Dealing with ammunition is one of the most lethal tasks in the army. It is hardly realised that ammunition is more unpredictable than the enemy, and soldiers deal with it on a regular basis. On May 31, an accident at the central ammunition depot (CAD) in Pulgaon, near Nagpur in Maharashtra, saw the loss of 19 lives, including those of firefighters and two officers.
Glittering zari sarees bring to mind wedding and other festive occasions. But now when I look at a beautiful glittering saree, I can see the lost childhood of so many children embroidered in it. Rescue work can be tough and emotionally draining and I can never forget the scary experience of rescuing bonded children from the dark and dingy saree making factories in Jaipur City, t
They live as whole families in small straw huts they made with their bare hands, on a patch of land miles away from the nearest town. It looks desolate. But it is, they tell me, “paradise”. Because before they came here, they had been forcibly held as bonded labourers by a plantation master. It is 2016, India is a global power, and I am talking to people who have escaped what is eff
The news from war-ravaged Afghanistan is not encouraging: a resurgent Taliban, an increasing Islamic State footprint, a fractious government and a weak security force. This year has already seen the Indian consulate in Jalalabad being targeted by a suicide attack. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is very much on top of India’s diplomatic engagements. Economic cooperation with Iran and A
The Women Deliver Conference of 2016 is one of the largest gatherings focusing on women’s and girls’ health, rights and general well-being to be held in a decade – though the conference is being held every two years since 2007. More than 5,500 delegates – including policy makers, business leaders, health workers, activists and celebrities – from about 167 cou
The Public Affairs Centre, a not for profit organisation, assessed states and union territories using data available in the public domain in key areas of governance and came out with ‘Public Affairs Index’, presenting an inter-state comparison. The states were compared on 10 areas each and were given scores between 0 and 1, with 0 being the lowest score and 1 being the highest. Here
Brij Mohan Anand would have remained yet another name in the not so exalted annals of India’s commercial art but for his daughter, who, 30 years after his death, has presented his creative and unknown art works to the world. The art exhibition, ‘Narratives for Indian Modernity: The Aesthetic of Brij Mohan Anand’ at Delhi’s India International Centre (IIC)
The Public Affairs Centre, a not for profit organisation, assessed states and union territories using data available in the public domain in key areas of governance and came out with ‘Public Affairs Index’, presenting an inter-state comparison. The states were compared on 10 areas each and were given scores between 0 and 1, with 0 being the lowest score and 1 being the highest. Here
The risk of TB infection among healthcare workers (HCWs) is largely understudied and preventive measures are clearly not in place. Blessina Kumar, chair, Global Coalition of TB Activists, discusses with Sakshi Kuchroo the problems in areas which need immediate attention from the government as well as the hospital managements. What do you think is
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite, IRNSS-1G, went into geosynchronous transfer orbit on April 28 and by May 3 it has taken up its position in the geostationary orbit at 129.5 degree east. With this the IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is in position. The constellation consists of three geostationary earth orbit (GEO) spacecraft and four spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit (GSO) inc
On May 19, after the results of the assembly elections were announced, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “We will work harder till we win the confidence & trust of people.” But these confident words sounded rhetorical when you remember his reaction after the defeat in the Delhi assembly election in 2013. “We have the ability to transform ourselv
The national eligibility cum entrance test (NEET), a single window examination for entering medical schools for MBBS and BDS courses across the country, was introduced with an aim to remove the hassle of appearing in hundreds of examinations separately. The move was introduced to lessen corruption and irregularities. However, the government took the ordinance route to keep the states out of the
Pushpa Rawat comes across as a girl next door until you get to know her and her work better. Rawat makes documentary films, but not just any. It is the unusual style of her films that makes this 28-year-old woman from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, stand out. Her journey so far, however, has not been a cakewalk. Coming from a humble background, Rawat did her masters in philosophy fro
The Shayara Bano case has placed the Muslim personal law under the judicial scanner yet again. The supreme court is set to examine triple talaq, polygamy and other discriminatory practices against women on the touchstone of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution. Though there have been petitions in the past pointing to the need for reform, Shayara’s petition has u
Have you ever thought of the Lakshadweep islands beyond a paradise in the midst of the sea? What are the governance challenges in this remote archipelago? To know the answer to these questions, Governance Now sat down with Esha Pandey, additional DCP II, central district, Delhi police. Pandey was posted in Lakshadweep f
A couple of days back, Odisha assembly passed its Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Bill permitting leprosy patients to contest Panchayat polls. The polls are scheduled to be held in 2017. With this, the state has abolished its 52-year-old law, which banished leprosy patients to contest polls, calling it “redundant”. However, there are several existing Indian
NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra talks about steps taken by the highway authority to speed up highway construction projects, improve maintenance of highways and make them safer and more user friendly. Excerpts from an interview with Yogesh Vajpeyi. How much highway construction was done last year and what are the plans for this fiscal? We have
At 63, Jayalalithaa doesn’t qualify to be referred to as a ‘child’. But if the events of the last three-odd months in Tamil Nadu are anything to go by the appellation ‘destiny’s favourite child’ would seem to be an improbably precise description of her. Today, on the back of a spectacular victory in the just-concluded assembly el
Of the many thought-provoking stories by literary legend Premchand, there is one about a landlord’s arrogance and water scarcity. It is titled ‘Thakur ka Kuan’ (the landlord’s well) and perhaps now is a right time to revisit it. A villager named Jokhu is quite ill and badly wants a sip of water. There is a common well for villagers but its water has been
Like a child, the Yamuna gushes down the Yamunotri glacier, its free flowing and crystal clear waters cutting through mountains and valleys. The youthful Yamuna generously nurtures life on its way. But its free-flowing spirit is abruptly interrupted at Hathnikund barrage in Haryana. There, the water is diverted through the western and eastern Yamuna canals. Then a tired river proceeds towards
