At a time when the biggest seller of weapons is bestowed with the Nobel Prize for Peace, when a narcissist and
Lucky Ali is best known for his husky voice and a distinctive style of music. His debut album, Sunoh, released in 1996, was an instant success and established him in the genre of Indian pop. He has also lent his voice to songs in movies like Bachna Ae Haseeno, Anjaana Anjaani and Tamasha. Son of comedian Mehmood and nephew of actress Meena Kumari, Lucky has also acted in a few films and tel
India and Israel mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations in January 2017. While relations between the two countries have been soaring for much of this time, in recent years and under the current BJP-led NDA government a new era of visibility has ensued. While president Pranab Mukherjee went to Israel in 2016 in a historic first visit, Israeli president Re
People may recall the passionate justification that prime minister gave on November 8 when he announced the decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination. The entire country was thrown into a financial turmoil because more than 85% of the currency notes in circulation had suddenly stopped being legal tender, except in a small set of transactions permitted by the gove
In a swift series of events, the SP patriarch, Mulayam Singh Yadav, fondly known as Netaji, expelled his son, Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party. After a prolonged internal struggle of power, and the family feud playing itself out it public, the battle got murkier when Akhilesh Yadav’s list of candidates for the 2017 elections was shredded by his father, in favour of belligerent Shivpal
I am made of both Delhi and Mumbai. Intellect will tell you sharply that Mumbai and Delhi are two cities. Nothing more and nothing less. Instinct will whisper softly that Mumbai and Delhi are two beings caught in a passionate embrace that’s part love, part hatred and fully viscera
Humour is a form of communication. There are several healthy forms of humours which can be critical, reflective and constructive for the society. Unfortunately there is one form of humour that does not serve this purpose and has often been overlooked or trivialised. That is sexist humour. This form of humour in public domain is increasingly becoming widespread and controversial. Comedian
On Christmas eve, I met a close friend at a party. As we greeted each other, her face looked grim. I could not figure out the reason for the unusual tension on her face. When I asked, she said she was worried about her daughter. Her only daughter, who is turning 3 in March next year, is all set to face the biggest test of her life. She would soon b
Concerned about the abuse of power, French sociologist David Émile Durkheim in 1912 wrote that there could be no society which, at regular intervals, did not feel the need to uphold and reaffirm the collective sentiments and the collective ideas that made up its unity and personality. Opposition to corruption in India, especially after the 2011 Anna Hazare movement, gave b
It is a known fact that ozone formation occurs when NOX, CO and VOCs react in the presence of sunlight and that more ozone is formed in tropical regions. How does this study move beyond this? What is new here is that we demonstrate the importance of emissions near the equator in a way that has not been shown before. Over the past several decades, emissions have d
Dr Ghys also holds the post of chief, strategic information and monitoring division of UNAIDS. The division’s main functions include analysis of levels and trends in the AIDS epidemic, and monitoring and reporting of progress in the global AIDS response. Trade deals like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are proposing stringent intellec
Civil-military relations is not a happy phrase because it suggests a basic dichotomy and opposition between the civilian and the military perspectives. Differences in viewpoints give rise to typical controversies in the modern state everywhere. What is different here is the distinction that is sought to be made between “democratic”, “bureaucratic” and “civilian&rdq
The Norwegian embassy in Delhi, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Mumbai, and the Norwegian Business Association India, released a business climate survey report in Delhi in December. The report evaluates the current and future business climate for Norwegian companies in India. Nils Ragnar Kamsvåg, ambassador of Norway to India, speaks to Praggya Guptaa about the promising bu
How would you describe the post-truth phenomenon in the Indian context? Speaking in the context of post-truth, we have a live instance of it in the demonetisation playing out now in India. This involves three things: politics, people and perception, and all three have immediate and direct relation to the concept (of post-truth). It was clear that demonetisation w
“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas and disguise.” — Joseph Goebbels Truth is stranger than fiction. It is also less palatable and less pliable than fiction. Truth,
In agriculture, neem oil, fruit and the different byproducts such as seed cake are used as bio-pesticides, fungicides and organic manures. Neem is decomposed slowly, leading to a slower release of nutrients contained in it. The slow release of nutrients is attributed to the presence of extractives used as rewarding adjuvant for nitrogenous fertilisers such as urea. It is estimat
S Srinivasan is the managing trustee of LOCOST, a charitable trust involved with the production of low-priced quality generics for over 32 years. He has also been active in works like transfer of pharmaceutical technology to least developed countries, issues of disadvantaged children and human rights, and relief in disaster situations. In a one-on-one with Kaushal Shroff
Professor Sakthivel Selvaraj is a health economist who teaches at the Public Health Foundation of India and researches matters concerning financing of healthcare and pharmaceutical economics in India. In an edifying chat with Kaushal Shroff, he explains the inner mechanics of the DPCO and speaks on why pharma companies are so keen to see a market free of pricin
India is right at the top among all countries when it comes to international migrants, with Mexico standing second, said a report of the Pew Research Centre. The report: ‘International migration: Key findings from the U.S., Europe and the world’, by Phillip Connor said that millions of people have migrated from their homes to other countries in recent years. So
“This book is written for all the ordinary adivasis I know, who make difficult moral choices within complex constraints, and many of whom are heroic beyond bounds I can scarcely imagine. In today’s condition, it requires superhuman effort for them to merely survive,” writes academician-activist Nandini Sundar in her book, The Burning Forest: India’s War in Ba
