The fact that the multipolar international system is fast unfolding is reinforced by clear trends in polycentric global geoeconomics. There is significant trade within the Global South; currency swap agreements; trade in national currencies bypassing the dollar; steps towards trading oil and gas in national currencies; the promotion of such …
Read More »Monthly Archives: January 2023
TORPEDOING A SUBMARINE RUMOUR
Speculation abounds that the Indian Navy could cancel Project-75 India (I)-class for submarine production and instead acquire more Scorpene (Kalvari class) submarines — the fifth submarine from this class, INS Vagir, was commissioned into the Navy on January 23. A media report last week claimed that the Navy, faced with …
Read More »INDIA’S JUGGERNAUT OF CENSORSHIP
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has blocked over 50 tweets on Twitter that carried a link to the BBC documentary, “India: The Modi Question”. In an order on January 20, 2023, the government used emergency powers under the Information Technology Rules, 2021 and Section 69A of the Information Technology …
Read More »ALBINISM IN WILD DOG IN KARNATAKA SANCTUARY
In what could be termed as a first for dholes (wild dogs), a partial albino dhole (Cuon alpinus) has been photo-documented in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. This is not only the first-ever record of albinism in dholes from India but also from its entire distribution range in 11 countries. The …
Read More »FIVE FROM T.N., ONE FROM U.T. GET PADMA AWARDS
1 of 6 Vani Jairam, K. Kalyanasundaram Pillai, ‘Palam’ Kalyana Sundaram, Vadivel Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan, Nalini Parthasarathy and Gopalsamy Five persons from Tamil Nadu and one from Puducherry have been chosen for Padma Awards this year for their contribution in the their respective fields, including medicine, art and social work. Renowned …
Read More »IRULA COMMUNITY OF TAMIL NADU
Two snake catching experts from the Irula community — Vadivel Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan — were chosen to be honoured with the Padma Shri awards on Wednesday. Lakshmanan highlights the plight of the Scheduled Tribe communities in Tamil Nadu and the need for some remedies in the article dated November …
Read More »JAPAN TO FLUSH FUKUSHIMA WASTEWATER
Japan is expected to start flushing 1.25 million tonnes of wastewater from the embattled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean this year, as part of a $76-billion project to decommission the facility. The project received the Japanese cabinet’s approval in 2021 and could take three decades to complete. …
Read More »AYODHYA, A CITY OF PARAMOUNT BELIEF
It is unfortunate that Ayodhya has come to occupy space in public discourse only with the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi conflict. Historically, the city of Ayodhya, literally meaning, ‘to fight’, goes much deeper than many of the more celebrated cities of India. Often respected as a sacred city for Hindus, the …
Read More »KEN-BETWA RIVER LINK PROJECT
On January 18, the Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) held its third meeting in New Delhi. It was chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, who reiterated that the KBLP was a “flagship” project of the national government …
Read More »IMF CONFIRMS INDIA’S FINANCE ASSURANCES FOR SRI LANKA
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed receiving India’s written financing assurance in support of Sri Lanka’s economic revival, Reuters news agency reported, while Sri Lanka has expressed hope of completing talks on debt restructuring in six months. “We confirm that India has indicated to the IMF management that it is committed to deliver …
Read More »INDIA AND EGYPT TIES
Egyptian President Abdel Fateh el-Sisi arrived here on Tuesday on a four-day state visit. Mr. Sisi is the first Egyptian leader to be invited as the chief guest for the Republic Day Parade. During the visit, officials said, both sides will sign several MoUs and discuss taking ties forward on …
Read More »INDIA BAGS OSCAR NOMINATIONS FOR ORIGINAL SONG AND 2 DOCUMENTARIES
Naatu Naatu, the hit dance track from S.S. Rajamouli’s blockbuster RRR, continued its winning march on Tuesday with a coveted nomination for the original song at the Oscars 2023 where Indian documentaries All That Breathes and Elephant Whisperers also got nods in the documentary feature and documentary short categories. Surreal sci-fi film Everything Everywhere All At …
Read More »‘INDIA LOST ACCESS TO 26 OF 65 PATROL POINTS’
India has lost access to 26 out of 65 Patrolling Points (PP) in eastern Ladakh, according to one of the research papers submitted at last week’s annual police meet in Delhi, accessed by The Hindu. The “play-safe” approach of the Indian Army that restricts the movement of the district administration and …
Read More »TODAY IS NATIONAL TOURISM DAY
Today is National Tourism Day (January 25) and the Ministry of Railways, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, is launching its Jagannath Yatra train package, an eight-day tour that begins in from Delhi, traverses Kashi, Baidyanath Dham, Jagannath Puri, Bhubaneshwar and Konark, and ends at the Vishnupad temple in …
Read More »THE NEW AND DARK INTERPRETATIONS OF ‘WE THE PEOPLE’
The raging controversy over the very meaning of ‘We the People’, after the speech made by the Vice-President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar at the 83rd all India conference of presiding officers’ in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on January 11, needs a closer look. With its particular reference to …
Read More »INDIA’S CAMPAIGN ON HOCKEY WORLD CUP
India’s campaign in its second consecutive hockey World Cup at home had a dream start when local boy Amit Rohidas scored a brilliant goal in front of a packed house and the host beat Spain 2-0 at the spectacular new Birsa Munda Stadium in hockey hub Rourkela. Ten days later, …
Read More »INDIA -PAKISTAN NORMALISATION OF RELATIONS
On the eternally rough road of India-Pakistan ties, any offer of talks, like the one made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week, is cause for equal measure of excitement and cynicism. His words, in an interview to a UAE channel, that Pakistan “had learnt a lesson from three …
Read More »MASS MORTALITY OF OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLES IN A.P
Hundreds of dead Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) have washed ashore along the coastline between Kakinada and Antarvedi in the Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh during the ongoing annual breeding season on the east coast. The breeding grounds — Sakhinetipalli, Malikipuram, Mamidikuduru and Allavaram — have been witnessing the mass …
Read More »RESEARCH PROJECT SURVIVING VIOLENCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
A majority of survivors interviewed from Tamil Nadu as a part of the research project Surviving Violence: Everyday resilience and gender justice in rural-urban India shared their domestic violence experience for the first time after the incident took place in six to twelve months. The research project carried out in Tamil Nadu, …
Read More »VIRAL RESPIRATORY INFECTION ON CHILDREN
Several children are presenting with symptoms of cough at paediatric centres across the city. Paediatricians, who are seeing a steady flow in outpatient units, said these were primarily viral respiratory infections. A senior doctor at the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children said there was a small increase …
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