Senior journalist Askari Zaidi new executive director of top non-profit research institute

By A Representative

Senior journalist Askari H Zaidi has taken over as executive director of the Centre for Studies of Plural Societies (CSPS), a non-profit social science research organization based in New Delhi.

A Delhi-based journalist, who has spent more than 25 years in senior editorial positions at India’s top media houses, including The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and Indian Express, Zaidi is known for his incisive reporting on a wide range of issues, including the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, political events and issues, the Kargil war, and environmental matters.

Zaidi has covered several overseas assignments in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, and West Asia, including the 1996 US presidential elections. He has delivered invited lectures at the Singapore National University, AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and other national and international institutions, and has worked as Media Advisor and Group Head, Corporate Communications at the Reliance Group.

Claiming to provide skill development and mentorship to students and research scholars in the humanities and social sciences, with primary focus on issues aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), environment, gender equality, and pluralism, a CSPS note said, "With his extensive experience, Askari Zaidi will play a key role in implementing CSPS programmes that are aimed at enabling a sustainable and just future."

The making of a self-made woman: How eighty sheep changed everything for Kalawati Ninama

By Vikas Meshram* About forty-two kilometres from Rajasthan's Banswara district, in the tribal heartland of Ghatol block, lies the small village of Ubapana. This is where Kalawati Ninama, her husband Dhulji, and their four children make their home. Their days unfold much like those of their neighbours—bustling mornings, long hours of farm labour through the afternoon, and evenings spent tending livestock. For this family, farming and livestock were once simply a means of putting food on the table. Today, they have become the sturdy foundation of something far greater: genuine self-sufficiency.

India has spent billions on skilling. Where are the jobs?

By Vikas Gupta India loves the photograph of a certificate ceremony. A minister on a stage. A banner bearing the word “skill.” Young people holding folders that promise a future. It is a reassuring image because it tells us the problem has a manageable answer: train the young, make them job-ready, and work will follow.

BAPS, the Eiffel Tower and the curious silence on secularism

By Rajiv Shah I was a little surprised to see how some of those whom I respect for taking a firm stand on patriarchal issues reacted to the manner in which they responded to the recent incident in Paris, in which women employees of the Eiffel Tower were asked to remain "invisible" on September 5 when 100 BAPS sadhus visited one of the world's top tourist destinations.

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