India Unplugged

Today I am angry and ashamed!

2008-11-21T03:42:46Z

Today, I am angry and ashamed. Angry about hypocritical ‘hindu’ politicians, the uncaring society we live in, the heartless middle class that inhabits this country and the fate that awaits India if the above three continue on this trajectory. Ashamed about hypocritical ‘hindu’ politicians, the uncaring society we live in, the heartless middle class that inhabits this [...]

Looking back at Amarnath

2008-11-10T06:35:28Z

At a time when commentators were talking of the end of the insurgency and life was returning to normal in the Kashmir valley, the Amarnath crisis and the associated violence this summer of 2008, came as a rude shock to many. The separatist tone of the protests in the valley created a furore in Indian [...]

US and Indo-Pak relations: the Obama view

2008-11-10T06:29:08Z

While Pakistan came up all too frequently during the recently concluded US Presidential campaign, South Asia watchers sat up when Barack Obama spoke of working with India to deal with Pakistan’s concerns about its security, a prerequisite to bring peace to Afghanistan. This triangular dynamic seems common sense in the subcontinent but attracts only peripheral [...]

From The Earth To The Moon

2008-11-01T08:14:59Z

With the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1 ISRO has joined a select league of nations that have launched missions to the moon. While the spacecraft will take a few more days to attain lunar orbit the successful launch is in itself a great first step for ISRO in space exploration. Inevitably, amidst the euphoria, there have [...]

The Kanchanjunga Trail

2008-10-24T12:42:51Z

India has tourist destinations that are picturesque and off tourist itineraries. Sikkim is one such. Apart from the regular Gangtok-Rumtek-Nathula circuit, one of the most challenging treks in India lies in West Sikkim. Called the Yuksom-Dzongri-Goechala Trek, this 100 km, 7 day trek through rhododendron forests in the Kanchanjunga National Park (KNP) offers stunning views [...]

DD Kosambi’s Contributions 1

2008-10-24T12:41:38Z

July 2007 – June 2008 was celebrated as the birth centenary of Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi. DD was a multi-disciplinary scholar who made original contributions in the fields of mathematics, statistics, indology, ancient Indian history, Sanskrit literature, numismatics and archeology. Though he was a mathematician by training and profession he is best known for his contributions [...]

The Dilemma of a Chain Smoking Gay

2008-10-03T18:44:56Z

A nationwide ban on smoking in public places came into effect on October 2. Violators will be fined Rs 200 each. I can already hear the curses aimed at Ambumani Ramadoss. The Health Minister has been personally involved in the campaign to ban smoking since he became, er…the Health Minister. Conspiracy theorists believe that the move [...]

The Indo-US Nuclear Deal - Pre-marital Discord?

2008-09-16T08:08:11Z

The nuclear deal refuses to go off the news. Just when India thought that two of the three key hurdles - defense of the deal in the Indian Parliament, a clean waiver from NSG, and ratification of the deal by the US congress - had been accomplished, came word about the White house letter to [...]

West Bengal Panchayat Elections

2008-09-02T14:38:40Z

The just concluded panchayat polls have been a wake up call for the ruling Left Front government, but it would be hasty to conclude that this is the “beginning of the end”

Third sex gets official status in Tamil Nadu

2008-03-16T08:12:43Z

Continuing with the theme of alternative sexualities…today’s front page lead story in the Bombay edition of the Sunday Times of India is interesting, to say the least. Transgendered people in Tamil Nadu can now mark their sex as T in official documents instead of M and F. This is a real step forward in recognising the [...]

A Month in an ‘Alternative’ World

2008-03-31T15:24:46Z

When I entered the living room, Krishnendu was in his usual place, sitting on the sofa with his face glued to his laptop and a cigarette clutched tight between his fingers. The circular turtle-backed ashtray on the coffee table in front of him was full of burnt out stubs. I mumbled a half-hearted hello. [...]

Thoughts on the Gleevec Controversy

2008-03-14T19:10:37Z

We have borne in mind the object which the Amending Act wanted to achieve, namely…to provide easy access to the citizens of this country to live saving drugs and to discharge their constitutional obligation of providing good health care to its citizens. With these words a Division Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed the petitions [...]

The Scarlette Saga

2008-05-02T12:59:13Z

The case of Scarlette Keeling’s death in Goa is taking on epic proportions with accusations of cover-up and corruption leveled against the Goan police by Scarlette’s mother while the police seemingly shift from one position to another. First they said it was a case of death by drowning due to drug use in spite of [...]

Check out PADMA online…

2008-03-14T14:20:47Z

…she’s beautiful. Yes folks, the Public Access Digital Media Archive went live on March 1, 2008. Just type pad.ma in your address bar and the browser quickly navigates you to the site. The first time I tried it was the day it went live from office. The site didn’t appear, but a message did: “if you [...]

Private Treaties for Public Consumption

2008-03-01T07:54:14Z

The Times of India is the largest selling English broadsheet in the world with a circulation of 2.4 million. This makes the holding company, Bennet Coleman & Co. Ltd. the richest media empire in India. However, this is not just due of the reputation of its media assets. The Times of India has had the distinction [...]

