Obama Visit: New Dance Moves, Little Substance

The Obama visit has completely wowed the Indian media. 24 hour TV channels have spent at last 12 hours on the Obama visit – the other 12 hours of course going for ads, the reason … Read more

Games in the Time of Dengue

THERE are genuine reasons for the nation to exult as India showcased its capabilities through the truly spectacular opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. A nation, reeling from the continuous disclosures of ineptitude … Read more

India begins trials for Basic Trainer aircraft:self-reliance in reverse gear

What do you say when one of the developing world’s leading industrial and technological nations, an emerging Asian giant knocking on the doors of global power status, goes shopping for the most rudimentary of aircraft? … Read more

Commons as an Active Producer

TODAY, the new digital age is recreating a number of much older ideas. Producing software collaboratively and with various free software licenses is building a new digital commons. This is not all. We also have … Read more

The PMO Dances to theTunes of Pharma MNCs

SEVERAL recent reports in the press indicate that the prime minister’s office had sought the opinion of some ministries regarding issues related to the Indian patents act. In itself, this would pass as a routine … Read more

The Nuclear Liability Bill: Bowing to US Pressure

THE civil liability for nuclear damage bill has now gone through the standing committee of the  parliament. Though some amendments have been added, the major thrust of the bill of protecting suppliers from significant damages … Read more

Faltering Progress in Combating Infectious Diseases: India’s Record in Achieving Millennium Development Goals

LAST month saw the release of the India Country report for 2010, regarding progress made till date towards achieving specific targets in eight different areas, set by the United Nations in 2001 – known as … Read more

FDI in Organized Retail: a lose-lose game

The UPA government is once again attempting to completely open up the retail sector to foreign direct investment including, possibly, 100 percent FDI in organized multi-brand retail or supermarket chains. The Department of Industrial Policy … Read more

BP’s Mexican Gulf Oil Disaster: Obama’s Katrina?

THE horrific on-going disaster caused by oil spewing out from British Petroleum’s (BP) well in the Gulf of Mexico is going from bad to worse, showing little signs of abating. It is already by far … Read more

Creating Life from Four Bottles of Chemicals?

THE publication of a claim that scientists have created “life” from “four bottles of chemicals” in the American journal, Science, has attracted considerable attention. Reactions have been varied, with one commentator even hailing it as … Read more

COCHABAMBA CONFERENCE: Climate Radicals Leave Much to Ponder

THE climate crisis and efforts to tackle it have witnessed unprecedented mobilisation of popular movements, NGOs, think tanks, experts, intellectuals and activists, as was evident at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen last December. Of course, … Read more

Hot Steel and a Cold Govt: Mayapuri Radioactive Exposure

THE near fatal radiation exposure in the Mayapuri scrap has led to hospitalisation of 11 people. The cause has now been identified as radioactive cobalt 60 sources that were mixed up in the scrap. What … Read more