India’s original Rock Star (1955-2014) Nandu Bhende, son of Marathi actor-director Atmaram Bhende and late Dr. Asha Bhende (Lily Ezekiel), had showbiz coursing through his veins. He was one of the pioneers of Rock Music in India. In the 1970s, as the rock music wave engulfed India’s cities and big towns, Nandu Bhende sang with bands such as Velvette Fogg, Brief Encounter and then Savage Encounter in Mumbai. In 1974, theatre director-producer Alyque Padamsee staged the seminal Jesus Christ Superstar, a Rock Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. According to theatre lore, Madhu Das who played Jesus Christ,…
Author: oiop
THE Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the world’s biggest performing arts festival. It is one of the several art and cultural festivals which take place simultaneously, in August, when Edinburgh plays host to various theatre, music and dance troupes from around the world. The Fringe began in 1947 along with the more prestigious Edinburgh International Festival to encourage less famous and more off-beat artists. It is a big culture carnival with stand-up comedians, street artists, musicians, acrobats and others entertaining the public at a host of venues from private flats and circus tents to even public toilets! There are also puppet…
While achieving food security, decision makers in India should not get distracted by techno-fixes like GM crops which are promoted by global biotech seed companies as a silver bullet. They are nothing but a threat to nation’s seed sovereignty and food security, warns Rajesh Krishnan. The debate and controversy around GM crops and, more precisely about environmental release of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) started 41 years ago around the time the first GMO was developed in an American lab. The debate initiated in the scientific circles spread out to all sections of the society, as here was a technology that…
The Valley of Flowers stretches over an expanse of 87.50sq.km in Uttarakhand, in the upper reaches of Garhwal in the Zanskar range of the Himalayas. It was declared a national park in 1982. Because of the rich diversity of plant species that grow there, the UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site. Legend has it that when the Pandavas were on their way to Swargarohan in the Himalayas, Draupadi saw an exquisite flower floating in a river. She asked Bhima to find out where the flower had come from. Bhima set out alongside the river through valleys of…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly emphasised on the dire need to make farming economically viable. A beginning can be made by revitalising agriculture in a manner that it brings back the smile on the face of the farmers, writes Devinder Sharma. I have never understood why Indian farmers continue to be ignored. With a meager outlay every year, Indian farmers have been producing a bountiful harvest. If only agriculture was to be injected with the much needed economic stimulus package, I am sure Indian farmers can flood the country with food, fruits and vegetables. India can certainly emerge as…
India needs serious attention of policy makers, development officials, researchers and farmers in boosting land productivity and food production by using advanced technologies, and most importantly making nutritious food available and accessible to all, writes Prem Nath. Agriculture was developed by human beings for their own benefit, in order to tame and utilise the natural resources for producing food. Although it started as a hit and miss process in its early stages, its success became a practice followed by tradition. With the passage of time the successful practices became more traditional and came to be defined as traditional farming. With…
Shaurya Mehta is a trained singer, cricketer and a photographer by passion, who aspires to take the Metcon brand to different parts of the world and make it the most respectable and value-focused conglomerate of India. The business of business is business’. This statement immediately goes to your gut, your heart, your innermost self and as a businessman, you end up asking yourself fundamental questions such as: “What do I truly believe in?”, “Which side am I on: Crony Capitalism or Soft Socialism?”, “Am I doing enough for society?”. The answers to all these lie in understanding what the statement…
Describing the life of an agriculture minister, V. Gangadhar says, one of the fundamentals of politics is, if you have some expertise on some subject, you will never get the ministry dealing with that subject. 8 a.m. : Wake up, laze around in bed for some more time. But duty calls. Begin the daily routine with a walk along the bungalow fields which grow grains. My pockets are filled with juicy grains to feed the pigeons. (I am a great admirer of late actor Amrish Puri and feel inspired by his act in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.) After sometime, hungry…
Dr. L Jalapathi Rao says, small and marginal farmers can benefit immensely through cooperative farming, provided the government motivates them by offering tax breaks and concessions and the bureaucracy too provides support. Agriculture in India has a long and sound traditional base. It is a major source of employment and food for millions and source of raw materials for several industries. It is the single largest private sector with nearly 60 percent of people depending on it for their source of livelihood. India is endowed with rich natural resources, variety of soils, water, natural vegetation and climate suitable for growing…
A revolutionary artist (1933-2014) Bold colours and thick lines are hallmark of artist Prokash Karmarkar, who fought with penury and sufferings but never gave up his art or compromised it by taking up commercial assignments. He is one of the outstanding painters of contemporary India known for his originality. His work is culmination of rich inheritance of Indian art and dynamic spirit of the modern age. Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1933, he has lived through wars, famine, communal riots, and partition, and his powerful brush has caught the anguished search of his age for meaning and direction in…