2023

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Sept 16, 2023
A special session of Parliament is to be held from September 18 to 22, and members of Parliament have only just been told about the agenda. On top of the agenda on September 18, is The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, brought in by the ruling BJP Government led by Mr Modi seeking to undo the recent Supreme Court ruling in ’Anoop Baranwal vs. (…)

In the English language, most words have a variety of applications. Myth has several aspects, among them the creation of the human mind, the Freudian ‘unconscious memory’ and the legend. Marvel has the sense of wonder and the sense of success. The Marvel comics evoke also a sense of doom, a feeling of what exactly are we doing to ourselves and to our Earth. The Indian Space Research Organisation is an entity enveloped in myth and marvel. I like to begin with its marvelous programmes that (…)

India has been making remarkable strides in space exploration over the past few decades. One of the crowning jewels in India’s space endeavors is the Chandrayaan series of missions, which has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the Moon. Among these missions, Chandrayaan-3 stands out as a unique endeavor that holds immense significance for the overall development of the country and beyond.
On 23 August 2023, India became the fourth country to land on the moon after the (…)

A Hindi faculty of Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce (SCAC) in Pune was arrested for allegedly making objectionable remarks about Hindu deities in class and outraging religious sentiments . The faculty is highly educated holding a doctoral degree from one of the elite universities of the world. His conclusions are based on rigorous techniques and carefully crafted, not sweeping remarks. Both these incidents pose a great threat to academic freedom in teaching and research.
This is not (…)

This piece laments the loss of academic freedom, classroom spaces, and good teachers at the University of Delhi.
It’s been roughly 6 months since Delhi University replaced half of its teaching faculty. When this shameful process came to the doorstep of my department, it was the winter semester exams. It was also my first winter ever, covered in multiple layers and I still couldn’t protect myself from a shiver running through my body from the cold fear of losing some very good teachers. (…)

Very recently, the activist-singer, T. M. Krishna, has reminded us of the fluidity of our religious tradition. He argued: “Meanings are not constant; they are added, deleted, built upon, twisted, overturned. The import of a word also changes with place, time, context, and reason. This is true of Sanatana Dharma too…The words Sanatana Dharma and Hindutva have been coupled by the Hindu right wing. Many who spout these words carry out attacks on Muslims, Christians, and Dalits…Those desirous of (…)

THE inveterate Hindu in him spurred the British prime minister to take time off from the G20 summit to offer prayers at Delhi’s riverside Akshardham temple. In so doing, he picked up a politically handy applause from the hosts even if the trade pact both eyed has apparently hit the doldrums.
Rishi Sunak could have more usefully nudged his Catholic friend from the US to attend the Sunday mass at Delhi’s British-era Sacred Heart Cathedral Church. After all, according to a worrying new survey (…)

A year-long series of G20 events spread over India’s vast and diverse urban landscape concluded with the 18th summit meeting in New Delhi on 8-10 September. Since this was the first such major international event hosted by India after the 1983 Non-Aligned Movement summit and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, it understandably attracted a great deal of public attention not just in India but also internationally.
Unlike G7, G20 is not a cozy club of the world’s richest countries, it has several (…)

[Special on September 19, 2023]
Mystery shrouds the 36-hour delay in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s departure after the G20 summit held here in New Delhi from September 8 to 10, with visible diplomatic implications for Indo-Canadian relations.
Trudeau arrived here on September 8 and was scheduled to fly back home at the conclusion of the Summit on September 10. He was accompanied by his son Xavier, 16. Trudeau had separated from his wife Sophie Gregorie barely a month ago and (…)

12th September, 2023
The much talked about G20 summit was over recently. The media, specially the electronic media contributed consciously to the hype about the summit, some even using phrases like ‘Modiplocy’. From the time India took up the Presidency of the group last year at the Bali summit, the Indian leadership took its job seriously. It is a record of sorts that over 200 meetings on a diverse range of issues and fields took place in different parts of the country, before the sherpas (…)