Located in the Karakorum/Himalayan mountain ranges, Siachen or “the place of wild roses”, as it is ironically known (in Balti, a Tibetan dialect spoken around the region), has been at the heart of a constant conflict between the countries of India and Pakistan. The Indian Army occupies the upper ridges of the glacier giving it a strategic edge while Pakistan is in control of
There is an articulation of ‘anti-racial’ lingo towards mobilising a desperate flank subsequently encapsulating the northeast vis-à-vis daily experience of social profiling and discrimination in other parts of India. The lingo is raised amidst the clout of protest, with its epicentre in Manipur and Meghalaya, ignited by the ‘mysterious’ death of two students; Rich
Elitism seems to be a deeply ingrained trait which is difficult to dispense with among human organisations. That seems to be the case with the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) which have been consistently resisting an attempt to hold a joint entrance test for admission of engineering graduates. IIT-Kanpur and also a few other IITs have raised the banner of revolt against the i
Making a complete mockery of its exercise to fix responsibility for the police highhandedness witnessed during the midnight operation against Baba Ramdev and his sleeping supporters at Ramlila grounds in New Delhi last year, Delhi Police has put the entire blame on six lowly functionaries – a sub-inspector, a head constable and four constables of Kamla Market police station.
The world will produce ‘mountains of trash’ in the coming decade as nations are racing towards urbanisation, say a new report by the World Bank. In a report on “a relatively silent problem that is growing daily,” the World Bank said that the amount of trash produced daily will lead to global garbage crisis by 2025. Leading the creation of garbage is India and Chi
The government is planning to designate the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) as the agencies for carrying out offensive cyber operations, says a report in the Times of India. The need for an offensive posture in cyberspace has also been highlighted in the recent report of DSCI-Nasscom, “Securing our Cyber Frontiers&rdquo
Diversified A2Z group in collaboration with UK-based e-waste management company Dataserv recently announced a joint venture A2Z Dataserv to provide e-waste recycling services in India. Its managing director, Amit Sardana, in conversation with Brajesh Kumar touches upon a number of issues including how his company offers its clients a complete solution in the field of e-waste management, its ass
I have two sets of friends – those who don’t call me in the afternoon because they think I might be taking a nap, and those who do for the same reason. Like Samuel Coleridge, I sometimes get calls from insurance agents. But I leave no poem unfinished. Or even started. The Greeks who have gods for everything don’t have one for the afternoon nap. The Titans who ev
Two Asian economic powerhouses – India and China – will account for more than half of the world’s total transport-related emissions by 2030, says a new report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Transport-related emissions are expected to increase by 57 percent worldwide between 2005 and 2030, with China and India accounting for more than half,&
Until recently having or not having nuclear weapons appeared to be and was treated as a question of yes or no. From now on it will make more sense to describe a country nuclear-weapons status not with a yes or a no but with a time schedule (Schelling, 1976). The above paragraph is an extract from Thomas Schelling’s piece ‘Who Will have The Bomb’, written in th
Indian women form the third largest female migrant workforce from South Asia in the Gulf but often end up in vulnerable situations while working for employers there as justice is out of their reach, said a latest UN report. Titled `Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf`, the report which was released on Monday, said that the migration of women from South Asia to Gulf wa
Written words seldom communicate the force of authority. Visuals do. One such had demolished the myth about a caste Robinhood in Bihar in not so distant past. Exuding an aura of invincibility, impudence and spurious machismo, Anand Mohan Singh had created a ruckus and terrorised a police party accompanying him to jail in 2005-06. No one seemed to know what to do — other than an irrepressi
Water is the driving force of all nature, said Leonardo da Vinci. But in case of the strained India-Pakistan ties, the exact opposite is true: it has been the stalling force. With a cloud of distrust always hovering above, even the best intentions have been misconstrued and hostilities alleged. Take the case of Tulbul navigation project (what Pakistan refers to as the Wullar barrage).
Six years into existence, less than 50 percent campuses in India have implemented the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, says a new report. The Lyngdoh Committee was set up by the ministry of human resource development (HRD) as per the direction of the supreme court to reform students` elections in campuses notorious for money, muscle and even murder. “46 percent campuses have imp
India on May 23 signed an agreement to buy gas via the much vaunted TAP or TAPI (Trans-Afghanistan) gas pipeline. Seen by many as the modern continuation of the Silk Road, the pipeline will reportedly earn the Afghan government at least 8% of the total revenue of the project (close to $350-400 million) in transit fees. Envisioned in the 1990s as an alternative to
All my encounters with Gen VK Singh were via his discourses in the media. Even tonight, it wasn’t a one-on-one, but a large gathering by lawyer RK Anand to announce a new book, “Assault on Merit: The Untold Story of Civil-Military Relations”. As the title would obliquely suggest, Anand brought to light a series of “assaults” he has led on behal
It was the dream of many contemporaries in school to work in NASA; space exploration had a glamour those days. I suspect that some of them actually made it there, going by two recent news reports: Painting asteroids and no-fly zones on the moon. It is not a line of dialogue that Brad Pitt or George Clooney might mouth with comfort. After all, when asteroids have threatened
[This column is based on a personal communication from the author.] Friends, The political establishment has, for obvious reasons, not taken kindly to the attempts of the Election Commission to cleanse the electoral process of the ills of money and muscle powers. If elections are truly free and fair, the ability of political parties to take advantage of the infirmities of
Last week, parliamentarians from across the political spectrum made a strong demand for being given the right to sport red beacons atop their vehicles. Since they are the ones who make laws, this one crossed the technical barriers pretty quickly. The road transport and highways ministry gave up its resistance to the MPs` demand soon enough. The home ministry too said it was ready for th
Mahatma Gandhi once famously remarked that a society made up of average people would be far better than that of geniuses. Perhaps Bapu’s scepticism would give way to cynicism if one looks at the track record of Pradeep Shukla, a top IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, arrested recently. Shukla, a 1981 batch topper, figured as prime accused in three cases related to the defalcatio
