Op Rana
Op Rana is a senior editor with China Daily’s opinion department. He has a particular focus on international politics and environmental protection.
Accept facts and give the world a break
[2010-08-07 07:25]Last week, a British Met Office report presented unmistakable evidences of global warming. The report was prepared by the British Met Office and its US equivalent, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It provides the "greatest evidence we have ever had" that the world is warming.
Setting a disturbing precedent
[2010-07-31 08:08]Among the international news hogging the limelight this week is British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to India to turn his vision of "a strategic relationship" with "one of the world's fastest growing economies" into reality.
Africa, World Cup and neo-colonialism
[2010-06-11 07:09]The four-year wait is over. The debates may continue, though. Hosts South Africa kick off the World Cup against Mexico today. France and Uruguay, former champions both, battle it out later in the evening. Without the artistry of Zinedine Zidane, even French fans know, it will be impossible for France to reach the quarterfinals.
Who are the spin doctors trying to fool?
[2010-05-24 07:47]The problem with multinational companies or, for that matter, any big company is hubris. They think they own the world.
Trivialize climate data at our own peril
[2010-04-09 07:37]The jury is still out on Rajendra K. Pachauri. The embattled head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been cleared of charges that the agency received funds from private companies. But Pachauri has to wait until autumn sheds the toxic leaves that are threatening to poison his IPCC tree.
GM-tech running agriculture to seed
[2010-03-19 06:45]To eat GM food, or not to eat: that is the question in China after the Ministry of Agriculture allowed field trials with genetically modified rice seeds. The experts' world is divided.
Junk it on TV shows and movies
[2010-02-25 07:06]For years, we have known companies pay to have their products displayed in TV programs and films. There may be nothing wrong with that in today's world of cut-throat business and profit. But do such product placements influence children's food preferences?
IPCC devil deserves its due
[2010-02-08 08:01]The climate change debate has entered dangerous territory. Till a few months ago, the world, except for a few skeptics rooting for multinationals, accepted that climate change was for real and manmade.
Plant offers much food for thought
[2010-02-01 06:41]It is a vegetable (many call it fruit) native to India, grown since prehistoric times. Its first written record is found in Qi min yao shu, the 6th century Chinese agricultural treatise, though. The British call it aubergine, the Americans, eggplant. And for English speakers on the Indian subcontinent, South Africa and Malaysia it is brinjal, which is closer to the Sanskrit and Persian names from which aubergine is derived.
Grabbing the tiger problem by the tail
[2010-01-25 06:56]It is considered the king of the jungle in cultures across Asia. It is the world's favorite animal. It beat the dog, narrowly though, in an Animal Planet poll. But if proper conservation efforts are not taken immediately it will become extinct in China's wild (and the rest of the world, that is, Asia) in a matter of just three decades.
Haiti and the politics of climate change
[2010-01-18 07:44]A chilling cartoon by Steve Bell in The Guardian says it all. Standing among the ruins of the Haitian presidential palace in Port-au-Prince are two persons. A speech balloon above one reads: "Perhaps if Haiti were a bank"
He is just a poor boy but his story has been told
[2010-01-11 07:15]I am just a poor boy /Though my story's seldom told /I have squandered my resistance /For a pocketful of mumbles /Such are promises /All lies and jests /Still a man hears what he wants to hear /And disregards the rest.
