India’s Mars Orbiter Mission has made us proud, though it has its detractors who scoff at a ‘poor’ country’s effort to join the ‘elite’ space club. An optimistic Nayanika Nambiar tells us why these naysayers are wrong, and how investing in space technology will eventually benefit our nation. History was made when India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully entered the Martian orbit. In doing so, India became the first country to enter Mars’ orbit on its first attempt and also the first Asian country to do so. Headlines on India’s maiden Mars mission all include the words ‘low-cost’ or some…
Author: oiop
THE happy face spiders, which are found only on the islands of Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii in the Hawaiian archipelago, sport coloured markings on their backs that look like smiling faces. Each spider exhibits a unique pattern which is determined by the genes it carries. Spiders with different forms of smiles and even frowns on their abdomens can be seen on the islands. Scientists believe the spiders have developed these markings to confuse birds, their only natural predators. The survival of the species, whose scientific name is Theridion Grallator, is threatened by large scale destruction of rainforests- its natural…
The enchanting land of the Nagas was untouched by the outside world till the arrival of the British, and the Christian missionaries. The repelled Japanese invasion of Kohima during World War II further altered the Naga psyche. While the physical landscape remains beautifully stark, the Naga society is experiencing robust winds of change. They are definitely not isolated anymore, writes Katie Dubey. On an evening not long ago, I was dispassionately watching an advertisement for Kaun Banega Corepati, the popular quiz programme. On the set was a young girl from the Northeast, sitting across the show’s host, Amitabh Bachchan. His…
India and Nepal may be seen as ‘unequal neighbours’, but the religious and cultural links between the two are very strong. Nepal declaring itself a ‘secular nation’ and the increased Christian missionary activity in Nepal in the name of development, have raised many hackles in India. Prime Minister Modi has sought to reverse this trend by signing trade agreements and focusing on his own personal journey to Pashupatinath, writes Dr. Rajesh S. Kharat. Being a landlocked and small state, Nepal’s relations with India have always been characterised as relations between ‘unequal neighbours’. In fact, both geostrategic considerations and the location…
Bhutan is India’s most peaceful, and perhaps, least ambitious neighbour. Its emphasis on preserving biodiversity, protecting natural resources, maintaining cultural identity, and discouraging unbridled tourism, make it very unique. This small Himalayan Kingdom, which counts its wealth in happiness, holds many lessons for India. There is a certain magic in the air in Bhutan, a lilting melody that refuses to fade long after you have come away, marvels Akul Tripathi. With high profile neighbours like China and Pakistan, alongwith others like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, who each have their own unique attractions and moments of excitement on a…
India and Sri Lanka have all the ingredients to be natural allies, from a shared history, ethnicity and culture, to trade and commerce. Yet, the relations between the two countries have been mired in conflicts and controversies since decades. It will take a herculean effort by the Modi government to clear these webs of mistrust, says P. K. Balachandran. It is, at least it should be, impossible for India and Sri Lanka to quarrel. We are the nearest neighbors. We are inheritors of a common culture,” Mahatma Gandhi once said. Theoretically, Gandhi’s statement should hold good, as the cultural, linguistic,…
Modern notions of nationhood and boundaries have all but obliterated the glorious past of the Silk Route, the Grand Trunk Road and the sea routes, which had facilitated so much trade and travel in and across the Indian sub-continent. The redrawing of borders and the general air of mistrust have isolated us, and have ensured that we would much rather engage with far away nations than our own neighbours, rues Akul Tripathi. Before there was even a hint of the dawn of civilisation in much of what is today’s sophisticated society, the ancient people of the land we now recognise…
SOMNATH Hore was a national award winning printmaker and sculptor whose works featured the human form like few others. Hore was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He turned sculptor by accident when he was 53 years old! In 1974, Hore playfully created figures with lumps of wax discarded by students of sculpture at Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan. One of the students cast them in bronze. Then on, Hore became fascinated with creating bronzes. In May 1975, Hore began designing a bronze sculpture of a Mother with Child to commemorate Vietnam’s victory over USA. Two-and-a-half laborious years later, on the very night Hore…
A carpenter who had worked for a builder for twenty years decided to leave his service to take up employment with another man who had offered him a bigger salary. “I will miss you,” said his employer. “You have served me well for so long. Before you go, work on one more house.” The carpenter was eager to take up his new job and was in no mood to do any more work for the man. However, he didn’t want to tell him that. He did the work, but hurriedly and shoddily, knowing fully well that whatever he had made…
Nandini Chavan rues the fact that India’s fishing communities are neglected by both the advocates of land rights, as well as the ecological activists. Their livelihood and marine resources have to be developed in a sustainable manner, which in turn will only benefit India with its more than 7,000 km long coastline. The concept of food sovereignty is generally discussed in the context of land, farmers and agricultural production. In public forums, the discussion about food sovereignty is focused more on small farmers, environmentalists and indigenous peoples. Sovereignty entitles them all to define and play a significant role in their…