A program aired on a famous television channel, (Is Carnatic Music being Communalised?, Aug.13, 2018) raised the question whether those who argued that Carnatic music should not have icons such as Jesus and Allah are being needlessly communal. Music is universal, argue those who wish to include Jesus and Allah in their repertoire of songs. A very vocal advoc...
The passing away of Muthuvel Karunanidhi, 94, last of the leaders groomed in the Dravidian stable of rationalist godfather “Periyar” EV Ramasamy Naicker, leaves a huge void in Tamil Nadu politics. The leader, endearingly called Kalaignar (pronounced kalainyar, meaning gifted scholar) by his party cadres, was a man for all seasons. The rise of “Mu Ka” (his in...
Iran has raised the spectre of a US-Saudi effort to destabilize the country by exploiting economic grievances against the backdrop of circumstantial evidence that Washington and Riyadh are playing with scenarios for stirring unrest among the Islamic republic’s ethnic minorities. Iran witnessed this weekend [Aug. 11-12] minority Azeri and Iranian Arab protest...
The failure of Western allies to rally around Canada in its dispute with Saudi Arabia risks luring the kingdom into a false belief that economic sanctions will shield it from, if not reverse mounting criticism of its human rights record and conduct of the war in Yemen. It also risks convincing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that acting with impunity ...
Many Indians, if not all, have woken up to the virtue of organic foods, as compared to those derived from the highly soil extractive, chemically driven intensive agriculture, euphemistically known as the “green revolution”. There are even States within India which “officially” are “organic”, like Kerala, Odisha. The wealthy can afford “organic” foodstuff, be...
Indian thinkers have not been blind to the idea of building strength through proper education. Swami Vivekananda had profound insight into the needs of national education. Probably the greatest insight that he brought to the problem was the recognition that education must focus on strength, which alone builds self-confidence. This is the exact opposite of Ma...
It is with prudence and determination that the Russian Federation and President Trump put a definitive end to the domination of the world by transnational interests. Convinced that the balance of powers does not depend on their economics but rather on their military capacities, President Putin has certainly reinvigorated the quality of life for his compatrio...
The other day, an acid attack in the city of Worcester resulted in a three-year-old suffering serious face and hand injuries. Somehow, the May government that seems to be unable to jump off the Russophobic bandwagon didn’t make an attempt to blame this attack on Moscow. Probably, we can attribute this abnormal pattern of behavior of the sitting British autho...
While the future of the Iran-nuke deal continues to depend upon the will of Europe, China and Russia in the face of US unilateral withdrawal and the latter’s campaign to convince at least Europe to do the same, for Iran the important question is not just the deal now. For it, the more important question is of how to defeat, thwart and circumvent the US sanct...
In an article, ‘How genetics is settling the Aryan migration debate’, Tony Joseph, former editor of Business World, argued that the population of the Caspian, Central Asian and Indian regions share a common DNA (The Hindu, June 16, 2017). Endorsing the Aryan Migration Theory, Joseph contended that Indo-European language speakers, who called themselves Aryans...
After the June and July leadership meetings of the G7 (1) and NATO, marked by acrimony among their members and hostility towards much of the rest of the world, the 10th anniversary summit meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) was a breath of fresh air. Held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the event’s official theme was “BRICS in Africa...
Like many Hindus I often find myself at a loss when called upon to explain to others what Hinduism is. I find this problem of Hindu identity to be particularly acute among Indians living in the West, and other ‘Westernized’ Hindus. What is Hinduism? Is it the observance of festivals like Diwali and rituals like the daily sandhya-vandana? Is it reverence for ...
Recent Iranian trade figures suggest that the United Arab Emirates, a strong backer of US efforts to squeeze Iran economically, could emerge alongside China as the Islamic republic’s foremost lifeline in seeking to blunt the impact of harsh sanctions. Russia and Oman rather than Europe are emerging as runners-up in possibly enabling Iran to circumvent sancti...
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder and alleged rape of a nomad child in Jammu’s Rassana village has acquired urgency with the arrest of Talib Hussain, the man who publicly dictated who was guilty and should be arrested for the crime, and instigated the communal polarisation in the region. His arrest on August 1, 2018 for the...
Crushing people who are genuine healers and medical saviours is a long-established medical tradition in Australia. The doctor who first blew the whistle on Thalidomide, Dr William McBride, was banned from practicing medicine until 1998… almost half a century. He was not recognised for his courageous role until 2018, when an ABC TV journalist unwittingly rele...
It might well be noted that Australia’s Aborigines in the northern states (NT and Kimberly) receive more such antibiotics and vaccinations than any comparable group in the world, and that because of deficient diet, largely reliant on processed foods and takeaways, plus vast consumption of sugars and carbohydrates, this has had undoubted implications for Abor...
The history of Autism goes back only 84 years. In 1933, autism was unheard-of. In 1934, the first case of autism was encountered. This occurred months after public vaccination regimes commenced. Fifty years ago, with vaccination regimes much-expanded, the occurrence of autism was declared one in 10,000. Now in Australia autism is reported as one in sixty-sev...
‘God is dead’ is a phrase that first appeared in Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1882 collection, The Gay Science, and later in his philosophical novel, Thus Spake Zarathustra. To many Europeans, this phrase by Nietzsche summarizes the state of religion and culture in modern European society. One of Christendom’s most prominent atheist advocates is the Italian philoso...
Mahdi al-Mashat, President of the Houthi Supreme Political Council (the political wing of the Ansar Allah movement) has requested Russia for help in resolving the military conflict in Yemen. In a letter sent to President Vladimir Putin, Mahdi al-Mashat emphasised the “aggression against Yemen” and “the military escalation perpetrated by the Saudi-led coaliti...
Pakistani prime minister-in waiting Imran Khan’s ability to chart his own course as well as his relationship with the country’s powerful military is likely to be tested the moment he walks into his new office. Pakistan’s most fundamental problems loom large and are likely to demand his immediate attention. He probably will have to turn to the International M...