Opinions and Editorials

As it copes with a series of natural disasters this year, the current leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is acutely aware of the need to not just respond effectively but to also be seen to be doing so.

We saw blood on the tracks. Strangled cycle rickshaws, twisted into the shapes of death, floodlit streets empty of anything but deathly shadows.

I have lived in Jaipur for over 16 years now. While it wasn't love at first sight, the city has grown on me. I have explored its gullies and scoured its bazaars for the best bargains, seen its amazing heritage monuments, tasted its foods, and slowly and surely fallen in love with the city.

The Organiser has an editorial on the Indo-US nuclear deal, titled 'What a farce on this deal.' It says, "It's not clear if the Left has succeeded in nuking the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The old city of Jaipur has a unique physical layout, emblematic of gentle order. But unlike many cities with neatly planned parallel streets, there is nothing monumental or contrived about this planned city. Quite the opposite: it suggested an intimacy that was never claustrophobic, as old cities can sometimes be.

The United Nations is warning that the death toll from the deadly cyclone that hit Burma on May 3 may cross 60,000. Aid is desperately needed on a war footing.

When was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter? Last week, as my elder sister's wedding drew near, my mother insisted on cleaning cupboards, sorting huge pile of books and many such assorted things at home.

Civilian airport experiences are torturous ('Break the complacency barrier', May 14), beyond doubt. But simple market answers such as 'give choice, ensure competition' may not provide adequate relief to air passengers, because security remains a state monopoly, with all its attendant insensitivity and idiocy.

Delhi's airport underwent a high profile and contested hand-over to private management. So, it's no surprise that consumer dissatisfaction should become a political issue. But a spat between Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Praful Patel, liberalisers both, is intriguing. Perhaps it's a turf thing.

Distributing financial services products has more nuances than are often appreciated by bankers. Different customer segments have different needs. Thus, for example, large companies behave very differently from individuals. This should seem obvious enough, but many financial services companies use the same distribution channel to serve these customers in an undifferentiated manner.

A profound Malayalam movie, Thabarane Kathe, chronicled the tale of a retiree who is harassed for his pension till he gives up on life, while the Hindi movie, Nasoor, vividly depicted the hell that bad hospitals can be.

That the Union finance ministry and petroleum ministry have different figures on under-recovery by oil marketing companies is a perfect demonstration of the absurdity of India's oil economy-when no one wants to look at the big picture, small details become important.

Miami Airport's employees are taking classes in customer service from Disney, which is an incredibly bright bulb idea [hypertext]. The similarities between the two environments couldn't be greater, as are the differences.

Beyond falling profit margins, slowing industrial growth, high interest rates and voter uncertainty, there are two new beasts that high inflation, across the world, is unleashing - riots in poor countries and lifestyle changes in richer ones.

It is no secret that the conditions in many of our airports are abysmal. To make matters worse, the problems are not being addressed in any meaningful manner. The issue of airport privatisation has been up in the air for quite a while now.

Vijay Mallya is not a subtle man. But neither is Twenty20 cricket. So for us, subtle sort of people, should we be surprised that Mr Mallya is, in his colourful style upset with Rahul Dravid, the captain of his Bangalore Indian Premier League team? Uh-uh, definitely not.

Tuesday's serial bombings in Jaipur are chilling reminders of how dangerously unprepared we are to prevent terror strikes and the tragic loss of life they leave in their wake. Scores of people were killed and hundreds injured when seven blasts tore through crowded markets in the Pink City, while bomb disposal squads defused an eighth explosive.

The latest issue of People's Democracy has an editorial on US president George Bush's remark alluding to the rising consumption of food in India and China as the reason behind the current global food crisis.

With the tenth anniversary of Pokharan II now behind us, one political fact stands out.