Promotion of Democracy

To which results will the elections in India lead? Will the regional vote decide or the urban vote? Rainer Hörig travelled to the countryside and asked farmers and workers about their opinions.

The new Aam Aadmi Party is spreading hope for many people. The manifestos published before the elections are usually overrun with generalities because they want to please everyone and not alienate any voter group. For the poor, inflation and corruption are the main concerns. The youth wants better education and career opportunities, and an end to corruption.

In three short articles, German journalist Rainer Hörig, who has been living in Pune since 1989, reports on the election campaign in India. He visited a village in Maharashtra, accompanied young campaign aids from the Aam Aadmi Party on a canvassing mission in Pune, and interviewed urban slum dwellers on what they expect from the election. These reports provide a vivid impression of how the election campaign is carried out there and what moves the people politically.

The Karzai era has been given a moderate appraisal. But the Afghan president alone isn't responsible for everything he's being accused of. The West must take part of the blame too.

A decade of UPA-Congress rule in India ends with limited progress on the Indo-Pak relations.The fact that outgoing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, despite his good intentions, could not visit the country of his birth even once sums up the structural constraints of this troubled relationship.

It is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowing. Photo journalist Nikhil Roshan has captured some impressive scenes on his travels.

One the most symbolic cases of Brazil's protest movements against relocation, was the resistance of Vila Autódromo. The historical fight of the community located in the west of Rio de Janeiro, enormously spread around the country.

The Brazilian Congress and the authorities approved numerous exceptions to important democratic rules in the last five years to favor private interests. It is good that the Brazilian people defend themselves against it. Even if it is to protect football.

According to the National Movement of the Popular Committees of the Cup 170,000 people are affected by evictions and lost their homes. Despite international standards for forced removals which are recognized in the Brazlian law, a majority of the affected will not be compensated adequately.

Brazilian athletes and activists choose sport trainings as a form of creative protest. They want to call attention to the dismal training conditions for the mega-event and they demonstrate: sport is more than a commercial spectacle.