THIRD QUARTER 2012

EDITORIAL:

The greatest show on earth

ELISSA JOBSON

On 27 July, a worldwide TV audience of 1 billion people will tune in to the opening ceremony of the 30th Olympiad. Viewers will see a pastiche of England’s green and pleasant land remade in miniature in the Olympic stadium, complete with real grass and live farmyard animals. The bucolic...

GLOBAL INSIGHT: DISABILITY

“I do not focus on my disability – it is a part of me, it does not define me”

OSCAR PISTORIUS

On Saturday 4 August, Oscar Pistorius will make history. When he settles into the blocks...

Faster, higher, stronger

DAVID EADES

From modest beginnings at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948, the Paralympic Games have grown...

Inclusive education: a right not a privilege

RICHARD RIESER

Although there is a lack of clarity as to precisely what the term means, if...

India: Coping with apathy and non-compliance

SATHI ALUR & MALINI CHIB

The biggest challenge facing people with disabilities in India is the lack of awareness and...

Young people: Searching for greater independence

ABIA AKRAM

There are huge numbers of young disabled people, and most of them (around 80 percent)...

Malawi: Campaigning for inclusive education

RACHEL KACHAJE

The challenge in Malawi is that, until very recently, we didn’t have legislation to support...

UK: Government policy has set back the disabled people’s inclusion agenda

JASPAL DHANI

Disabled people have been marginalised for thousands of years and the question remains: can disability...

Challenging conventions

GERARD QUINN

After decades of campaigning, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came...

GLOBAL INSIGHT: PUBLIC TRANSPORT

“A good public transport system must be easy and convenient to use, fast, safe, clean and affordable”

RACHEL KYTE

Rachel Kyte joined the World Bank in September 2011 as vice-president of sustainable development. She...

“London is being turned into a massive sporting arena and transport will be fundamentally different”

MARK EVERS

Right now, Mark Evers is a very busy – and no doubt highly stressed –...

Money makes the wheels go round

O. P. AGARWAL

As cities expand and the world’s population becomes increasingly urbanised, the need for reliable and...

A rapid fix for Gauteng’s transport

GLYNN DAVIES

Africa’s first high-speed railway has drastically reduced journey times for travellers commuting between South Africa’s...

A vicious transport circle

BARRY HUTTON

Town and city planning in many Western countries has been driven by the individual’s love...

Going underground

MAHENDRA VED AND JAYANTA ROY CHOWDHURY

Since it first came into operation in 1984, Kolkata’s underground rail system – India’s first...

Driving up revenues

Congestion charge: This is a type of fee charged for vehicles using the more crowded...

SPOTLIGHT: MALAWI

Malawi: A sudden change comes over the land

TRAVIS LUPICK

After the unexpected death of her predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawi’s new president, Joyce Banda,...

An economy in need of urgent resuscitation

CHARLES MPAKA

After an acute foreign exchange crisis, it is now hoped the introduction of tough new...

Banda boycotts AU summit on point of principle

RICHARD SYNGE

Rather than spend her time courting Africa’s political leaders, new president Joyce Banda has clearly...

GLOBAL ARENA: TALKING POINTS

“The Olympic Games have brought a generation’s worth of investment and regeneration in just a few years”

LORD SEBASTIAN COE

Despite the controversy surrounding the billions of pounds that have been ploughed into the London...

Books – recent titles reviewed

Democracy makes India slow to act China’s Nightmare, America’s Dream: India as the Next Global...

Pomp and portraiture

ELISSA JOBSON

To mark the diamond jubilee, Queen: Art and Image, an exhibition at the National Portrait...

Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner

EMMA MARTIN

Emma Martin, who lives in Wellington, New Zealand, has published her stories in anthologies and...

New voices in times of change

SHEHAN KARUNATILAKA

The winners of the 2012 Commonwealth Writers’ prizes received their awards on 8 June at...

Taking sides: differing positions in the region

Iran, valuing the international support it has long received from the Assad regime, stretching back...

Syria’s tragic descent from autocracy into civil war

GEORGE JOFFé

Anti-government graffiti scrawled by youngsters in the town of Dera’a in March 2011 set off...

The steady state economy: Life after growth

BIBI VAN DER ZEE

What is a steady state economy? Also referred to as zero growth or post-growth, the...

IN FOCUS: BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

A reign supreme

ROGER KERSHAW

For more than four decades, the Sultanate of Brunei has successfully managed to defend itself...

The green heart of Borneo

KIERAN COOKE

A unique agreement between the three nations occupying the island of Borneo – Brunei, Malaysia...

IN FOCUS: MAURITIUS

Becoming a magnet for knowledge

TOM MINNEY

Building on its strong educational tradition and its reputation as an ICT centre of excellence,...

Out of the cultural melting pot

TOURIA PRAYAG

Diverse cultures from five continents are represented in these remote and small islands, and their...

A haven for investments into markets

Mauritius’s financial markets are gaining recognition as a safe haven and launch pad for investments...

Lessons from Africa’s economic pioneer

TOM MINNEY

Innovative policies adopted from the first days of independence have kept Mauritius ahead of most...

Mauritius: A strong democracy addicted to musical chairs

TOURIA PRAYAG

Mauritius has one of the best records in Africa for democratic practice and institutions, although...

COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: COMMONWEALTH IN ACTION