Tamil Nadu farmers reel from drought

 Clad only in a green loin cloth, Mr Damodaran, a 47-year-old farmer, has been sitting at Jantar Mantar, the popular protest site, in Delhi for the past two weeks with a number of human skulls by his side. They are ostensibly of fellow farmers who committed suicide. Mr Damodaran, along with 83 other farmers from Tamil Nadu, is taking part in a protest, demanding that the Narendra Modi government step up aid to farmers in the southern Indian state which is in the grip of its worst drought in decades. They want relief from the government, including loan write-offs. Mr Damodaran's rice field now lies barren and he is struggling to service a loan of 1.3 million rupees (S$28,000), including for a tractor he bought two years ago

Most creative video clips

Are we about to lose south korea?

With all the tumult in Europe and the Middle East and here at home, where will the next earth-shaking surprise erupt? How about Korea?

I don’t mean an outright attack by Communist North Korea, even if its dictator, Kim Jong Un, has been perfecting his A-bomb. What worries me is the whiff of revolution in South Korea.

Everyone has been worrying about the ability of a nuclear-armed Iran to cow its neighbors in the Middle East. What about the effect of a nuclear North Korea on the south?

The Supreme Meditation

“Aging, illness, and death are treasures for those who understand them. They’re Noble Truths, Noble Treasures. If they were people, I’d bow down to their feet every day.”   
—Ajaan Lee

In my early thirties, I met a teacher who was to have a profound influence on my study of aging and death awareness, primarily because of one central experience. I have never identified this teacher, referring to him in talks as Badarayana, because he specifically requested that I not reveal his identity. He had no wish to be known or to teach a great many people. He had just four students when I knew him, but he felt that they were all potential teachers and that he would reach a larger audience through them.