As local words creep into English, some fear that communication between India and the rest of the world could suffer The vernacular of Bollywood is a heady mix of English and local languages. Photograph: Corbis What kind of English should Indians be learning? Purists argue that language skills must meet international standards, but experience tells us that local languages will add flavour to the mix. The result may be fine for the street, but when it comes to the workplace, it is just not good enough. India speaks a lot of English, but she is also known for a dozen … Continue reading English or Hinglish – does it matter what Indian students are learning?

Stereotyping folk musicians damages the reputation of a struggling but valuable form of music Eliza Carthy The Guardian Christian Koch lightheartedly listed the musical tastes of “the world’s most evil men” (The guiltiest pleasures, 16 January). For instance, Osama bin Laden thought at one time that Whitney Houston was “the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen”, and liked the B-52s. Generally it was fine – apart from the inclusion of BNP leader Nick Griffin, who you report as being a fan of my music. People have said to me in the last few days that everyone who knows me and … Continue reading Traditional English song has no links to the far right or Nick Griffin

Fainter broadcasting signals mean Earth will soon be undetectable to extraterrestials Robin McKie, Observer science editor guardian.co.uk Aliens are less likely to be able to pick up signals from Earth and make contact. Photograph: Colin Anderson/Getty Images/Blend Images Human beings are making it harder for extraterrestials to pick up conversations and make contact, the world’s leading expert on the search for alien life warned yesterday. At a special meeting on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (Seti), the US astronomer Frank Drake – who has been seeking radio signals from alien civilisations for almost 50 years – told scientists that earthlings … Continue reading Aliens (Off-worlders) can’t hear us, says astronomer

Talat Fraooq One of the post-9/11 narratives has focused on the root causes of terrorism by carrying out in-depth analyses of the phenomenon. One school of thought sees a fundamental connection between poor economic conditions and terrorism and considers poverty to be a significant determinant in this regard, whereas the opposing view ascribes terrorism to religious fundamentalism and not poverty. This viewpoint is defended on the grounds that the terrorist leadership and operators include affluent people who use religion for political ends. Yet another perspective maintains that terrorists are motivated by injustice and perceived social, political or historical wrongs embedded … Continue reading Fighting terrorism in Pakistan

Anjum Niaz The writer is a freelance journalist with over twenty years of experience in national and international reporting Today we live among phantoms, among bogeymen, among illusions. We delude ourselves that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry will purge Pakistan of corruption. Others daydream that Asif Zardari will gift democracy to Pakistan as if it was his personal fiefdom. Many among us hallucinate that General Kayani will bring back the spectre of military dictatorship. Some simpletons fancy Prime Minister Gilani telling his president and his cabinet to confess their sins and cough up the supposed loot. In Greek mythology, a chimera … Continue reading Corruption’s many chimeras

Raoof Hasan After sixty-two years of bludgeoning through sequential alleys of darkness, suffering the agonies of military dictatorships, ill-governance, institutionalised crime and widespread corruption that sunk in deep, the country finally saw the advent of an independent judiciary at the culmination of a memorable people’s struggle led by the lawyers’ community. But, within less than one year of the historic event, just when one thought that the country would be finally rid of the innumerable ailments that plagued our body politic, there are conspiracies galore to frustrate the independence of judiciary and replace it with a bench that would swear … Continue reading Edging to the brink – how dancing with idiots has destroyed Pakistan

Mashal Sahir This is just one case that has been reported. The fact is that there are millions of Shazias out there who are forced to work at a young age and who suffer cruelty or may even lose their lives because of such injustice and their cases never get reported On January 23, 2010, an innocent 12-year old child Shazia was reported to have been tortured to death. She had been employed as a maid in Advocate Naeem’s house who, along with his family members, including his wife, son and sister-in-law, has been accused of inflicting torture on her. … Continue reading Shazia murder case — time for Pakistans lawyers to move away from a mullah like attitude to justice