No sane person can accept the immorality of using economic and military superiority to bludgeon inconvenient nations into falling in line, says Kalpana Sharma.

The most flexible information dissemination medium ever invented can still be used for the betterment of all, says Subramaniam Vincent.

By tearing up the global rulebook, the US is in fact undermining its own imperial rule, but in this there lies an opportunity for global democracy, says George Monbiot.

In the passing of Kalpana Chawla, the genuine feeling of loss expressed by so many reveals the thirst amongst the young for role models, says Kalpana Sharma.

Nothing exposes the hollowness of the claims corporations now make to intellectual property as much as their own histories, says George Monbiot.

While arguing that he is doing what he is to make the world more peaceful and stable, in fact George Bush has pushed the world closer to greater conflict and war, says Kalpana Sharma.

Those who devise television programmes on cricket seem convinced that women have neither brains, nor common sense, says Kalpana Sharma.

There is now a quiet but intense debate within some segments of the corporate sector on the crisis in governance due to communalism, says Rajni Bakshi.

Last month, women's groups were engaged in a vigorous debate with the National Commission on Women (NCW) about a bill on sexual harassment, says Kalpana Sharma.

The NCW's protection for women is selective; it bypasses our dignity and preaches an inconsequential morality, says Kalpana Sharma

It appears that those at the bottom are getting richer - but sadly the maths just doesn't add up. George Monbiot doesn't buy the World Bank's arithmetic.

The courts have drifted far from their humanitarian past, and judicial aggression against the urban poor is now the norm, says Videh Upadhyay.

Kalpana Sharma looks at the implications of the Nisha Sharma episode for our society.

The difference between a nation that increases women's representation and one that doesn't is partly a difference of intent and determination, says Kalpana Sharma.

Sexual harassment has to be vigorously tackled where it begins -- at school -- says Kalpana Sharma.

The Air India case on categorization of airhostesses illustrates how difficult it is to establish the principle of gender justice in employment, says Kalpana Sharma.
Dec 2003 update: Air India yields

Unworkable policies conjured up in the guise of 'necessity' and 'national interest' merely perpetuate the discrimination women and girls endure, says Kalpana Sharma.

Kalpana Sharma remembers the first dawn of the movement for women's rights to vote.

There must be systemic changes if companies are serious about encouraging competent women to overcome the obstacles they face, says Kalpana Sharma.

Kalpana Sharma reflects on the occasion of the International Fortnight Protesting Violence Against Women and Girls, being observed from November 25 to December 10.

Kalpana Sharma notes the presence - and absence - of women at the World Social Forum in Mumbai.

Are women in India feeling more "empowered" today, asks Kalpana Sharma on International Women's day.

Indians continue to believe that we are the moderate nation and that Pakistan is extremist. But sometimes, what we observe isn't what we expect, says Kalpana Sharma.

Sushma Swaraj used the most backward face of religion - its treatment of widows - to register her protest at the prospect of Sonia as PM, notes Kalpana Sharma.

In the very profession where people should innovate, should try out new things, should experiment, the work atmosphere is ossified, hierarchical, resistant to any new thinking or to any change in the rules of engagement. Kalpana Sharma urges a new turn to an old profession.

In any society, the process of change is painful, and in ours, women are being forced to pay the price for this, says Kalpana Sharma.

Despite quality education, the mindset of people is not changing in this country, says Kalpana Sharma.

Women's oppression will not end only with economic progress, or with education. The problem lies in a deeply disrespectful, even contemptuous, attitude towards women, says Kalpana Sharma.

The rash of suicides in city and village is a qualitatively new development in our history. Ramachandra Guha notes the contours of desperation in the two Indias - urban and rural.

Calls for the renewal of hundreds of thousands of lapsed insurance policies have begun, reports P Sainath.

The recent controversy over a soldier returning after four years to 'claim' his wife is telling. It illustrates that where women are concerned, everyone has an agenda: the panchayat, the media and the media-consuming middle class says Kalpana Sharma.

We have been taught to remember Tagore as essentially a Bengali, Nehru as a Congressman, and Ambedkar as a Dalit. But their examples remain relevant to many others, says Ramachandra Guha.

