Category: Daily Noise
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The Tsunami of 2004
Two years ago today, the giant Indian Ocean Tsunami struck and claimed over a quarter million lives. Somewhere a mother lives who cannot forget the horror of the raging sea and the moment when a little hand slipped out of her grip, never to be united again. A year ago, I came across this evocative Tsunami memorial in Kanyakumari, a town at the southernmost tip of India. Over a thousand people died here. I put this up today as my own little memorial for a great humanitarian disaster.
Category: Daily Noise -
Global Democracy Index
The Economist magazine’s intelligence unit has come up with a Democracy Index that rates 165 states and 2 territories on their democratic character. It examines 60 indicators across 5 broad categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.
Sweden emerges on top with eight European states in the top ten. USA, the oldest democarcy and its self-awoved messiah, only mustered the 17th spot, partly due to its eroding civil liberties. India, the largest democracy is ranked 35th, scoring its lowest marks on political participation and political culture. Notably, on both civil liberties and electoral process and pluralism, India scores better than the US.
Other notable ranks include Japan (20), UK (23), Italy (34), Brazil (42), Israel (47), Mexico (53), Indonesia (65), Palestine (79), Singapore (84), Turkey (88), Thailand (90), Russia (102), Pakistan (113), China (138), S. Arabia (159), and N Korea (167). Check out the report, rankings, and the methodology.
