The modern thinking Indian

The Congress campaign for austerity

2009-09-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

This must have been the shortest austerity campaign in recent times; the Congress Government, in a measure to try to get some political points, decided to try and make a show of an austerity program. Hence, 2 ministers were evicted from their hotels (even though they were apparently paying for their stay out of their pocket) and told to stay in the State Guest houses, ministers were told to fly

Preparation for the Commonwealth Games - how good are we ?

2009-09-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

First of all, it is difficult for an individual to really find out what the current state of the preparation for the Commonwealth Games is ? The current reality is that there is work needed to be done at various fronts - the Delhi Government has set in process a huge amount of infrastructure improvements to give the city a modern feel and look. This includes improvements to the transport

Nuclear issue over Iran - another attempt at dialogue

2009-09-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

The nuclear ambitions of Iran well known, and the attempts by some of the significant world powers to stop these nuclear efforts (mostly in a futile effort) are also well known by now. Iran has most likely done the calculation that it will be able to pursue its nuclear quest through a measure of playing one country against another along with a dogged determination to go the full path. Further,

Massive changes in the Artic weather and ice levels happening

2009-09-11T22:54:00.000-07:00

In the last few years, there have been a spate of reports on how global warming is continuing to march ahead, irrespective of the debate among countries and politicians about the steps needed to stop the emissions that contribute to global warming. Global warming is supposed to have a horrific impact on the ice levels of the polar regions and Greenland, with large scale reduction of the Artic and

Government goes in for reform in education system: Class Xth boards off

2009-09-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

The Congress Government, in its second 5 year term, wants to make a start with a bang. As a result, the Government had set an ambitious plan of kicking off many major initiatives in the first 100 days; part of which were some announcements by the education ministry. Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal shocked a large number of politicians and state officials when he advocated for the

Gujarat High Court removes ban on Jaswant Singh's book

2009-09-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

A democratic country believes by certain principles; one of the most important ones is to recognize freedom of speech, and make that a corner-store of policy. There are certain real world considerations that come into this freedom of speech (one classic example is that of hate speech, where you would certainly like to control such freedom of expression), but such considerations should be only

Swine Flu resistance increasing

2009-08-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

Swine Flu (or more correct, H1N1 flu) is now spread all over the world, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. It has been reported from countries all over the world, with people contracting the disease, and a majority of them recovering; for a small fraction of them, the disease worsens to the point that the afflicted person dies. One of the major factors that has helped prevent a

3 people awarded life imprisonment in 1984 Sikh riots case

2009-08-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

It is always said that justice delayed is justice denied, the very fact that the criminal justice system in India takes decades to wind through and deliver justice. In that time, people either give up on justice, die, or implemented their own form of justice; conversely, it becomes easier to thwart justice by either witnesses being bought or scared away, their testimony becoming hazy, or

Law subjugates Shia women in Afghanistan

2009-08-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

In April, there was wide-spread international condemnation when a legislation catering to the Shia sect in Afghanistan was passed. This legislation tilted the gender balance very strongly towards men, something not uncommon in Islamic countries. However, since Afghanistan was a place where troops from many nations were fighting the Taliban, and many of these troops were losing their lives, there

Drought and loss to agriculture strikes India in the face

2009-08-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Ever since June, there has been some amount of debate over whether the monsoon will be good this year. The met department was predicting a slight shortfall in the rains, and there was also news that another El Nino effect would be in place that would impact the amount of rains. As the months of June and July progressed, it became clear that the monsoon was late, and was not adequate. At the same

Baitullah Mehsud dead in a drone attack - and his successors are now fighting

2009-08-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

For Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud has been one of the people who have caused it the most grief. Baitullah was the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the leader of what has been called the Pakistani Taliban. He first became internationally famous when he was blamed for being behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and in an ironic revenge, he was killed by a missile fired by a US

World glaciers melting at rapid rate

2009-08-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

Part of the worries about global warming is about the loss of glaciers, with increasing melting and lower mass covered by the glaciers. Recent reports have confirmed the data, that glaciers are indeed getting impacted. Since glaciers are one of the primary source of water for the world's rivers, which are in turn are the primary sources of fresh water, water for irrigation purposes, and also

Tasleema Nasreen back in India (most likely for a short time again)

2009-08-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

Taslima Nasreen does not find it safe in India, nor does the Government really want her to be here in India. Every time she comes to India, the Government is stuck as to what to do with her. Given the feelings of repulsion and hatred she inspires in a section of the Muslim community and the vociferous protests that are held, the Congress Government is certainly not going to give the impression

