Pehchân, in association with India HIV/AIDS Alliance, recently organized a national consultation, aptly called Hijra Habba (Habba is a Kannada word meaning festival), in Delhi to draw attention to the current challenges facing the transgender (TG) and hijra communities of India and to develop an a

We are so wrapped up in what is good for everyone else; that we are losing sight of what is good for us as a nation. GRAPHIC: ZAHRA PEER
Hatred towards Israel and the refusal to recognise or establish diplomatic relations with this country is no new phenomenon to Muslim countries in Asia. This abo

On this World No Tobacco Day (WNDT 2012) it would be worthwhile to remember that ‘tobacco products are the only legally available products that can kill up to one half of their regular users if consumed as recommended by the manufacturer.’ The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseas

Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today. Yet it kills nearly 6 million people each year, which includes some 600,000 non-smokers who die due to exposure to second-hand smoke. In 2004, children accounted for 31% of these deaths. Almost half of the world’s children (th

Jyoti (name changed) hails from rural Uttar Pradesh which has a high prevalence rate of smokeless tobacco. Two years ago she became addicted to paan masala (a popular form of chewing tobacco) of a particular brand, under the influence of her friends. She began with one or two pouches a day, but the

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mathew 9:37-38) Jesus said this to his disciples, to make them aware of the need of Evangelism. It was not only for those twelve but for all who are known

There has been a crowd of discussions regarding the new president of India to be elected. These discussions have to be seen with serious thoughts since they carry a lot of weight in the present political milieu where regional parties take the shots. It was not so surprising to read the recent propos

While the entire world watches and awaits the outcome of Egypt’s presidential election -- the first one of the new “democratic era” of Egypt -- Islamic law or Sharia plays a leading role in the post-Mubarak period.
The Sharia, formerly guaranteed by the 2nd amendment of the Mubarak constitution a

At a very crowded pro-family demonstration which took place in Madrid, one of the placards read, “Pedro y Antonio, no son matrimonio” [Pedro and Antonio make no married couple], but those who support the gender ideology insist on calling two same-sex persons, whether two men or two women, a married

“There is absolutely no case for subsidising nuclear power” said Dr Gerry Wolff of the Energy Fair group, responding to the recently-published draft of the Energy Bill 2012. “The proposed ‘feed-in tariff with contracts for difference’ is a blank cheque to a nuclear industry that is already heavily s

India currently holds the dubious distinction of being the second largest producer and the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world. Not a particularly dignified title, considering that tobacco kills half of its dedicated users prematurely in their productive years! According to the Global Ad

The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks (www.caratzas.com) is a book which digs deep into the deplorable actions of the dying embers of the Ottoman Empire and the foundation of the Turkish Republic which systematically annihilated various Christian communities. These various Christian communities were th

A study titled Lost in Transition: Transgender People, Rights and HIV Vulnerability in the Asia-Pacific Region was released in Bangkok to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. According to this research, which was jointly released by the United Nations Development Programme

Economic progress and social dignity of nations and communities has always been conditional with political strength of such nations. Only such nations and communities are victorious of economic fields who are politically strong and fore sighted. Christians are very weak in politics.
For instance t

By the beginning of the 19th century, issues related to minorities began to be one of the major concerns of the leaders and rulers of India. In the beginning it was a problem based on religious diversification but in two decades the issues related to linguistic minorities too became a problem. The r