Most Discussed

According to a recent report, India is contemplating giving China access to the Indian Ocean via its Northeast region. The proposal was revealed during the recent visit of BJP leader Ram Madhav and a group of ministers from the Northeast states to China. Madhav highlighted how India is pushing connectivity in the Northeast along with neighbouring countries under the … [Read more...] about Northeast Transit: Done properly, giving China access through the region could turn out to be a win-win

Lakshmi stood staring at the tiny worn out denim skirt in her hands, her pallid face betraying no emotion. The young mother was in a crumpled red and green saree she had been wearing since the day her house in Rudraprayag was washed away in the devastating floods. There were many more such expressionless faces like Lakshmi’s at the relief distribution point along the … [Read more...] about Kerala Floods: Donate with a long-term vision

“Dada, so many people who were having trouble getting married finally got their wedding cakes after getting wigs from us,” quips Sk. Sabir Ali. The 40-year-old is not a matrimonial consultant, but as a wigmaker, he knows how important a good head of hair is for one’s self-esteem, especially if one is trying to find a life partner. Sabir Ali lives in … [Read more...] about Hair loss: A ‘blessing in disguise’ for this West Bengal village

This Independence Day, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s manned space mission by 2022, among those surprised were Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists. Indian space scientists and engineers, guided by Vikram Sarabhai’s vision, have achieved great progress since the 1960s when India used to fire sounding rockets from a sleepy fishing … [Read more...] about To match Nasa and ESA, India-China should form ASA

Adventure sports such as mountaineering require development of qualities which have a positive spin-off on other activities. Following a surge in the popularity of running over the last two decades, a more complex pursuit like mountaineering has caught on and is being encouraged by some employers. These pursuits have wider ramifications as even a young society like India is … [Read more...] about Fiscal incentives for popular sporting activities can encourage preventive healthcare

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day announcement that the country will send a manned mission to space by 2022 is truly remarkable. I for one am supportive of this project. If we are able to achieve this feat, we will be only the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to launch a manned space mission. And that will be incredible precisely because it is … [Read more...] about Manned Indian Space Mission: A project we can all get behind

When Narendra Modi delivered his fifth Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, he became one of two non-Congress PMs to have completed five years in office. The first was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. That the original master orator passed away just a day later is particularly poignant. Today Modi’s dramatically delivered addresses energise low-attention-span … [Read more...] about What Modi can learn from the Vajpayee playbook

“Why does Modi Uncle want to send me to the moon?” a little girl asked her mother, as we came up in the same elevator. She had just watched ‘the speech’. Her mother laughed uneasily and said, “No, no, no, beta — he was just saying it… you know… talking about our country’s space programme. Nobody is going to send you to the … [Read more...] about Taking us to the moon? For starters, give us some space right here

A disclaimer before I begin. I like Jet Airways. I fly Jet often, and for the most part, have had a good experience on their domestic flights. Their international flights are world-class too, and the staff deserves special mention: they are well-trained and good at their job. And yet, the airline is in real trouble. While company management sends out notes saying things are … [Read more...] about Mayday! Time to stop Jet from going the Kingfisher way

Even as the trade deficit has widened to record levels and exports remain below the 2013-14 peak, the government is crippling one of the few sectors where India has a huge export potential — livestock and meat. A combination of Hindutva and animal rights activists persuaded the Shipping Ministry to ban exports of livestock from all ports last week. Live sheep and goats … [Read more...] about Don’t lynch the livestock business with export bans