Global Voices Online

Sandeep Bansal at Looking Beyond The Obvious explains why more than a billion people strong India is a straggler in sports.

Greatbong at Random Thoughts Of A Demented Mind celebrates 20 years of outstanding contribution of Indian cricket celebrity Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin is much more than the most famous sportsman in India: “He is a cultural icon, someone who has his place booked in the history books. No not just cricketing history. National history. This is because of what Sachin represents—- the epitome of the Indian dream,” the blogger opines.

Bilal Qureshi at Pakistan Foreign Policy blog comments on the 2008 Mumbai Terror attacks: “So far, we know that stateless actors were involved in carrying out these attacks. These people want nothing, but chaos and mayhem in Asia, and it is important to stop them without pointing finger at other.”

Roger Alexander opines that “in the course of his current trip to Asia, US President Barack Obama has ensured that the upcoming United Nations Climate Conference, due to take place in Copenhagen December 7-18, will be nothing more than a talk shop.”

The New Horizon comments on the recent initiatives of Bangladesh aiming for more regional connectivity with its neighbors: “It’s not only a good sign for Bangladesh, but also could usher in a new era of cooperation among South Asian nations in general.”

Kamla Bhatt reviews a documentary of Sarah Singh (New York), The Sky Below, which looks at the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 and “how it impacted the people and communities on both sides of the border: India and Pakistan.”

Runa at Uber Desi comments on the outrage on the Hindu religious symbol swastika printed on gift papers: “Isn’t it time people broadened their horizons a little to recognize that the swastika (in the Hindu form) is not the same as the horrible symbol of the unforgivable atrocities of the Holocaust?”

Lekhni at The Imagined Universe talks about an ingenious method of corruption by some teachers from rural areas of India - they bribe to get themselves suspended from their jobs so that “they would keep receiving 50 per cent of the monthly salary (without working) and pursue other lucrative jobs.”

“About 15 percent population consisting of political leaders and government servants have, through their corrupt practices, amassed 85 percent of the total wealth of India, leaving only 15 percent of it to the balanced 85 percent population of the country,” comments Ram Bansal at India in Peril.