Strike, and then called off - Private airlines

2009-08-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

In India, private airlines have a tough field. They have to pay high rates for their fuel (ATF costs in India are higher than most places in the world), the conversion to new airports run by private operators are loading user convenience charges that passengers do not like to pay, and it is a cut-throat business with high fixed charges and a variable market that has been severely affected by the

Safety feature - Online Credit card usage

2009-07-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

If you have ever stopped to look at the online credit usage you would have done (including reviewed the information you were asked to provide), it would seem extremely easy to use somebody's card and use it for buying stuff. What is it that you need to provide in terms of information when using your credit card online ? You go to a site, decide to buy something (maybe jewellery, maybe some

Drama in Kashmir finally over - Governor rejects resignation of Omar Abdullah

2009-07-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since Sonia Gandhi did her act of sacrifice many years ago by not accepting the post of Prime Minister, the rarely done act of denial and refusal (also known as sacrifice by the adulating supporters) has become one of the ultimate weapons of defence when pushed to the wall. On another note, Omar Abdullah was the junior external affairs Minister during the NDA rule, and hence would have come

Delhi collapses after 4 hours of rain

2009-07-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you wish for ! Delhi and North India were bereft of rain during the first month of the rainy season. A bit about why Delhi is special. This is a city that is supposed to become a world class city, a city that will host the Commonwealth Games. It is the city that is the capital of a hot emerging economy, the city where people from over the world get their first glimpse of Delhi.On

PM Manmohan Singh facing flak over joint statement with Pakistan

2009-07-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

How often is that the Government, and the party that runs the Government, speak in different voices ? And yet, that is what is happening recently. India has a long history of taking steps that seem like buckling down under pressure, or which don't seem to be fundamentally sound. One can name the letting go of Occupied Kashmir by Nehru, of letting the victories of 1965 and 1971 preventing the

Delhi Police gets a clean chit in the Batla House case

2009-07-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

In the fight with terrorism, there is a thin line between what is justified for national security and what is a violation of human rights. Sometimes, this gets muddled up. An example is when sometime back, the UP police were shown to be shooting down a dacoit when he was coming out with hands in the air. There was a lot of protests and condemnation over the way the police shot him in cold blood.

Economy: Market not happy over the Budget - Sinking and then rising a bit

2009-07-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

What does a deficit mean ? There are many terms such as fiscal deficit, monetary deficit, revenue deficit, but the differences between are them are relevant for people involved in the field of economics. For the normal person on the street, a deficit means that you are spending more than you earn. A normal person cannot do this without getting into serious money problems, but a Government can (

Armymen to be tried in civil courts for criminal offences

2009-07-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

The military forces in India have almost a separate life with a separate code of honor and law; their life is much more controlled than the lives of ordinary civilians. As a result, they have a separate process for justice, with a separate legal system that governs them. This includes offences they commit that are normally treated as criminal offences for the normal citizens of the country such

Another accident in the Delhi Metro construction

2009-07-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

When an accident happened in October 2008 in the Metro construction in East Delhi in which one of the sections of the under construction metro collapsed, killing 2 people, it seemed like a one-off thing. It was still a major shock for the Delhi Metro project, since the corporation believes that it is one of the safest and most reliable project executors in India. However, it was clear for the

Air India overbooks - carried more passengers than capacity

2009-07-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

Airlines frequently overbook, given that there is always a number of people who will cancel, and hence there is a mathematics related to the number of people who overbook. Sometimes airlines land up in a situation whereby they find that this mathematics goes awry, and they find that there are more passengers than seats available. In such cases, the airline has to placate irate passengers, and

Reliance Gas deal - the squabble continues

2009-07-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mukesh Ambani would never have thought that finding a massive gas would continue to cause him so much problems; maybe, to make huge amounts of money, you need to have massive problems at the same time. A few years back, Reliance had participated in the Oil exploration scheme of the Government, and got allotted some of the deep sea blocks of the Krishna-Godavari basin fields, and in some time,

Communist problems over internal politics, and perceptions

2009-07-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

How quickly the mighty can fall ! Lest that sound like gloating, it is not, it is something that some of the more clear-thinking of the Communist crowd in India must be thinking. Just a couple of years back, they were top of the Government of India. If they said 'nay' to a proposal by the Government, the Government would hem and haw and finally withdraw the proposal, and this was something that