Author: oiop

KHUSHWANT SINGH Witty and fearless writer (1915 – 2014) In his syndicated column, ‘With Malice Towards One and All’, Khushwant Singh was given an unique logo that finds no parallel among journalist and columnist across the world. He was shown sitting inside a light bulb. This logo was conceived, created and executed by another unique artist Mario Miranda. The ‘light’ signified that Singh was shedding light, humour, satire and punching them with his tongue-in-cheek digs directed at himself. With his passing away last month, that light has gone out forever. One more year and he would have crossed a century…

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In increasingly shrinking public spaces in metros that are criss-crossed with speeding vehicular traffic, skywalks are a boon as they provide safe, uninterrupted walk for the teeming pedestrians, argues Krishnaraj Rao, as he highlights its many advantages. Any discussion about Mumbai’s skywalks evokes strong reactions – both for and against it. Various stakeholder groups, including some activists, are polarised in their views on the subject. In this debate, the most significant fact about skywalks is completely ignored. Skywalks are an acknowledgement of the existence of pedestrians by the planning authorities. Otherwise, the disappearing footpaths, extremely rare zebra crossings, insurmountable traffic…

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Indian transport has given us some outstanding personalities like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and George Fernades, says V. Gangadhar hoping that in days to come Indians will learn to appreciate transport better and even clamour for the transport minister’s portfolio. A joke in a Tamil film of the 1960’s goes like this… A tinpot dictator seized power in a Tamil state and surrounded by his henchmen was distributing loaves and fish… One of them protested and asked to explain, the man blurted out, “Ayya, idhu enna anyayam. Ninga vaa sonnal vandhen, po sonnal ponaen. Anal enakku onnum Illaya?” (Sir,…

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BRIGADIER DESMOND E HAYDE MVC The braveheart Commander (1926-2013) BRIGADIER Hayde was born on 28 November 1926 in Exeter, UK in an Anglo-Indian family of Irish lineage with an old tradition of soldiering. He studied in Asansol and Bangalore. He joined the IMA, Dehradun on 20 January 1947 and was commissioned into 3 Jat Regiment on 12 September 1948. He assumed command of the battalion a few hours before the unit marched into Pakistan at 4 a.m. on 6 September 1965. The unit reached village Ghosal- Dial, not aware that a company of three Baluch had arrived in the village.…

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Judicious use of new environment-friendly methods and inputs has helped farmers to reduce their costs significantly while improving income as well as productivity. Siadulari (45), is just a small farmer of a little village (Padaraha village of Kanpur district) but she is a symbol of hope for the resurgence of India’s agriculture and its economy. It has been said time and again that farmers’ crisis is rooted in two big problems. First, they’ve been trapped in expensive technology and inputs. Over 80 percent of India’s farmers are small farmers and they can’t afford expensive, high-risk technologies. Second, these technologies linked…

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Located 48 km from Imphal, Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in northeast India. It is considered the lifeline of Manipur, given its importance in the state’s socio-economic and cultural life. In 1990, it was designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The lake is called the world’s only floating lake on account of a maze of phumdis dotting its picturesque waterscape. Phumdis are unique naturally formed floating islands of vegetation, soil and organic matter. Only 1/5 part of these marshes float above the water. These islands offer a unique habitat for a rich variety…

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Jagdeep Desai says the country’s first monorail is an ill-conceived system forced on the city of Mumbai, just to boast that the city has a monorail in addition to a metro. The much-awaited Mumbai monorail, India’s first, was thrown open to the public in February 2014, ending the city’s wait for a new mode of public transport. However, less than three months after its launch, serious doubts are being raised about its utility. Monorails are public transport vehicles which run on single tracks, as against the common double tracked trams, railways, and can be at grade, i.e on ground, underground…

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Highlighting the transportation woes of the urban population, Sudhir Badami strongly advocates the need to prioritise pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and efficient road public transport system to address mobility problems. Transportation is one of the most contentious issues of urban living, especially in a city like Mumbai, whose vehicular population has been growing exponentionally, but its infrastructural facilities highly inadequate. It is time for aspiring candidates and political parties to start thinking of Sustainable Urban Mobility in all seriousness to improve the quality of life of the citizens. The swanky, highly capital intensive projects such as Metro Rail and Monorail,…

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Pratik Mantri is a freelance writer based in Ahmedabad. He loves to read, write, follow sports and politics closely. India is a nation of young people. A lot of emphasis is therefore on the youth and their dreams, but the country also has many citizens who are in the twilight of their lives and face a lot of problems which do not get the attention which it should. These senior citizens have invaluable knowledge and wisdom, derived from years of experience and various situations in their life, which the youth can learn from. Changing family values and nuclear families being…

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Bina C. Balakrishnan points out the basic flaws in Indian metro rail systems, which she says have been designed as stand-alone systems, completely ignoring the need for inter-modal connectivity, leading to high commuter stress. The transportation systems in Indian metropolitan cities have far outgrown their capacities for meeting the demand for movement. The cities desperately need more efficient modes to cater to the daily journey to work. The modes of transportation that predominantly exist in our cities today are still the “traditional” forms of transport – buses, intermediate public transport (IPT) and cars. Although cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore…

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