Vinay Lal

The renaissance of documentary filmmaking in the US is a hopeful sign that politics may yet have something of a future in a country dominated by dreary and mind-numbing discussions of the presence or lack of what is called the bipartisan spirit.

Considering the public profile of Amartya Sen, his domination of the public space of enlightened liberalism and the veneration in which he is held by educated Indians, it becomes all the more imperative to subject his work and intellectual views to a rigorous examination. Alas, Suman Ghosh's documentary film, Amartya Sen: A Life Re-examined, does no such thing.

Civilisational Dialogues Talking India: Ashis Nandy in Conversation with Ramin Jahanbegloo; Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2006; VINAY LAL At a time when India and Iran are mentioned together as countries whose nuclear aspirations have gained the ear of the world, Talking India furnishes a salutary reminder of other conversations that can take place between ancient civilisations and of the rich history, now only occasionally remembered, of the intellectual, cultural and political exchanges between India and Iran. In 1989, explains Ramin Jahanbegloo, one of Iran

The unique Malaysian experiment in multiculturalism is increasingly at risk today. Policies of the state are being consciously framed to favour the Malay-speaking population. Concomitantly, minorities, including Indian Hindus, find their cultural and social identity under threat in the name of development.

Participants of a recent poll conducted on the issue of illegal immigrants in America wanted "tougher enforcement" of the law to keep them out. But the unprecedented gathering and marches of immigrants and their supporters across the country show unequivocally that there exist competing interests on the issue.