Mekhala Krishnamurthy is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University. She is currently a CASI Non-Resident Visiting Scholar and was a CASI Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2010-12). She has trained at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and at University College London, where she completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology as a UCL Global Excellence Scholar.
The need to be vigilant about unconscious prejudice and ill-formed stereotypes about Muslims is critical in today’s world, not least in India where Muslims comprise such a significant proportion of the citizenry and where tragic episodes of anti-Muslim violence have taken place since Independence in 1947.
After over a decade of rapid economic growth in India, the biggest challenge facing policymakers at both central and state levels is to ensure 'inclusive' growth so that the gains from increased national income are shared by all sections of society.
Lord Meghnad Desai put a dampener on India's global aspirations when he recently prophesied that "China will be a great power, but India will just be a great democracy." Indians will chafe at this prognostication. But one key question is this: suppose, as Indians will no doubt hope, that the future is unkind to the Desai prophecy. How then should India prepare itself for being an important and influential player in current and new global economic policies and institutions?
As India registers impressive growth rates and is increasingly seen as an emerging economic superpower, Bihar serves as a vivid reminder of the parts of India that are being left behind. Bihar, a populous state of over 90 million, is India's poorest state with one third the per capita income of India as a whole and one fifth that of India's most prosperous states. Bihar also has the lowest literacy levels and the lowest human development index ranking among Indian states.
The media are expanding in India at a frenetic rate with new television channels and newspapers debuting almost every month. But the question to ask in the face of all this growth is, can the country's journalism keep pace? Media is an industry, journalism a vocation, and nurturing it is not easy in a country where aspiration and upward mobility is fuelling the demand for media.
On May 22, 2007, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, supported by the Left parties, completed three years in office.
In the recent assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood's biggest icon, proclaimed on behalf of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav that "UP may hey dam, jahen jurm hey kam" (UP is strong and has less crime). This turnaround by the angry young man of yesteryear symbolizes the banal, corrupt, and valueless politics prevailing in the country.
The U.S.-India relationship has recently undergone a dramatic transformation, with both countries committing themselves to a global strategic partnership symbolized most prominently by the agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation. This transformation is anchored in a commonality of values but, equally importantly, in the systemic changes occurring in the international order, namely, the rise of China and India as emerging great powers.
It is commonplace to call Bangalore India's Silicon Valley. Many Indians and non-Indians alike seem to be quite ready to believe that India's software success story is just a variant of American success.