Any good news which promises to bring about qualitative improvement in the lives of people, especially in rural India, is always welcome. It was heartening indeed to learn that every single village in the country now has access to electricity, as
The paved road, the few concrete houses and men on motorcycles – these are deceptive signs of development in Madralalpur village. Only a couple of weeks ago, Babu, a 47-year-old distressed farmer, had hanged himself from a babool tree. Villa
Statistics has come a long way from the time when British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli observed: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Statistics is now an accredited branch of applied mathematics; sta
Idealism of youth often meets with an anti-climax. And when that happens one surely gains perspective. In 2003, when I first read Raag Darbari by Shrilal Shukla, which was part of self-education curriculum, I cringed at the ‘cynicism’
BJP is leading in Karnataka elections. This once again proves that prime minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is intact, despite many signals and arguments to the contrary. Karnataka is one of the few places where the Congress has deep roots
It could have been the office of a start-up; only the posters on the walls made it clear that this was what has come to be known as ‘party war room’ – the hub where political strategists and party cadres come together to chart ou
One of the three big elections before the grand final next year is over. Predictably, there was mud-slinging and allegations, caste equations and mutt visits, histories and histrionics: With a pinch of alternative facts. Thus was lost the opportun
The just-concluded assembly election in the southern state of Karnataka has demonstrated the power, reach, and influence of social media. Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are proving to be effective tools of communication to people who in the pre-di
It took four years for Rahila Khan, a Muslim woman from Himachal Pradesh, to get a ration card after her husband passed away. She is a single woman who is entitled to the benefits of Antodoya Anna Yojana (35 kg of subsidised rice per household per
REC Foundation, the CSR arm of REC Limited, has partnered with Matrix Society for Social Services (MASS) to provide job-oriented skill-development training to women in 100 self help groups in Mewat. As per the project, doorstep trai
NTPC has decided to generate 268 billion units (BU) of electricity in 2018-19 fiscal, under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between NTPC and ministry of power recently. Revenue from the operations is targeted at Rs 85,500
Steel Authority of India Ltd first blast furnace Parvati situated at SAIL’s Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has been rebuilt and is successfully blown in recently. The blast furnace Parvati is rebuilt with state-of-the-art features
BHEL has recently secured an order for executing 900 MW Arun-3 hydroelectric project from SJVN Arun-3 Power Development Company (SAPDC), Nepal. Once completed, this will be the largest Hydropower project in Nepal. Located in the San
The illegal sharing and usage of 87 million Facebook users data have put the spotlight on the risks data breach poses to individuals and democracies around the world. Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy firm which illegally harveste
With the recent agreement between Tourism ministry and Dalmia Bharat under ‘Adopt a Heritage’ plan, the Red Fort is stepping into the eye of a storm. The adoption is being pegged as a non-revenue generation exercise which will also boo
When a child is born, relatives and friends bring gifts for the mother and child. Taking cue from that practice, the K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) government in Telangana started giving mothers a “KCR kit” – a tin of talcum powder
In a breather for the mining industry, the supreme court on April 4 allowed the export of iron ore from loading points on river jetties in Goa while disposing a joint special leave application filed by Vedanta Resources and another local mining co
Finally there is a political target and a timetable for transforming 115 most backward districts by 2022, but does the NITI Aayog appreciate the unprecedented nature and scale of the effort? The prime minister is stressing effective implem
A new airport will be inaugurated in Maharashtra at Sindhudurg district in 2018. The airport will be located at Parule Chipi and expected to provide air connectivity to the Konkan region, parts of Goa, north Karnataka and western Maharashtra. At p
There is nothing overblown about the alarm over diabetes in India. One of every five diabetics in the world is an Indian. Every six seconds, an Indian dies of complications related to diabetes. In those six seconds, two more Indian
