Ever since Vijender Singh won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, the first ever in boxing, and his two mates Akhil Kumar and Jitendra reached the quarter finals, Bhiwani, a small town in Haryana, has become a household name in India, perhaps even in the world of boxing. In India’s boxing contingent, four out of five were from
[Many lines in this essay were taken from Douglas Adams’ books, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul] Given a choice, I would rather turn into a tree than into a god; into a fig tree in Yanoun, a tiny village on the eastern slopes of Samarian hills. It was the only place on earth where such a
Steven J. Rosen was a New York hippy until he became Krishna devotee Satyaraja Dasa, founding editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies, and one of the leading Western scholars of Vaishnavism, the worship of Vishnu mainly through His incarnations Rama and Krishna. Rosen’s latest book, the 500-page volume The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversatio
The gruesome murder of 84-year old Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal, Orissa, has exposed the ease with which evangelical groups can access guns, grenades, and other murderous weapons in the pursuit of their agenda to impose their own religion by annihilating local faiths and cultures everywhere. No one takes seriously the administration claim t
In the months before he ordered the invasion of Iraq, George Bush and his senior officials spoke of preserving Iraq’s “patrimony” for the Iraqi people. At a time when talking about Iraqi oil was taboo, what he meant by patrimony was exactly that - Iraqi oil. In their “joint statement on Iraq’s future” of 8 April
The Russo-Georgian war was rooted in broad geopolitical processes. In large part it was simply the result of the cyclical reassertion of Russian power. The Russian empire - Czarist and Soviet - expanded to its borders in the 17th and 19th centuries. It collapsed in 1992. Western powers wanted to make the disintegration permanent. It was inevi
It is fashionable for bleeding heart liberals in India to talk out of turn, using pulled-out-of-thin-air data to justify their ranting. They forget the thin line between being a liberal and a subversive, and often forget the word ‘democracy.’ Lumpen liberals like the one-book wonder known as Arundhati Roy (who proudly proclaimed i
The controversy over the Georgian surprise military attacks on South Ossetia and Abkhazia on 8.8.08 makes a closer look at the controversial Georgian President and his puppet masters important. An examination shows 41 year old Mikheil Saakashvili to be a ruthless and corrupt totalitarian, tied to not only the US NATO establishment, but also to the
On 17 August, an Indian court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, remanded nine suspects to police custody for 14 days. The nine were accused by the police criminal branch in Ahmedabad of involvement in a string of 17 explosions that rocked Ahmedabad on 26 July, leaving more than 50 people dead. Among those arrested was Mufti Abu Bashir, who Indian author
In a virtual replay of the post-Godhra riots of 2002, the secular and foreign media has worked overtime to delink the ugly, provocative murder of 80-year-old Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four disciples on Krishna Janmastami day with the violence that subsequently rocked some districts in Orissa. This is simply not on. Swami Laxmanananda w
Days after Pervez Musharraf stepped down from the nation’s presidency, the debate rages on in Pakistan on two questions: where the defeated military dictator will go now and where the country is headed. The third question - about the future of the system itself - has yet to become a dominant theme in Pakistani discourse. On where Musharr
Some in Washington have now begun to speak out against the explosion of opium production in Afghanistan following the US invasion in the winter of 2001. These individuals have begun to demand the eradication of opium, in order to weaken the enemy and stabilize Afghanistan. Campaigning against this view are two familiar voices—NATO, with
In an ultimate irony, only foreigners (NSG, US Congressmen) can save us from our own leaders. A great fraud is being perpetrated on the people of India in the form of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Even as vital national interests - commercial, strategic and diplomatic - are being bartered away in return for vague promises of selective cooperation, our
Afghanistan, historic western gateway to the Indian subcontinent and cradle of some of the most ancient Vedic literature, is going through one of its periodic wars of independence, once again struggling to expel from its territory the mostly Anglo-Saxon invaders who are, once more, intent on tightening their control of the Middle East and securing
On 11 September 1990, US President George H. W. Bush addressed Congress. He spoke in the wake of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe, the weakening of the Soviet Union, and the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. He argued that a New World Order was emerging: “A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a th
