Month: April 2017

How swachh?

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sweeping the Delhi municipal polls, one hopes it puts into practice what it has been preaching across the nation ~ cleanliness. There are several pockets across the capital that sorely need a liberal brush of the broom, starting with the entry points into the city ~ airports, railway stations...

April 30, 2017

46 IS militants arrested in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Interior Ministry said on Sunday that it has arrested 46 Islamic State (IS) militants suspected to be behind a deadly suicide bombing attack on the Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Medina in the summer of 2016, Al Arabiya local news reported. The suspects, 32 Saudis and 14 foreigners of Pakistani, Yemeni, Afghan,...

April 30, 2017

US-led campaign against IS killed 352 civilians: Pentagon

The Pentagon said on Sunday at least 352 civilians were killed as a result of US-led campaign against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria from August 2014 to March 2017. In its monthly report of assessment of civilian casualties, the Pentagon said it was still assessing 42 reports of civilian deaths, Xinhua news...

April 30, 2017

Being US President big burden on the family: Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Sunday that his position in White House has affected his family life, adding that his wife Melania Trump has been "terribly abused by the press". "There is no question, it is a big burden on the family," Xinhua news agency quoted Trump as telling The...

April 30, 2017

Liquid delights

As repeated forecasts of a nor’wester have proved to be wrong, one can only look for passing relief in chilled delights. There was a time when the lime juice sold in street corners for just a rupee would draw people who desperately needed to quench their thirst. They could then look for a shade while...

April 30, 2017

Firmly in the saddle

The BJP-led Assam government completes one year in office on 24 May. The patched-up alliance includes the Asom Gana Parishad, which tested power twice, and the Bodoland People’s Front, led by rebel-turned-politician Hagrama Mohilary. Sarbananda Sonowal is the state’s first tribal chief minister. Few believed that the BJP would come to power with a convincing...

April 30, 2017

For prosperity’s sake

This is not the best of times to look at China, especially its South and South Western provinces, from a Northeast geo-economic perspective. It is important to note some good practices as the Chinese move in renaming six habitations of Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese following the recent visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang has...

April 30, 2017

A scar of motherhood

It was my seventh birthday and we were going to have a party. In the kitchen my mother feverishly cooked food and pastries I was partial to. I dropped in from time to time to see the progress. Beads of perspiration lined her face on that warm day, but she smiled every time I came...

April 30, 2017

Will Frexit follow Brexit?

This week, global financial markets were relieved by the lead of French Presidential centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the first round over the right-wing Ms Marine Le Pen, creating a second election on May 7. So far, the populist tide after Brexit and Trump last year has not yet swept completely through Europe, as France...

April 30, 2017

Discovery of Bharat-II

The unknown British officer promptly collected samples of broken bricks and sent these to the National Test House in London. There was no test house in Bharat then, as the Industrial Revolution had quietly bypassed this country. He was stunned at the results advanced by the Test House. The samples were parts of regular bricks...

April 30, 2017

Taxing patience

The euphoria over the Centre signing the “historic” 3 August 2015 “Framework Naga peace accord” with NSCN-IM chairman Isak Swu and general secretary Th Muivah, has more or less dissipated. Now it is giving way to despair and even anger. Many have adversely commented on the decision not to disclose the contents. Over the past 20...

April 30, 2017

Risky gamble

If part of the effort to inject an employment angle into the “development narrative” in Jammu and Kashmir there would be reason to applaud the decision to include a women’s unit in the five India Reserve Battalions for which an expenditure of Rs.61 crore per battalion has been approved by the Centre. Unemployment in J-K...

April 30, 2017

IPL 2017: David Warner leads charge as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeat KKR

Warner butchered the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers with a 59-ball 126-run innings.

April 30, 2017

Nadal defeats Thiem, wins 10th Barcelona Open title

In a battle of top 10 players, world No.5 Nadal took out the world No.9 in 90 minutes.

April 30, 2017

‘Guj govt discriminating against tribals in Narmada water allocation’

Ahead of the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's rally in tribal-dominated Narmada district on Monday, party leader Ahmed Patel on Sunday accused the state government of giving a "preferential treatment" to corporate houses over tribals in allocation of water of Narmada river. Addressing reporters here, Patel, the political secretary to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, alleged that...

April 30, 2017

Govt doctors in TN to go on one day strike on May 8

Government doctors in Tamil Nadu will observe a one day strike on May 8, protesting against cancellation of reservation for in service doctors in post graduate medical admissions. Stating this, Government Hospital Doctors association state president Senthil told reporters here that all doctors of government hospitals and Primary Health Centres would participate in the token...

April 30, 2017

5 killed, 4 injured in 3 fire incidents in Delhi

Five persons, including a seven- months pregnant woman, were charred to death while four others were injured in three separate fire incidents in the city in a span of 24 hours. In the first incident reported in outer Delhi's Sultanpuri area, a seven-months pregnant woman and her niece died in a blaze in a four-storeyed...

April 30, 2017