Media Freedom and Individual Privacy Some time ago, the President of the Philippines was asked at a Press Conference if she had sex. She replied that she did and laughingly stated that was what would hog the headlines next day, not what she had spoken on development. I wonder if the President’s sexual needs and fulfillment are of any relevance to the public or to the nation. Was the question in...

The Rights and Wrongs of Conversion The dictionary meaning of the term ‘conversion’ in the present context may be, in its theological sense, the Mining of sinners to God; a change from sinfulness to righteousness; or in the more familiar sense, the action of bringing a person over, or the fact of being brought over, to a particular belief or opinion, specially to a religious faith. Conversion, historically speaking, must be...

Our Cultural Heritage India has a rich cultural tradition. There is a harmonious blend of art, religion and philosophy in the Indian culture. They are so beautifully interwoven in the fabric of Indian way of life and thought that they are inseparable. Indian culture is actually an outcome of continuous synthesis and has absorbed many external influences in the course of long journey of history. The first stirring of civilisation occurred...

Corruption in Public Life Corruption in public life is not a modern phenomenon. It was prevalent in the political and civic life of ancient India too as has been discussed by Kautilya in his Arthashasua. But, it is only since independence that corruption has become a chronic feature of our public life. So much so that people have started treating it as a normal feature. They no longer show righteous indignation...

Should there be Reservations? To whatever extent a society may claim itself to be democratic the truth is that the fundamental principle of democracy, namely, equality of all citizens in the society remains an ideal. In the modern era, in which democracy has come to be considered the be all and end-all of all political systems, societies continue to be plagued by inequalities rooted in race, class, creed, caste, religion and...

Democracy Implies Tolerance of Dissent ‘Democracy,’ the ancient Greek word literally means ‘rule LI by the demos’. The term ‘demos’ is generally translated as ‘the people’ and ‘the people’ implies the whole population, particularly the adult population, of a tribe, a territory or a country. The entire population or the collectivity obviously comprises a multitude of individuals as units.’ It is well known that no two individuals in a collectivity—mechanical or...

Paradoxes of Democracy Today every nation in the world either desires to be a democracy, or claims to be one. With the dissolution of communist blockdemocracy is the magic word. It is seen to promise everything good politically, socially and economically. And yet, if we only think a little, democracy is full of dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes. The basic problem is that theory and practice are not identical. The conditions for...

India’s Population and Its Economic Implications Comprising Over a billion people and being the second most populated country in the world thus supporting over 17 per cent of the world population. India’s strengths and weaknesses visibly lie in its population. According to the 2011 Census, the population of India stood at 1,210,193,422 persons, an increase of 17.64 per cent over the 2001 Census It is down by 3.90 per cent in...