India

According to PTI, the Delhi police are now moving towards filing charges against the two British dudes who were detained under 'terrorism' suspicions.  The article states that the concern is that they were recording conversations between the pilot and air traffic control and this is, apparently, a violation of the Indian Telegraph Act.

Tags: counterterrorism, India, irony

 Non-alignment continues in semi-peripheral form?  If someone knows more about India's external relations, I'd be grateful for some input.

Tags: army, energy, geopolitics, India, nuclear, russia, war, weapons

Two British nationals were detained by security agencies at a five-star hotel near the Indira Gandhi International airport here after they were believed to be indulging in “suspicious” activities, the police said on Tuesday. The detention was made on Monday after officials of the Raddison Hotel in southwest Delhi’s Mahipalpur became suspicious about the activities of Stephen Hampston (46) and Steve Martin (55), who had checked in four days ago. “We detained them because of their suspicious activities,” Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S.

Tags: as-yet-unresolved-situations, India, racial profiling, racism, terrorism

 Rare medicinal plants on the verge of extinction and protected under the Wildlife Act continue to be exported with impunity...

 

Tags: agriculture, biodiversity, botany, environment, India, trade

Awesomeness!

I hope he's right about it passing the censors.  Either way, a great leap forward and, satisfyingly, a great reaction to obnoxiousness in other films ( I haven't seen Dostana but it's mentioned in the article).

Tags: bollywood, Culture, dostana, gay, India, lesbian, na jaane kyun, sexual orientation, sexuality

I've been travelling in South Asia for the past week or so and have recently been discussing women's rights and situations with a female relative.  She was quite pessimistic about anything changing any time soon.  But she agreed that things have changed generation to generation and will continue to do so.

As such, I found this story about several girls (women?) taking it upon themselves to beat the %hit out of someone committing sexual assault on the plane quite good.  It's an Indigo Air flight from Bombay to Jaipur, if you're curious.

Tags: airlines, feminism, India, public safety, sexual assault, violence, women

Woohoo!!!!  Now THIS is something worthwhil.e.  Voters in India now have an option besides "Male" and "Female."

Will wait for 'advanced' countries to catch on :)

Tags: binary gender, elections, hijra, India, intersex, judith butler, transgender

Arundhati Roy:

Article and Interview

Tags: Arundhati Roy, India, ltte, maoists, naxalites, orissa, sri lanka, tamil

Tehelka offers an in depth look with multiple perspectives on the state violence in Lalgarh, West Bengal, and its implications.  Among the most disturbing aspects of what they write about is how the release of anyone remotely accused of Maoism, whether or not there is any truth to the notion, is increasingly politically verboten.  Coming on the heels of the much belated release of Binayak Sen and the announcement of a very large escalation of the Indian government's attempts to eliminate 'Maoism', it seems to me that the silent war on the poor and disempowered has shifte

Tags: adivasi, buddadev bhattacharya, conflict, cpi(m), cpi(maoist), development, India, industry, lalgarh, manmohan singh, operation green hunt, social cohesion, state violence, violence, west bengal