian online portal, The Wire
We will win, surely
Invisible virus, invading all over, at the speed of light,
Respect human rights while enforcing lockdown: Guidelines for police in India from CHRI
Responding to vivid accounts of police brutality and arbitrariness across India during the nationwide lockdown, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has framed a set of guidelines to assist police departments to enforce the lockdown within the Constitutional framework
To revive economy, India needs massive investments in multiple sectors
It has been reported that all over the world, recession has set in after the COVID 19 disaster
Let’s not give In to the virus
It’s Corona yes, but don’t crib
India's coronavirus lockdown will hit women and migrant workers hardest
In Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, I woke up to an eerie silence yesterday. The night before, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced a 21-day national lockdown would start at midnight.
Lockdown and Isaac Newton: Remembering a pioneering scientist in challenging times
One of the greatest thoughts of mankind came from Isaac Newton. Interestingly enough he developed all his mathematical and scientific theories when he was banished from Cambridge University, where he was studying, to his native place in rural England during the great plague of the 1660s
