Abbreviations are horrible, whether they belong the realm of exams or well, food, says V. Gangadhar. And do we need to perpetrate a new caste system among foodgrains with the new GM foods? he asks. Anew era in the area of abbreviations has begun and we better get ready for it. Let me admit, I was not prepared for it because of the belief that the Era of Abbreviations (EOA) in India was finally over. It had harassed millions of students at various levels and I was ready to bid good bye to it. What was my problem with abbreviations?…
Author: oiop
Exemplary patriotism (1974-1999) Captain Gurjinder Suri was born on 4 July 1974. His grandfather, a Second World War veteran, had retired as Subedar and his father Colonel T.P. Singh had also chosen a career in the army. Gurjinder decided to follow the family tradition and was commissioned into the Ordnance Corps. All officers commissioned into the Ordnance Corps have to serve with an infantry battalion for a year and Gurjinder was attached to 12 Bihar which was then deployed in Kashmir, and Gurjinder was assigned to command Faulad post in Gulmarg sector. After the defeat in Kargil conflict, the Pakistan…
A democracy is where there is space for every kind of voice to be heard. Take for instance, the experimental film festival organised in Kolkota, second year in a row. This festival gives space to all kinds of cinematic voices, says Shoma A. Chatterji, as she describes how this festival came to be, and why it’s imperative that it continues. The feature film and documentary cinema industry is too structured and straitjacketed to allow for much pushing of borders to embrace new ideas of expression and experimentation. Besides, these industries – corporate films, feature films, documentary films, educational films and…
A peerless artiste (1934-2015) Eminent flautist N. Ramani who passed away recently in Chennai at the age of 81, was one of the most popular classical musicians in the country, who along with his illustrious maternal uncle T. R. Mahalingam (Mali), is credited with bringing international recognition to the humble instrument, the ‘flute’, taking Indian classical music to the far corners of the world. In fact, the uncle-nephew duo was instrumental in elevating the flute, for long considered an accompanying instrument, into the mainstream thanks to their wizardry and rising popularity. Ramani was born in Tiruvarur in the year 1934.…
IIT-Bombay’s annual Science and Technology festival – Techfest – managed to bring some of the biggest and the brightest names in the world of science to address curious and eager students. Disha Shetty reports. QQueues that stretched for almost a mile where students, parents, teachers and curious visitors stood patiently for their turn to attend not any entertainment show, but lectures and exhibitions! That’s the pull IIT-Bombay’s annual Science and Technology festival – Techfest – has. The three days from December 26-29 at the institute’s Powai campus saw a staggering footfall of 1,65,000. So what was in store for those…
THE African Grey Parrot is one of the smartest birds in the world. It is almost human in its ability to mimic sounds, talk and identify colours. It is even reputed to be able to count. One famous parrot called N’kisi reportedly had a vocabulary of 1200 words and could talk in sentences! Another, Alex, could relate words to objects. As the name implies, it is predominantly grey in colour with patches of white and a red or maroon tail. African Greys were popular pets even 4000 years ago. Unlike other birds they are expensive to maintain and require a…
Brilliant and eclectic filmmaker (1970-2015) Bappaditya Bandopadhyay, a contemporary filmmaker within Bengali cinema, whose fame spread wider beyond Indian shores than within, passed away in a private nursing home in Kolkata on 7 November 2015, of multiple organ failure. He was only 45. He contracted pneumonia while shooting continuously for 19 days in the rains at Cherapunji for his new film, Sohra Bridge. Ironically, the film was screened in the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India. Bappaditya was noted for his choice of strikingly unusual subjects for his films. Among these are Sampradaan, a film made…
The attack on India’s Pathankot Air Force base by terrorists based out of Pakistan, was a failure at many levels. Not only did we suffer casualties despite prior intelligence warning, but the handling of the crisis left a lot to be desired, says Lt. Gen. Vijay Oberoi. When will India learn her lesson? For India, the new year dawned differently. While the world welcomed the new year with cheers, all round revelry and popping of champagne bottles, it brought betrayal, deceit, fraudulence, perfidy and breach of solemn promises made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to our Prime Minister repeatedly,…
As an activist and convenor of ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture) Kavitha Kuruganti is deeply involved with the issues of farmers in India. Interacting first hand with the farmers and getting them access to markets is a cause that is close to her heart. She also spends time advocating sustainable agriculture and the need for greater awareness about Genetically Modified (GM) crops. In a conversation with Disha Shetty she discusses all that is wrong with India’s agriculture system today, and how organic farming is the natural answer to the woes of the farmers. Debate about the pros and…
Food security is a mega issue for a country like India, with her burgeoning population. How can one increase food production? Are GM crops the answer? Dr. G.V. Ramanjaneyulu disagrees and firmly believes that agro-ecologically sound practices, which also drastically reduce the use of pesticides point the way toward food security, for both the nation and the farmer. He also describes why GM crops don’t increase yield. Reports of the Parliamentary Standing Committee and Supreme Court Technical Expert Committee on the Genetically Modified (GM) foods have brought back the issue of biosafety of GM crops to the centre stage. The…