India

BRICS Currency Is Unlikely -- The Dollar Remains the World’s Currency

Antonio Graceffo

The problem with a BRICS currency would be that it would only be useful for purchasing imports from other BRICS countries. It would not be convertible into dollars or other currencies. It could not be used to purchase U.S. Treasury securities nor to pay off foreign debt. It would be impractical for use in FDI, even in other BRICS countries. FDI generally involves construction and infrastructure projects, requiring raw materials that could not be purchased using BRICS currency.

Mikhail Gorbachev Warns Us About What Is at Stake

Adam Gravano

Much of Gorbachev's discussion hinges on East-West relations, particularly between Russia and the United States. This is logical, as certain interests of pre-Soviet Russia were taken up by the Soviet Union, and, post-Soviet collapse, these same interests were transferred to the nascent Russian Federation (and carried on to the present).While there is a brief chapter covering both China and India, with a brief discussion of Malaysia included, the discussion borders on the facile.

The Magic and Beauty of India: A Photo Essay

Eliot Hess

I was lucky to have visited India during the “Spring Festival of Playing Holi” or the “Festival of Colors.” It is a Hindu festival that is celebrated by smearing, or throwing, colored chalk at others and then spraying water to make the colors run. Everyone is fair game. The trip left me with a lasting sense of spiritualism and beauty. I felt peace and harmony as never before. Even though there is obvious poverty in many regions of the country, there is still a sense of contentment you can’t find anywhere else.

Is Half an Internet Better Than No Internet at All?

Sandip Roy

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Facebook in Palo Alto and hugged Mark Zuckerberg at a townhall, he went up several notches in cool. The image of the two men hugging was splashed all over Indian media. But there’s no such thing as a Free Hug. Instead there’s Free Basics. Facebook has blanketed newspapers and billboards in India drumming up support for Free Basics. The ad budget, says one news report, is about one third of all its India revenue.

Sandip Roy’s Debut Novel Delves into Inner Turmoils of South Asian Family

Regina Bediako

In this unassuming way, through the lens of life-altering events that, as in the real world, just seem to happen, Sandip Roy’s debut novel Don’t Let Him Know gradually explores the arc of one South Asian family’s experience through a collection of sparkling vignettes. There’s Avinash, the man in that dusty Calcutta room who got married instead of getting away; Romola, his wife, who knows about Avinash’s ill-fated romance and hides one of her own; and Amit, their son, in the dark about his parents’ secrets and struggling to find his place between India, where he was born, and America, where he has chosen to build his life. 

India’s ‘Kiss of Love’ Campaign Misses the Mark

Sandip Roy

The problem is that the protest ought not to be about kissing at all. The original protest in the state of Kerala was sparked by a string of moral policing incidents. A theater artist and her colleague were detained for traveling together at night. A couple was arrested for suspected “immoral activities” on a bench in Alappuzha, especially suspicious because the woman was not wearing anything to indicate she was married. An IT professional in Kochi was beaten up by drunk men for riding pillion on a male colleague’s motorbike. 

India Leads Other Nations in Surge of Foreign-Born in the U.S.

India West

The study, based on new Census Bureau data, found that the country’s immigrant population — including both legal and illegal immigrants — grew by 1.4 million from July 2010 to July 2013 to a record 41.3 million. “The new data makes clear that while Latin America and the Caribbean are still a significant source of immigration, the growth is being driven in large part by immigration from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa."

What the Nobel Peace Prize Means to Pakistan, India

Sandip Roy

This may well go down as the Line of Control Nobel Peace Prize. Even as India and Pakistan talk tough and lob shells at each other across the border, here comes the Nobel Peace Prize committee doing their version of marriage counseling. A joint Nobel Peace Prize for Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi -- a Pakistani and an Indian. Now if that doesn't embarrass the two belligerent armies into a ceasefire, what can?

As Violence Against Women Escalates, Indian Officials Idly Stand By

Viji Sundaram

But even having a male escort is no guarantee against sexual assaults. During the wave of protests in Egypt last year to oust President Mohamed Morsi, women became vulnerable to sexual assault in public places. In India, in December 2012, a young woman was gang-raped on a Delhi bus in the presence of her male friend, who had been beaten up by the rapists. And in Mumbai last year, a young photojournalist was gang-raped in broad daylight, after she was separated from her male colleague outside an abandoned mill. 

Farewell Nehruvian India: The Dawn of Narendra Modi Has Arrived

Sandip Roy

The ghost of Jawarharlal Nehru could well be an uninvited guest at the banquet marking the swearing in of Narendra Modi. Yesterday marked Modi's first official day as the 15th prime minister of India. It will also mark the 50th death anniversary of Jawarharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.The ghost of Nehru might be a little rueful. Had his great-grandson managed to lead the Congress to victory in the elections this month, yesterday might have seen a very different kind of commemoration of Nehru's death anniversary.

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