Except the occasional story of the brave girl who refused to give in, we hardly read any news on dowry violence or dowry demands these days. We would love to believe that the problem had disappeared. But unfortunately, the problem of dowry has become far more entrenched and has taken newer forms. Dowry is a symptom of a deeper disease that relates to how our society values women, and therefore, more than legal enforcements, the problem of dowry needs a social awakening. Continue reading
Category Archives: Economy
Dowry, reamplified
Bandh, bandits and duragraha
Sept 13 and 14 – Karnataka wide bus strike. Millions of commuters stranded. Huge impact in small towns where few people have private vehicles. Sept 20 – Bharat bandh in protest of FDI. People who eventually get affected by FDI, got the most affected by the bandh. Oct 1 and 2 – petroleum dealers in the city went on a no-purchase protest. Oct 5 and 6 – Bangalore and Karnataka bandh to protest Cauvery water release to TN. Common man not sure which water they are they talking about. The one which does not reach the chawls, or the one with which they wash their glass villas? Continue reading
The Wikileaks phenomena
Like every other social asset, media is a neutral, double-edged sword with equal opportunities of it being used or misused. In the ideal world, media should present the combined opinion of the masses as a unified, single and loud voice, and authorities should give heed to them. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, media is busy curtailing the basic rights of masses, hiding facts and parading the unimportant. With the epic failure of mass media in recent times, it is important that citizen media takes over. This is precisely the reason Wikileaks is important and must be supported. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Politics, Technology
Broken whistles
Remember Satyendra Dubey? The engineer who was murdered since he blown the whistle in a corruption case in the NH Authority’s Golden Quadrilateral project. Recently, a Karnataka official SP Mahantesh, said to be a whistle-blower in controversial land allotments by societies, was brutally murdered. The list of whistle-blowers and RTI activists who have been murdered, is huge. Continue reading
Monopolized retail in USA
The government has passed a policy which may jeopardize the livelihood security of 12 million small retailers, 40 million hawkers and at least 200 million (of the 600 million) small farmers – a small sacrifice to be made for ensuring success of the organised retail boom. While media, corporates and politicians are busy calling FDI a reform, among many other arguments, a common argument made for FDI is that it is greatly successful in the USA. Well, is it? Continue reading
Posted in Economy
सौरभ राय | Sourav Roy 