Ideas News - Page 4
Nuclear energy: No longer a sacred cow
The nuclear debate in India has changed dramatically over the decades. Once even questioning nuclear power was taboo, a dissenter dubbed anti-national. But the old hawks are suddenly sounding out of tune, even when they are brought on television as experts.
Tears of a clown: The comic genius of Yeddyurappa
Yeddyurappa is best known for his tears, tantrums, and silly antics. It's also why he's weathered scandals that would have felled a more respected leader.
How Niira Radia cosied up to BJP's Ananth Kumar
Niira Radia's first major break into the power circle was BJP's Ananth Kumar, a rookie minister with very little understanding of aviation though he was the aviation minister. Radia got close to him and swung the Airbus deal.
Arab Spring, Rumi and Sufism highlight at Jaipur Lit Fest 2012
Sufism and the Arab spring will the major theme for this year's Jaipur Literature Festival.
Land wars: Anand Mahindra debates Medha Patkar
The Indian industry needs land, and farmers and tribals have it. India's leading industrialist and best known land rights activist face off over the most contentious issue of the day.
Jumping the shark: 3 signs that Anna movement is in trouble
The disarray in the leadership over the past week signal serious underlying problems that threaten the very strengths that fueled their success, and may doom the anti-corruption movement in the long run.
An inside look at the life and loves of Niira Radia
Niira Radia, a key figure in the 2G spectrum scam and a lobbyist for top businessmen like Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani lived a colourful life. Starting life with a string of failures, she hit the big time only when she set up shop in India. Here's her story as told by criminal lawyer RK Anand, who has watched her at close quarters.
Right to recall is cart before horse: We need e-voting first
The Right to Recall, which is dear to the hearts of Team Anna, is a good idea but we are not ready for it. We need e-voting and digital democracy before it comes in.
Indian and in debt: What the new KBC reveals about the real aam aadmi
The new Kaun Banega Crorepati gives us a glimpse into an India that's usually invisible - farmers, small-town housewives, and small town clerks. And they reveal a nation concerned more about personal loans than corruption.
CPM Renewal: Ten things for the New Left Manifesto
The CPM must acknowledge that the world around has become too fluid to fit into rigid theoretical formulations.
Love's labour lost? Mamata's Maoist honeymoon in tatters
Mamata feels betrayed even as she ups the ante against the Maoists. What is adding more pressure on her is the the state's financial crisis while the CPM accuses her of letting the Maoists regroup.
Not writing what he preaches to Narayana Murthy: Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020
Bhagat recently lashed out at Narayana Murthy for saying that coaching classes have led to the deterioration of the quality of IIT- and IIM-produced students, but his new book perplexingly suggests exactly the same thing
Kapil Sibal, listen to Murdoch
If you replace the word 'American' with 'Indian' in Rupert Murdoch's recent speech on education, so much would still hold true.
Destroyer and deliverer: The true meaning of Vishnu's Kalki avatar
Vishnu acknowledges the end of the world, engages with it, even participates in it. While as Parashurama and Ram and Krishna, he struggles to hold on to dharma, as Balarama and finally Kalki, he lets go and allows the world to collapse. This is wisdom, knowing when to act and when to withdraw.
India's hunting problem: You can't ban a way of life
It's feasible to move people away from hunting as a pastime as seen in most cases in Nagaland. But what when, there's little else to do?
Is the National Law School of India University a failure?
No, is the overall response. But as an advocate says, if the abysmally low ratio of students who actually opt for litigation compared to those who go for corporate service is considered a benchmark of success or failure, then there is reason to think that there is a systemic failure.
Bhushan has right to speak, but what he has spoken is wrong
The goons who attacked Prashant Bhushan not only violated basic decencies but damaged their own cause on Kashmir.
Attack on Prashant Bhushan: The real shame is on us
The blame for the on-camera attack on lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his Supreme Court chambers is not limited to the three goons who beat him. All of us — including the media — are implicated.
Team Anna in Hisar: Wrong cause, wrong election, wrong rhetoric
Elections are the life blood of a democracy. To use them as a tool of political opportunism is unwise and unseemly. But what is unforgivable is Team Anna's language on the stump, which is a clear sign of a movement that is losing its direction and its head.
Rats all: Why leaders prefer to hide from their people
Our leaders are afraid of the people. Which is why they are afraid of the RTI or a genuine people's movement. Time they grew up
Are you really dead until you are dead on Facebook?
Now obituaries have become a string of celeb tweets and Facebook profiles have become memorial shrines. What's next? Dead man blogging?
'One day at IIM-A' programme gives and receives joy
50 students got to study at the premier institute, without even having applied to take the CAT.
Should auto companies make fuel free with cars?
A naïve first time user does not realise that the EMI is only one of many costs he or she will have to incur, disillusionment sets in quickly when the reality dawns.
What if women, actually, ruled the world?
Women might not rule this world in the traditional sense, but on first glance, they might have achieved a new type of equality or power through digital means. They are in the majority when it comes to population, so perhaps it's no surprise that now women are prime users of social media.
BSF vs Heritage: The battle for the Rann of Kutch
A proposed roadway presents a triple-jeopardy to this unique natural and cultural heritage: the breeding grounds of flamingoes and Indian wild asses, a unique mangrove and the Harappan site of Dholavira.
Mr Murthy, let's not damn coaching classes; they cater to a need
Coaching classes fill in the vacuum created by the failures of our educational system. If we are serious, we must put it in order first.
The transformative and surrealistic works of Tomas Tranströmer
This year's Nobel Prize winning poet, Tomas Tranströmer won't write about things you'd like to hear. The surrealism in his poetry is a treat to discover.
Camus, Pamuk, Marquez: Why you must read these Nobel winners
A list of Nobel Prize winning authors and some of their most significant works that you must read.
Steve Jobs, TBWA and Lee Clow: thinking different together
Jobs, Apple, Clow and TBWA came together to create the iconic 1984 TVC, and, a few years later, to unleash to the world the commercial everyone loves and remembers, ‘Think Different’.
Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer wins Nobel prize for Literature
The 2011 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded Thursday to Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet whose surrealistic works about the mysteries of the human mind won him acclaim as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since World War II.