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We had put Barack Obama on our cover in November 2010. That was when he was two years into his presidency, and had just completed his first official tour to India. Exactly two years later, back for a final term as President of the United States of America, Obama can afford to work without too many pressures, no longer having to run for presidential elections in the USA again. He is back on our cover, simply for being who he is.
We believe President Obama can now afford to carry out all those tasks that he really believes in—for instance promote peace worldwide (after all he has a Nobel Prize for Peace in 2009) by spending less on the war economy, focus entirely on creating more businesses and entrepreneurs and jobs within the United States, deepen bilateral ties with India which will fuel his growth engine without having to worry too much about disappointing China, work towards a more just visa regime that allows Indian workers easier access to the USA without having to compromise on internal security, among a range of other defence, strategic and commercial issues.
In our cover, we have focused on the Indian angle, what his second term could mean for India, his unfinished agenda and the reaction of India Inc to his re-election.
Elsewhere, a story that found itself in the eye of a storm concerning a young dentist and would-be-mother who had to sacrifice her life as Irish authorities refused to terminate her 17-week pregnancy because of provisions in the Irish law against abortion. The action hit at the core of humanitarian considerations and raised a fundamental question: which is greater and more noble—saving the life of a young mother, or a foetus that was causing her to miscarry the child and pushing her rapidly towards death? In any case, even the Indian Government felt the tremors of international protests and has taken up the issue in all seriousness with its Irish counterpart. The Irish ambassador in New Delhi was summoned to respond. Ireland itself is questioning its abortion laws. There is outrage.
Also find an article on the forgotten island of Reunion that has about 250,000 Francophone people of Indian origin who are desperately trying to regain their connect with India after being cut off from mainstream India due to prevailing foreign policies in France in the last century.
A British NGO run by NRIs continues to deepen its philanthropic activities with India’s underprivileged children, acting as a symbol of hope for others to follow suit.
And, like always, there’s a large section on NRIs who have made news in different ways in the weeks just gone by.
Happy reading.
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