A smoker has two friends: a stick and a matchbox. And s/he as many foes: a nonsmoker and tax. Lately, though, the foe count is increasing as both nonsmokers and taxes head north. Add to it a third foe, the opportunistic politician, and a smoker’s personal, Hamletesque tragic circle is complete. A couple of couplets from a couple of politicians in the last co
The recent case of a five year-old girl being raped and brutally assaulted by a neighbour has revived memories of the December 16 gangrape in Delhi. While rape as a crime is not new in our society, what is new — or has become a trend of sorts of late — is the sexist remarks by politicians in the aftermath of any such case. In a way, this turns the victim into an accused, and
The end of the cold war led Francis Fukuyama to write an essay — “The End of History?” — signalling the end of a bipolar world and a move towards the dominance of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. While the collapse of the Soviet Union also implied, for some, the beginning of a unipolar world, the reality in this day and age, however is vas
On a day Delhi Police chief Neeraj Kumar gave his force as good as a clean chit on two charges — offering Rs 2,000 to parents of the five-year-old rape victim to hush up the case and an assistant commissioner of police slapping a protester — badminton ace Saina Nehwal smashed the credibility of Kumar’s force as if swatting a fly. ”After what I am hearing,
The rape of the five-year-old kid and the ghoulish toys placed on top of her mobile stretcher capture the Delhi psyche. They [the government] send her in a dire state to a cheap municipality hospital without showing any sense of urgency and then fling unhygienic toys on her sheets! But it’s a sweet gesture, don’t you see, even if it defies medical science and why should they send he
There are many connections that architects make — between bricks and mortar, foundations and roof, between the insides of the buildings and outside. But, some connections, they forget to make. Whenever housing societies are built, campuses are created or new townships are established, architects forget to leave some plots of land with native biodiversity int
Baijnath Yadav was filled with hope when he heard about the kisan call centre a few years ago. The 40-something farmer had spent his entire life tilling a small piece of land in Sikandarpur Karan in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. Recently he had faced a barrage of pests that would leave much of his vegetable garden in a gooey mush. The usually trustworthy local methods made little impact. The advertisem
It was on a lazy Sunday that I noticed this van in our housing society crowded by the residents, mostly women with packets in hand. As curiosity got the better of me, I, too, went into the lawns to find out which company wanted to hard sell its products to our colony this Sunday. Well, this time it was not the automobile company or the Insurance provider. It was a unique van equipped with lab d
I recently met an old friend, and we got chatting about how he met the person he had married. “We met online,” he said. “Don’t tell me you met on Shaadi.com,” I exclaimed with my usual disdain of arranged marriages. “Actually, we did… I saw her profile, liked what she said about wanting an equal partner and being feminist, paid three and a half thousan
The decision of the Delhi university (DU) to make Hindi/MILs (modern Indian languages) a compulsory paper in the foundation course of the four-year BA programme starting with the academic year 2013-14 was strongly protested by the students from the northeast. Although the decision was applicable to all who wish to pursue education in DU, many from the northeast felt humiliated by it. Several no
There are four levels at which we can learn from the innovations whether in the formal or the informal sector: [a] artefactual, [b] analogic, [c] heuristic and [d] gestalt or configurational. [a] Artefactual: One learns from the material characteristics of the innovation, be it in terms of form, feature or function of a mechanical or an electronic technology. Or it cou
Something rather interesting occurred on Monday, April 15 — the new year as per Bengali calendar (though the only calendars I have ever seen printed in Bengali are those by sweet shops; the ones with glassy, touched-up illustrations of different gods and goddesses). In perhaps a first, Mamata Banerjee, the irrepressible chief minister of West Bengal, said something close to what sounds su
Let’s Call Him Vasu: With the Maoists in Chhattisgarh By Shubhranshu Choudhary Penguin, Rs 350 Two disclaimers would be required to foreground a review of this racy read. First, absolute objectivity is a misnomer. Journalism, like any other cultural craft, is a form of fiction that merely hinges on facts. Stories are built block by b
Pushed on the back foot after “strong political reactions” from New Delhi, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh restored 24x7 power supply to Rae Bareli and Amethi, parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, on Friday. With the onset of summer, Uttar Pradesh reels under a severe power crisis, with peak demand for elect
Last month, a Delhi court framed charges against Irom Sharmila Chanu, the ‘iron lady’ of Manipur, for allegedly attempting to commit suicide with her ‘fast unto death’ during a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in June 2006. It was all cut-and-dry, except that Chanu has been ‘fasting’ for nearly 12 years now, demanding revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Speci
How long does it take for the government to make a stretch of road traffic-free? Decades, even longer, or maybe never? An entire generation of children coming to the Connaught Place has now grown into adults hearing of the inner circle being made free of traffic. And the talk is on among their children now. Lakhs of Delhi families who love to frequent their favourite evening hangout wou
During the Think India Dialogue organised by Network 18 on Monday, Narendra Modi made a revolutionary suggestion: bifurcate the functions of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) into two, with one dealing in diplomacy and the other in trade. In the 21st century global politics, economic diplomacy has a key role to play. Take for example Indo-China ties, in which economic issue
If I have to give you a medical advice with regard to your eyes, this is the one: Regularly visit an ophthalmologist who regularly visits a dentist. No, seriously. Vision-screening involves a procedure wherein the oculist has to peer into your eye in a position, which, outside of a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation situation, can be deemed a bit kinky. Basically when he is looking dee
“My comments on Saturday were not directed towards drought-affected people and I had no intentions to hurt anybody`s sentiments... I hope my comments will not affect drought relief measures which will continue vigorously... Also, it was never my intention to hurt anybody`s sentiments... It is true that I should have spoken responsibly. I apologise to all." That&
With the Supreme Court order to the union government to evict former Bihar governor and former chief of the national commission for scheduled castes, Buta Singh, from the Teen Murti Marg house he has been occupying illegally since 2010, the lid is off the muck of illegal occupation of Lutyens’ Delhi houses by has-beens. The SC came down heavily on the union government for cherry-pick
