On Eve's of footsteps

The recently concluded Fourth UN world conference on women (FWCW) in Beijing, scored important gains for the fair sex while avoiding the setbacks which been apprehended. Women the right to sexual self-determination and equal inheritance in the face of well organised event backlash.

The woods are lovely

COLONIAL forest administration, which didn't give a damn about the fecund land it was so easily reducing to cinders and stumps, lasted almost a century. The sad thing is that even after Independence, the imperial order of green decimation refused to come unstuck and is now almost pathologically entrenched in the minds of a bureaucracy paralysed by 40 years of self-misrule and a complete lack of a love 0' the land.

Editors’ appeal

Armenia is debating the repeal of controversial legislation that has led to a sharp increase in libel suits filed against media organisations. The country’s human rights ombudsman Karen Andreasian has urged the court to consider declaring the law unconstitutional after protests from editors of leading publications. Amendments to Armenia’s libel laws last year decriminalised libel, but toughened financial penalties. After that at least 15 libel suits have been filed by government officials, including former president Robert Kocharian, and businessmen with government connections.

Letters

Facts of the Thar

Letters

What bamboo costs

Misplaced emphasis on security

The recent Supreme Court judgement holding the appointment of Salwa Judum cadres in Chhattisgarh a violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution comes as a political embarrassment for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has consistently tried to upscale local resistance (read Salwa Judum) to the Maoist struggle with special funds being provided to states for the purpose. The judgement couples both the Central and state governments together in a severe and uncompromising critique of their policies. It raises concerns over MHA’s tendency to take a law and order and national security approach to complex social scenarios.

Apple makes them cry

Factories making Apple iPads and iPhones in China are forcing staff to sign pledges not to commit suicide, an investigation by two international NGOs, Centre for Research on Multinational Companies and Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbe-haviour, revealed.

Two leaves and a bud

A tea taster working at a broking house in Kolkata screens first flush Darjeeling tea. Most gardens no longer depend on auctions to sell their produce and do their own marketing and promotion. The prices for international ‘private sales’ therefore remains a secret! Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea Photograph by: Sayantan Bera      

Two leaves and a bud

Tea and tourism remains are the biggest employers for the Gorkhas of Darjeeling hills. Locals rue on the lack of technical colleges that can give them a chance at better jobs. An unemployed youth shoots a tourist inside a tea estate. Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea Photograph by: Sayantan Bera      

Two leaves and a bud

Women pluckers return after a day of work. The hilly terrain makes plucking a demanding job. Women often climb for hours together to reach the plucking area. Read full story: Simmering discontent over tea Photograph by: Sayantan Bera