Many a home in India comes to life with toys from Kondapalli, a village near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. The traditional wooden toys not only entertain children, but also reflect local culture and mythology. The featherweight toys are carved out of soft white wood, locally known as Tella Poniki. The wood is cut into pieces and heated to make it totally moisture-free. The different parts of the toy are made separately and then glued together. The toys are then coated with white lime and left to dry for a couple of days. Finally, they are painted in watercolours or oil…
Author: oiop
Elections are less than a month away, but manifestos of political parties are still not available to the voters. Analysing the performance of national as well as the regional parties, C.V. Aravind , says election manifestos have lost their relevance, as disillusioned voters have neither the time nor the inclination to even glance through them leave alone read them with interest. The tenure of the present Lok Sabha, the 15th since independence expires by the end of May and the Election Commission has announced its schedule for the general elections in the country which is to be conducted in nine…
Besides fighting corruption and crony capitalism, some populist measures such as subsidised electricity and free water to consumers, could be a part of the election manifesto of the infant Aam Aadmi Party, says Dr. P. M. Kamath. Manifest Destiny’ as a phrase comes to us from 19th century American history. It was the belief of then Americans that they were destined to expand their sway in North America from east coast to the west coast. Adapting it to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), one might say AAP was perceived by ordinary people of India as a party born to cleanse…
The klipspringer is a small African antelope known for its remarkable jumping ability and surefootedness. It is able to escape its enemies on land because of its unique feet, which have cylindrical hooves measuring around 4cm in diameter. The animal usually stands on the tips of its hooves and can land on its four feet on a piece of cliff that is just about the size of a dollar coin! The word ‘klipspringer’ means rock jumper in the Afrikaans language. The antelope is usually found in rocky habitats.
A NAGESWARA RAO A tri-lingual actor (1924-2014) The Telugu film industry lost one of its greatest icons when A Nageswara Rao passed into history on 22 January, 2014. A Padma Vibhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke award winner, Nageswara Rao was an integral part of the film industry for more than seven decades and according to reports had just completed his part in the film ‘Manam’ where his son Nagarjuna, a superstar in his own right and Nagarjuna’s son Naga Chaitanya also matched strides with him. Born in a poor family, Nageswara Rao had to drop out of school after his third…
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Dr S Y Quraishi was part of a threemember commission to control, direct and supervise the conduct of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President of India, General Elections to the Lok Sabha – 2009 and the elections to the State assemblies. He was an IAS officer of the 1971 batch from Haryana cadre and has a Ph.D. in Communications and Social marketing. Dr Quraishi is the first Muslim to be the CEC of India. He demitted office on 10 June 2012, and now pursues his interests in academics by teaching and…
Every political group, even those who explicitly abhor identity politics of any kind wooes dalits and backward caste voters. Anoop Kumar highlights issues that reflect the aspirations of the community that can play an important role in this election. these questions that will keep haunting every political formation The 2014 Lok Sabha election is going to be the watershed moment for the Indian democracy for various reasons. The ideological fault lines were never sharpened as before. On one hand there is the debate on the communal-secular divide that gets reflected in the electoral politics; something that has been happening over…
AIR VICE MARSHAL RANJAN DUTT Vr C The dynamic flying commander (1922- 2013) Ranjan Dutt was born in 1922 and was educated in the Royal Indian Military College. He learnt flying on his own while at the school and earned his “A” licence at the age of 16. He joined the Air Force and was commissioned on 1 August 1940 into the 4th Pilot’s Course of the Indian Air Force [IAF]. He had overstated his age by one year to join. He along with 23 other officers were sent to UK for further training and service with the Royal Air…
It is the failure to come up with an agenda that is distinct from the national parties and common to all regional parties, that the latter have repeatedly failed to forge a stable coalition in the form a third front at the Centre, says Ajay Gudavarthy. Among many features of democracy in India, is the growing federalisation with the rise and growth of regional parties. Regional parties that sprung into prominence in India after the collapse of the ‘Congress System’ in 1967 began to represent regional diversity in terms of economic needs, and cultural aspirations. They were also the representative…
The elections to the 16th Lok Sabha are round the corner. About 81.4 crore electorates will decide the future course of the world’s largest democracy. Here is a peek into India’s election process. Who conducts the elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies? The Election Commission of India. What can be the maximum number of members in the Lok Sabha? 552. Not more than 530 members from the states, and not more than 20 members from the Union Territories. The President may also appoint two members from the Anglo Indian community if (s)he thinks that the community is…