| Silence of the vultures | | The only surprising fact about most corruption stories is that anyone in authority gets surprised. Everyone in charge knew that the Commonwealth Games organising committee was buying toilet paper at art paper prices, and turf at the rate of platinum. | | Whither traditional votes? | | Pakistan voted for continuity as well as change. The commanding victory achieved by two-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif showed that voters put their faith in experience. | | Pakistan’s electoral equation | | One small step forward for Nawaz Sharif, the new election winner, but one big step forward for Pakistan. The religious parties and their militant, sometimes violent, followers have won so few votes they will play no significant role in parliament. | | Many empty words | | It was one of those annoying moments. The little circle started to disperse very quickly as this man, who thought a lot of himself, was bragging ceaselessly. A few minutes later, I was alone with him. I was desperately looking for a way out but none was forthcoming. | | Unapologetically fastidious | | WE WOMEN are a weird, possessive lot. Many of us are possessive not just about our men, clothes and jewellery — in no particular order of importance — but also about the physical space that we permeate and perform our everyday antics in. | | Agent 000? | | AMERICA OWES Russia a big apology for the embarrassing case of bumbling CIA spy Ryan Fogel caught red-handed in Moscow trying to recruit a Russian agent. | | Eyes on the Arctic | | With global warming rapidly melting Arctic sea ice and glaciers making valuable stores of energy and minerals more accessible, voices of doom are warning of inevitable competition and potential conflict – a new “Great Game” among the five Arctic coastal nations. | | India’s agrarian crisis | | Farmers — once regarded as the heart and soul of India’s social and economic fabric — are a dwindling tribe today. According to a recent census by the Registrar General of India, the number of farmers in India has plummeted by nine million during the decade 2001-2011— the sharpest plunge ever — and hovers at 118.7 million today. | |
