India’s successful test launch of Agni V intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has catapulted it into an elite club of nations that have the capability to field such missiles. According to defence sources quoted in the Times of India, Agni V soared from the Odisha coast and hit its designated target in the Indian Ocean. “This launch has given a message to
Where to petition for a pension With an allotment of some concern? We held grievance redress camps People came with faith, and without; In Takiyan KaleKhan: Fire burnt homes on wakf land For political fear, them no one will hear With no roof they wait for some rebate. In Savitri Nagar: People get less ration
The prime minister on Tuesday delivered a most disappointing speech at the 3rd National Ganga River Basin Authority meeting. It promises nothing, says the most discredited IIT Roorkee report (that even the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects criticized and does not follow) and the report of the Wildlife Institute of India (th
Ayesha Siddiqa was the first Pakistani woman to work as director of naval research with Pakistan Navy. After serving 11 years as a civil servant, she worked for 11 years before making headway into academics where her expertise in military technology, defence decision-making, nuclear deterrence, arms procurement/production and civil-military relations in South Asia is now most sought after.
The exoneration of all the accused in the Bathani Tola massacre of Bhojpur district in Bihar is a telling commentary on India’s criminal justice system. The hapless victims, a group of dalits and Muslims, were murdered in broad daylight in 1996. Unlike other cases of mass killings where the culprits were mostly unknown bands of criminals, in Batahni Tola all the assailants, belonging to u
If Monday’s annual conference of chief ministers turned into a political battlefield instead of being a meaningful dialogue between the union and the states on critical internal security issues, which it was meant to be, it is because the union government has lost its political and moral authority. The prime minister has always been seen as politically weak with UPA chairpe
“Buy land, they are not making it anymore,” Mark Twain said once. Land sharks seem to have realised it and are making all kinds of efforts to get their hands on some defence land, albeit at throwaway prices. Sadly, they are not alone in this endeavour. The president of the country, the supreme commander of the armed forces, too wants a piece of the pie. According inf
“Buy land, they are not making it anymore,” Mark Twain said once. Land sharks seem to have realised it and are making all kinds of efforts to get their hands on some defence land, albeit at throwaway prices. Sadly, they are not alone in this endeavour. The president of the country, the supreme commander of the armed forces, too wants a piece of the pie. According inf
When The Hindu published a report on March 23, titled “Schools to parents: pay donation, get admission”, few found anything new in it. Parenting in India means starting to save up for the child’s school admission well before the child is born, as in most cases finding a place for a child in a decent school in the neighbourhood comes at a significant premium. The
When Kapil Sibal became HRD minister, his aim was nothing less than a thorough revamp of the entire education system. Within no time, he came up with a blueprint for reforms at all levels. He backed it up by drafting a slew of bills. But almost after three years and eight parliamentary sessions (not counting the ongoing one), the bills remain bills. No wonder he is now requesting, "
Transparency in governance and reigning in graft is at the core of the Public procurement Bill 2012 (“Procurement Bill”) cleared by the Cabinet on 12th April 2012. The Procurement Bill seeks to bring in high degree of transparency, competition and efficiency in the public procurement process alongside ensuring fair and equitable treatment to bidders. Does the Procurem
Asian giants like India and China might be growing at more than seven percent in the last few years, but the fast growth has not been equal, said Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest outlook. “…While the region flourishes, the depressing reality is the march to prosperity has also seen a startling rise in inequality,” said the ADB in its latest outlook 2012. The
The gross enrolment ratio (GER), designates a nation’s total student enrolment at a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of population in the official age group corresponding to this level. The GER in India’s higher education is merely 15%. Infrastructural facilities, competence of teachers and research activities are some other factors
Tom Palmer, a senior fellow at the Washington based think-tank Cato Institute, first heard of India when he was a kid. Whenever he refused to eat, her mother would say, “Eat your food, there are children starving in India.” Times have of course changed since. During his many visits in recent years Palmer has had to look hard to find the India of his mother’s description. He wa
Kahlil Gibran said, “All work is empty save when there is love.” The argument has also an antithesis. Too much love is a spoiler. Press Council of India chief Justice Markandey Katju suffers from this. He has made a habit out of his profession of decades. Now, he judges. And that’s become his favourite pastime. Being out of the courtroom has only worked to his advantage.
India and China will witness unprecedented increase in their urban populations in the next four decades, posing new challenges of providing jobs, energy housing and infrastructure to their people, a UN report said. The UN`s `2011 Revision of the World Urbanisation Prospects` said Africa and Asia will lead the global urban population growth in the next four decades with the largest increases exp
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
[Prof Gupta writes about the need for an innovation park in Ahmedadad, where he and several organisations he has been working with are based. Of course, the argument need not be limited to Ahmedabad, it can also apply to other cities.] I normally don`t start a dialogue on a negative note ever. But permit me to say that I have failed to get powers-that-be excited about cr
India is among the lowest scoring countries on political finance regulation, according to a new report. Global Integrity Report for 2011 indicates that developing as well as developed countries, including the US, are equally struggling to effectively implement money-in-politics rules. Global Integrity is an international non-profit organisation which tracks governance and corruption tre
The recently concluded two-day Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul (March 26-27), a follow-up to the first summit in Washington in 2010, ended with a promise of meeting again in the Netherlands in 2014 for what will be the third and final global summit of this kind. The focus of the 2012 summit as the name suggested was ‘Nuclear Security’, a term not to be confused with