When it comes to violenc within the four walls of the home, even educated and affluent women are reduced to victim status not very different from women who are not so well provided for. Kalpana Sharma asks if it is too much to want a law that will truly protect women from torture behind closed doors.

While women who have to commute at night, or use public transport, are forced to remain alert at all times because they are aware of the dangers, call centre employees who believe that "the company" takes care of all their needs might just let their guard down. Kalpana Sharma answers a reader's question: will it ever end?

If a woman, or a group of women, does well in any sport in India, it is despite the State and the establishment and not because of it. Their achievements therefore are that much greater than of those who are pampered and feted, even for failing continuously, says Kalpana Sharma.

The search for a viable national alternative to the Congress goes back more than fifty years, But India is too large, and too unwieldy, to be represented by two parties alone, or even, as it now seems, by two coalitions each dominated by a single party, says Ramachandra Guha.

Perhaps one of the most moving and inspiring stories to have come from Pakistan in recent times is the story of Mukhtaran Bibi or Mukhtar Mai as she is now called. Her fight is an uplifting example for all women, not just those who are victims of sexual crimes, says Kalpana Sharma.

Paul Wolfowitz's appointment as the head of the World Bank highlights the undemocratic nature of decision-making at the bank. His presidency will stand as a constant reminder that this institution, which calls on nations to exercise "good governance and democratisation" is run like a medieval monarchy, says George Monbiot.

There is plenty of native intelligence among the people that is very useful in averting and responding to disasters. Planning for disaster management must see this as an asset. The top-down planning and implementation currently in vogue is a poor substitute for community participation, says Videh Upadhyay.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) recently suggested that the custom of the man declaring "talaq" at one go and divorcing his wife should be discouraged. It stopped short of drafting further reform to the marriage contract, but this decade is seeing muslim women asserting for more, says Kalpana Sharma.

One often hears that the country's large population is at the heart of many of its troubles, but doing the numbers doesn't suggest anything of that sort. Still, in an important way, it does have to do with people. Here's how: some of the people don't think the rest of the people are even people, says Ashwin Mahesh.

Hundreds of child marriages are held across Rajasthan with no one stopping them. Tiny boys and girls, some of them asleep and all of them unaware of what is happening, are betrothed to each other. The reality sinks in when the children attain puberty by which time they are told they have no choice. But they do, writes Kalpana Sharma.

Why is it that whenever there is any talk of values, it is women's behaviour, their dress, their attitude that comes into question, even though there are more men than women in India? Societal values and morality should apply to everyone, men and women, says Kalpana Sharma.

It is no coincidence that it is women who have been targetted in the recent controversy over talking about pre-marital sex. If men voiced similar opinion, their remarks would have been overlooked. Women, apparently, should not speak about sex with this level of frankness, says Kalpana Sharma.

Each year, from November 25 to December 10, the United Nations and women's groups around the world draw attention to continuing violence against women in all our societies. In the midst of this, a recent silver lining is an AP bureaucrat acting to clamp down on sex-selective abortion. Kalpana Sharma takes stock.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's recent remarks on muslim women and the absence of sanitation at their homes sparked a controversy. Kalpana Sharma says that if the CM really cared, millions of Indian women, with or without a "burqa", would not be "forced to go the jungles."

Given the lack of any news about dowry deaths, dowry violence or dowry demands, one would have thought that the problem had disappeared. Far from it. In fact, it has become far more entrenched and taken new forms. Dowry is a symptom of a deeper disease that relates to how our society values women, writes Kalpana Sharma.

In the recent impressive gains made by the Indian economy, the OBCs have not benefited proportionately. The recent extension of reservations to elite institutions that are seen as passports to the new economy is therefore logical. But it must still not be excessive, writes Ramachandra Guha.

For her childish prank, domestic 'servant' Sonu was tortured, tied up and left to bleed to death. The police have rounded up her employers, but the story has not ended because it raises questions that all of us, educated, middle-class Indians need to face, writes Kalpana Sharma.

The IMF's meeting in Singapore next week is expected to endorse a decision to enhance voting powers for four middle-income countries: China, South Korea, Mexico, and Turkey. For a 184-member body still controlled by seven developed countries, this won't pass for democratisation, says George Monbiot.