In The News

Africa and Pakistan Face Polio Outbreaks

Donald G. McNeil, Jr. September 4, 2013
New polio cases are emerging in some of the world’s most unstable places – North Waziristan, Somalia and a Kenya refugee camp. The world had about 350,000 cases in 1988 and 223 cases in 2012, a 99 percent decrease, but polio can spread quickly, especially among children under the age of five, reports the World Health Organization. Poverty and rumors add to the challenges of health care workers....

Buying Iran Oil Is Good Economics and Politics

September 4, 2013
All economies depend on a steady energy supply, but the world’s second largest oil producer, the United States, has imposed sanctions on Iran, sixth largest producer. India, ranking 23rd, plans on buying more Iranian crude oil: “Realism dictates India to turn increasingly to Tehran as it faces a major current account deficit problem on account of the burgeoning oil import bill,” suggests the New...

Reboot the System

Nayan Chanda September 3, 2013
IT services and outsourcing in India employ more than 2 million workers, and constant upgrading of skills and technology is essential for industry pre-eminence, particularly in an integrated world economy that anticipates greater reliance on cloud computing, suggests Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s editor, in a column for Businessworld. Proposed US legislation would encourage local hiring for call...

Philippines Web Activists Show Power of Internet Campaigns

James Hookway, Joesphine Cuneta August 26, 2013
An internet campaign in the Philippines has shamed politicians on special-interest spending that directs funding to projects in specific districts. The president has taken steps to end legislative discretionary-spending budgets after an internet campaign blasted phony and unnecessary projects listed in the Priority Development Assistance Fund, reports the Wall Street Journal: “Philippine...

Big Brother Is All Ears: India Proposes What Snowden Discloses

August 14, 2013
India’s Department of Telecom, has posted a new telecommunications licensing agreement with controls that echo those of the US National Security Agency. The Telegraph in Calcutta reports: “The 176-page document that was placed on the DoT’s website on Friday evening has never explicitly spelt out in such great detail the manner in which the government can access call records of private citizens,...

India Takes Lesson From China to Lure Workers to Garment Industry

Amy Kazmin July 30, 2013
India ranks as the world’s third largest exporter of garments. Government regulations once limited investment and factory size; with those lifted, some firms may follow China’s industry model by constructing dormitories to attract workers from poorer areas, reports Amy Kazmin for the Financial Times. “Despite the country’s vast, young labour force, India’s garment industry has struggled to...

Indian Farmer Promotes “Magic Farming”

Amarnath Tewary July 29, 2013
The notion of harvesting tons of crops from soil, water, a handful of seeds and fertilizer has a magic quality to it – and an Indian farmer in Bihar has used magic shows to convince other farmers to turn to organic methods. An NGO program on organic farming in 2001 convinced Shreekant Kushwaha that organic farming produced higher yields more quickly, and he credits the methods for changing his...