The Indian criminal justice system often comes across as inefficient and uncaring, with the most adversely affected being the undertrial prisoners. India has one of the highest ratios of undertrial prisoners in the world. The recent Supreme Court directive could go a long way in providing succour if bolstered by some practical provisions, says Sulkhan Singh. The Supreme Court recently gave certain directions regarding release of undertrial prisoners. A huge number of undertrial prisoners is aggravating the problem of overcrowding in jails. In the prisons of Uttar Pradesh, for instance, the average overcrowding was 1.88 times the capacity, whereas maximum…
Author: oiop
Literary giant (1932-2014) Dr. Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy, the Jnanpith award winning Kannada novelist who passed away recently, wore many hats during his lifetime. He was a celebrated writer of novels and short stories, literary critic, academician, poet, translator, essayist, thinker, journalist and mentor. Considered as one of the pioneers of Navya a new modernist movement in Kannada literature, URA as he was known, burst into the literary scene with his hard hitting novel Samskara, a scathing, no holds barred attack on Brahmin orthodoxy. The novel equated tradition with an obsolete set of beliefs and rituals prevalent in Hindu society as…
There are several medicines in the market with deceptively similar names, though manufactured by different companies. Sometimes, these drugs are similar in composition, while often they are completely different. Is this deliberate? Dr. T.D. Rajan suggests a national branding code for medicines and the role that doctors, drug manufacturers and drug controllers must play in preventing this confusion, which could have disastrous consequences. Recently, the New Delhi High Court ruled that medicines having the same composition, but produced by different manufacturers cannot have deceptively similar names. The order was passed in July this year in a trademark infringement suit filed…
The British left behind the draconian Section 377 which is still being used in India as an intimidatory tool against the LGBTIQ community. Harish Iyer explains why this section is so wrong and how, if interpreted as intended, even ‘non-procreating’ heterosexual couples can be labeled as criminals! WE have got it all wrong. India is a country where marital rape is not illegal, but having consensual sex within the confines of our bedrooms is. I mean the non-procreating variety of sex. Section 377 was invented by the British; they invaded India and left behind a legacy of prejudice with this…
THE peanut-head bug found in the rainforests of Central and South America is so named because its large head looks like an unshelled peanut. The insect can only suck juices from plants as it lacks teeth. However, nature has made up for this deficiency by equipping it with multiple weapons to fight predators. The insect has a set of extra-large eye-spots on its hind wings. When attacked, it opens its wings and flashes these ‘giant eyes’ at the enemy. If this doesn’t scare the attacker, the bug releases a toxic and foul-smelling spray, skunk-style. Scientists also believe that the bulbous…
These are two women with similar destinies. One, facing the might of the Indian state in Manipur in north-eastern India, and the other standing up to the military junta in neighbouring Burma. Dr. N. Vijaylakshmi Brara has a different take on the feminist milieu and culture that Irom Sharmila and Aung San Suu Kyi come from and how it is helping them fight for their people’s rights. According to John Walsh, there is a well-known story about the Chinese travellers who were amazed to see Cham women riding horses and taking part in market vending, in what is now southern…
Duty beyond death (1972-1999) Sarvanan was born on 10 August 1972, in Rameshwaram. His father Lt. Col. Adi Mariappan had served in the Army Medical Corps and taken part in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. He died in a road accident in Bangalore on 19 June 1989, while on leave. Saravanan had imbibed the sterling qualities of determination, courage and empathy from his father. Sarvanan studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in Gaya, Kannur, Gurdaspur and Jorhat. He graduated from St. Joseph’s College, Trichy. His classmate recalls an incident when their bus had a headlong collision with a lorry while they…
Human beings often play God. When we give life to ideas that shape mammoth cities, we also craft and mould aspirations and dreams of millions of people. Just like the city of Mumbai. It was just seven islands to begin with. With time and necessity, we found ways to join the islands into one large landmass, which is truly an exhilarating peninsula of possibilities. Here, lives are lived in ways beyond imagination. In this concluding part of his series on Mumbai, Akul Tripathi takes us on a well-guided hike across northern Mumbai, and what he conveys is not just the…
Protecting our trees has never been more important than it is now. Ironically, the more the city planners cut trees in the name of development, the more we need them. Given the increasing air and sound pollution, trees are perhaps our last hope for a healthy environment. Ask your parents, or grandparents. They will confirm from personal experience that our cities are becoming less habitable. Walking or cycling even short distances to work has become such a dangerous affair, what with undisciplined traffic, fumes and all manner of garbage to negotiate, that scooters, cars and taxis have become the order…
The delightful hobby of stamp collection has not waned despite the decline in the use of postal services worldwide. A. Radhakrishnan takes us on a stamp collecting spree and tells us why this hobby should be cultivated. The word ‘philately’ was devised as early as 1864 by a Frenchman M. Herpin, who coined it from Greek words – philos (love), ‘A’ (negative) and telein (to tax). Since the postage stamp was evidence of a letter’s coming free of charge to the recipient, the postage stamp rendered it untaxed. Earlier, the hobby was called Timbromania (from timbre in French, meaning stamp).…