Every passing week, our space programme cracks another milestone. Interstellar achievements make us proud On March 21, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the PSLV-C45 mission that will release 30 payloads into three different orbits. If this launch is successful, as it should be, India’s space programme will have yet another feather in its cap, much to...
Should India bring geopolitics into sport? And is it worth boycotting playing Pakistan in the World Cup? No There has been a lot of talk, which has morphed into anger, about what to do with Pakistan following the Pulwama attack. Hyper-nationalists behind television cameras would want us to go to war, in fact they would be the happiest if it...
Guest Column Mauryas are known from numerous sources, including Puranas and Buddhist texts, the Arthashastra and Greek sources The rock edicts of Ashoka, the Mauryan emperor are still preserved at Kalsi, located about 40 kilometres from Dehradun, on the route to Chakrata. Ashoka is considered one of the greatest kings of India and both the national emblem, and the...
USUAL SUSPECTS Politics is said to be ugly but there are occasions it can get ridiculous. The Pulwama bombing of February 14 that martyred 44 CRPF jawans should, ideally, have injected a note of sombreness in public life. Initially that seemed to be happening with the Government and the Opposition speaking in one voice against the terror attacks. Unfortunately...
—The Other Side— The latest big incident-the terror attack on Indian soldiers in Kashmir has continued to guide the sentimental expressions and actions of many across the nation. It is only natural for the people to feel angry and even frustrated after such an attack which one veteran general debating on a prominent news channel opined was akin to...
Though general elections are a few months away, the BJP and the Congress are simply attacking each other. Will they pull out a rabbit from their hats and bring a fresh narrative? After Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry into active politics, our grand old party, the Congress, looks energised, motivated and has the momentum on its side to face the...
Avoidable jingoism The recent dastardly act of attacking CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Kashmir valley and tragic martyrdom of 43 security personnel triggered a wave of anger among the countrymen. The attack worked like a binder as nationalistic fervour surged within hearts of people. In the charged atmosphere, rumour mongers had a field day in many cities like Dehradun...
A recent sting exposes how some celebrities are getting paid to peddle inflammatory ideas Politics and Bollywood have made for a please-all cocktail ever since the business of ruling over the mass consciousness and creating a narrative wave became profitable. And no political party, be it the Congress and the BJP at the national level, or the regional parties, has been...
Imran Khan was always going to protect the powers that be in Pakistan. India shouldn’t have expected anything different The tale of Doctor Faust is taught in many classrooms. It is the story of a man, a real-life medieval German alchemist apparently, who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for untold wealth and power. It is an...
There are appeals to BCCI that India not play Pak at World Cup but why should we give a walkover? With tempers still on the boil over the Pulwama terrorist attacks, carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad under the protectorate of Pakistan, discussion boards are awash with opinions on how to punish the rogue nation, diplomatically, economically and culturally. Now the strategy to...