Free Binayak Sen…NOW!!!

2008-02-28T14:15:25Z

For all those concerned with the continued incarceration of Dr Binayak Sen, who continues to languish in a jail in Chhattisgarh on charges of being a “naxal”, please sign this online petition. Dr Binayak Sen is a paediatrician, public health specialist and national vice president of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties who decided to make [...]

Cricket goes global(isation)

2008-02-28T14:19:46Z

After the mayhem of the player auctions for the BCCI’s newly formed Indian Premier League its time to take stock. Astronomical sums were thrown about for acquiring players for the 8 franchises of the IPL. The highest bid was for Mahendra Dhoni who was acquired by Chennai for Rs 6 crores. The next highest was Andrew [...]

Mumbai Vs Bombay

2008-02-10T18:55:30Z

Prejudices can be hidden for political considerations, but they never entirely disappear. The last week has seen a violent resurrection of the old ‘Marathi Vs outsiders’ theme that has plagued Bombay for the last four decades. This time it’s a splinter of the original champion of the ‘Marathi Manoos’ (Marathi man) that has raised some [...]

Gandhi and Godse

2008-01-30T14:25:28Z

Years ago, sixty to be precise, a ‘crazed madman’ entered an evening prayer meet with a revolver hidden in his clothes. His intention was to assassinate the man leading that prayer meet. Nathuram Godse believed that this man, whom some had foolishly dubbed ‘Mahatma’ was in fact just the opposite: a ‘moorkhatma’. He entertained foolish [...]

De-fencing Procurement Policy

2008-01-22T23:12:38Z

The Indian government is revising its Defense procurement policy yet again. The new policy is more complicated but more vendor-friendly. Earlier, vendors had to prove that 30 % of their order should come from India. The new rules would mean that if a contractor like Lockheed Martin has been sourcing parts for his civilian jets [...]

The Shame of the Indian Male

2008-01-23T19:42:57Z

(Cross posted here.) It is as if India is losing her humanity part by part. Coming close on the heels of the recent spate of reports on women molested in various parts of India is this horrific and tragic report from Surat about a brave man named Keshav Vishwakarma who tried to prevent a woman from [...]

Again, Nandigram

2008-01-12T22:11:10Z

I’ve had some interesting conversations about Nandigram with people in the last few days. Seeing for myself the ground realities there has given me a fresh perspective because no matter how much you read about it or view images on TV there is a certain emotional detachment. Actually visiting the site is an experience. A [...]

123…Launch

2007-12-04T13:23:23Z

In India, we believe in reincarnation. So it seems that the nuclear deal has found new life again after being throttled to death. This deal was supposed to be a triumph of Indian diplomacy and of lobbying by the Non-Resident Indian community. It would mean the symbolic acceptance of India as a member of the [...]

Nandigram: Left is Right

2008-01-30T13:53:51Z

For the last 11 months the Nandigram saga has been unfolding. It is a fascinating insight into the use and deployment of power by a party that has lost its ‘radical’ moorings and now is THE establishment; The insidious ways in which power is deployed to maintain monopoly and crush dissent and the justification offered [...]

Justice Prevails

2007-11-12T11:33:10Z

ICICI Bank has been fined Rs 50 lakh by the Delhi Consumer Commission for hiring goons to recover loans in a landmark ruling. Read more here. The commission used strong language to condemn the flouting of rules by ICICI Bank by continuing to hire goons to recover a few thousand rupees. I hope this ruling [...]

Private Banks and Loan Recovery Using Goons

2007-06-26T20:37:38Z

It looks as if some banks in India consider themselves above the law. In spite of a Supreme Court order to the contrary, banks such as the ICICI Bank continue to employ private agencies for debt recovery, which in turn employ goons and other anti-social elements to intimidate the defaulters and make them cough up [...]

Delhi-claration

2007-10-10T03:15:13Z

The travesty of a Member of Parliament, Babubhai Katara, being arrested for people-trafficking is a sore reminder of the depravation that has permeated our lawmakers. That Babubhai was naive enough to believe that he could lead a lady in ghunghat masquerading as his wife through immigration in India and Canada, shows the level of (or [...]

Justice, oh come on…

2007-10-10T03:15:24Z

So Manu Sharma has got life imprisonment. In passing the judgment the Delhi High Court noted that the trial court’s verdict, which had earlier acquitted Manu Sharma, was ‘perverse that made no sense and was illogical’. Following that verdict there was a national outcry. The media, sensing public outrage got into the act and newspapers [...]

Sharmila’s courage

2007-10-10T03:15:36Z

Courage comes in many sizes. Sharmila Irom Chanu is a diminutive woman from Manipur, frail and meek looking. Looking at her one wouldn’t imagine that this woman has embarked upon a courageous mission to save her land and people. But what she has done over the last six years is nothing short of a display [...]

Chinese democracy, Indian autocracy

2008-03-15T07:22:06Z

What rights do a people, who have been dispossessed of their land for half a century and live in another country, have? This must be the question Tibetans must be asking themselves in the wake of Chinese premier Hu Jintao’s visit to India. Ever since China’s brutal invasion and occupation of Tibet in 1959 India has [...]