India Articles from the New York Times

I have chosen to center my blogs around India, because after visiting the country in January, I have seen just how inevitable it is that India will very soon be a global super power. As the world’s largest democracy, India holds power over countries like China, which are emerging but without democratic ideals.

An article written today focuses on the India Catholic Church, and the intention of the bishops to enact a policy for reporting abuse claims. Like much of Europe, there have been issues of abuse allegations and evidence of sexual harassment and abuse. The current santions in India are minimal, with the reporter, Lydia Polgreen, instancing a time where an Indian priest forced oral sex on a 14-year old girl in Minnesota, and that upon returning to India, his charges were dismissed and he permitted to return to the priesthood. With 18 million practicing Catholics in India, it is imperative that the bishops adhere to the strict “zero tolerance” policy that was enacted in 2002.

In the wake of the Model UN Crisis Simulation, and our group having to dealing with radiation poisoning affecting many Indian citizens, I was surprised to see this article in the New York Times about radiation poisoning found in India, but from an unlikely cause. It seems that outdated laboratory from the university of Delhi was the culprit behind one death and six hospitalizations. At such an uncertain time in Indian history and with such volatile neighbors, it surprised me that radiation poisoning was coming from within the country, and was even the result of an accident at a university. Says the article, “the radioactive materials appeared to have entered the country in a container of imported scrap metal,” and that they are going to administer tighter security measures to ensure that this radiation poisoning does not happen again, especially in such a vulnerable area (New Delhi).

The third article I found has less to do with India directly, but more about how the game of cricket, a sport that gets ¾ of its revenue from play in India, has caught on in Afghanistan. The article is about how the new team from Afghanistan will play India in the next few days, and about how the emergence of the team has been quick and unexpected. The article’s author, Huw Richards, writes about how many of the young players began playing cricket in Pakistani refugee camp, but have acquired impressive skill and understanding of the game. In an irreverent way, the author writes, “Afghanistan owes much of its aggressive playing style to examples set by Pakistan. It must be hoped it will take its administrative models from elsewhere,” adding that Pakistan’s team, which has been respected internationally, has faced many internal issues of corruption. The article praises India for its role as central location and figure in the cricket world.