Opinion - The SoftCopy

If you look at the way communities exist today, there has been a huge change from their situation a few years back.

World Series Hockey, the 30-day hockey bonanza, started
with a bang in India last fortnight. Confounding the expectations
of hockey lovers across the nation, the debut series
of WSH has been a disappointment.

By Desiree Alemao

July 2, 2009 was the day of the historic judgment that overturned Section 377
of the Indian Penal Code, making homosexuality legal. Despite this,
many members of the gay community find it difficult to carve
a social niche for themselves.

By Madhurima Bose

Indians are right to celebrate the rapidly developing state of their country.
But amid all the self-congratulation they have turned a blind eye
to an abhorrent practice that shames the country.

Bangalored? Not anymore!

By Uzmi Athar

Apoorva looked for the fifth time at her termination letter. She couldn’t believe she was one of the first victims of the layoff after the United States and Britain took a hard line against outsourcing. She was being paid Rs. 10,000 per month, half of the money paid to any business process outsourcing employee abroad. She has a mechanical engineering degree and was overqualified for the post,
but the decent working conditions that BPOs enjoy attracted her.
But her sudden termination made her regret her decision.

What’s in a surname?

By Nivedita Niranjankumar

It’s always the same—always. Every application form is the same.
It has three boxes—one for my name, one for my father’s name
and the other for my surname. It’s at the third box where the person collecting
the form stops, looks up at me as if I were an alien, and barks:
“Surname madam! Write surname!”

India’s Maldivian diplomatic bungle

By Pallavi Ail

The smallest country in Asia has grabbed attention across the world because
of a series of chaotic political events in the past week. The former president
of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, was ousted, in a seemingly ordered takeover
of power. He was replaced by his second-in-command, then Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan.

The true face of democracy?

By Shraddha Choudhury

In operation, the idea of democracy in India has been disappointing. Democracy, with its “for the people, by the people and of the people,” description,
has been disappointing in India, with people across the country distressed by the ineffectiveness and incompetence of institutions like the police, courts and the administrative machinery.

Read more...

Water, water everywhere,
but not a drop for free
by Desiree Alemao

Looking at the current situation of water in the country, we see what can be soon called a water crisis rapidly spreading across the country.

Behenji has lost her bahubali*

By Dipika Pillay

The Uttar Pradesh elections have always held major importance in Indian politics. Because it is the largest state in India, it contributes a large number of seats to the Lok Sabha lower house of parliament. With a total of 403 seats this year, top parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are competing.

Before ‘I do’!

By Shikha Kumar

I have mournfully come to accept the fact that any conversation revolving around the word “marriage” cannot be squabble-free—in Indian families, at least.

By Tej Sapru

Across India people are gearing up to commemorate National Youth Day, and, with more than half the country below the age of 25, our youth does seem to be something to celebrate.

By Rajnandini Ghosh

“I have been persistently telling successive vice chancellors to implement a dress code in Bangalore University for women students and staff, but they don’t bother about it for the simple reason that they are callous and are men. All we need
to do as women is to protect ourselves by wearing good clothes.”

by Shraddha Choudhury

In April 2008, an anticorruption NGO called on the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to stop hacking down trees in the city
under the pretext of development.

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10 years after 9/11, how safe
is the United States?

By Shraddha Choudhury

While Sept. 11 will forever be remembered as a day of great loss in the history of the United States, May 2nd, 2011, will be remembered for the demise of the person responsible for the same. It was on this day that the death of Osama bin Laden was celebrated by the families who lost their loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, and millions of others.

By Desiree Alemao

The permission to hold a Slutwalk, an international event to empower women, was revoked by the commissioner of police late the previous night.

Are we really GM-free?

By Desiree Alemao

India claims to be free of genetically modified food and crops but there’s nothing to check the import of these products into the domestic market.India is a country that has taken a strong stance against genetically modified crops by banning field trials and the entry of big players in the GM industry such as DuPont and Monsanto.