A long time ago, I saw the rather controversial film ‘Zabriskie Point,’ directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. It tried to relate to the ‘counterculture’ movement of the 1960s and 70s, mainly opposing America’s role in the Cold War and the Vietnam War. The dialogue was largely trite and incomprehensible, and possibly for
Neutrinos, first postulated in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli, are naturally occurring elementary particles without electric charge, which emanate mostly from the Sun and travel almost at the speed of light. The study of neutrinos is expected to reveal the origin of the universe and form the basis of esoteric studies. INO Project and ecology An a
One of the least discussed aspects in the ongoing bloodshed in Afghanistan is Saudi support for foreign terrorists who are part of al-Qaeda and the newly formed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or the Pakistani Taliban, who are now waging war against both the foreign troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan. When US troops invaded Afghanistan to eliminat
No one quite knows what his official name will be as prime minister of Nepal. Media reports have so far referred to him as “Pushpa Kumar Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre of Prachanda.” Wikipedia calls him “Pushpa Kumar Dahal (alias Prachanda).” The Nepal government’s website stays noncommittal. Click on &
The Russian invasion of Georgia has not changed the balance of power in Eurasia. It simply announced that the balance of power had already shifted. The United States has been absorbed in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as potential conflict with Iran and a destabilizing situation in Pakistan. It has no strategic ground forces in reserve a
Environment has two meanings. One meaning postulates environment is a sum-total of circumstances, objects or conditions that surround animals, plants and human beings. The second meaning branches out into two directions: the first relates to the complex of edaphic or biotic features which act upon an organism or ecological community. This speaks of
The People’s Democratic Party started a shrill cacophony against the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board and the land transfer for making arrangements for pilgrims for the duration of the yatra, and finally withdrew from the Government on the same pretext. The then Chief Minister, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, on 25 June 2008 addressed a Press conference in
A Snatch or a Contact Reconnaissance - meaning of the Caucasus and the Manchu Incident: A fast guy had thought that a wallet was unattended, and tried to snatch it. But to his distress, he was stopped in his tracks by a burly wallet owner. This could a fair description of Saddam Hussein snatching Kuwait. This also fits the war over South Osset
After almost six-and half years in Afghanistan, a few among US authorities have begun to speak out against the dangerous compromises the Bush Administration has made throughout this period by allowing an explosive growth of the opium crop there, and the handover of power to the drug lords. A significant part of the $150 billion international opium
The dramatic military attack by the Republic of Georgia on South Ossetia has brought the world one major step closer to the ultimate horror of the Cold War era – a thermonuclear war between Russia and the United States – by miscalculation. What is playing out in the Caucasus is being reported in US media in an alarmingly misleading ligh
When Soviet troops marched into Hungary and Poland in 1956, I remember watching the agony unfold on black and white television, a young infomaniac in the making. One night, I watched with my father’s uncle Jack, an old Hungarian Jew who had no love for the Eastern Europe he had left behind nearly 50 years before. “I hate to see the Russ
As gushing media acolytes crowed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her entire family had secured the coveted invitation to the Beijing Olympics in defiance of diplomatic protocol wherein the President or Prime Minister represents the nation, it was overlooked that an aspiring regional superpower was publicly upstaged at the century’s g
The cleverly worded US draft to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) for carving out an exemption for India from NSG rules (called “guidelines”) seeks to irrevocably tether New Delhi to the nuclear non-proliferation regime. What is significant is that this draft proposal was submitted last week to the NSG chair, Germany, after consu
In a move strikingly reminiscent of Gandhi in riot-torn Bengal in 1946-47, which he visited a full three months after Direct Action Day, by which time jihad had burnt itself out, to realize a peculiar and unrealistic Hindu-Muslim unity, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar announced his intention to travel to riot-torn Jammu & Kashmir to “bring back peac
It must be poetic history that the fight to give the Hindu community voice and weightage in the state of Jammu & Kashmir should begin from Jammu, from where a valiant Dogra once pushed the boundaries of India into Tibet and Xinjiang, and brought her close to Central Asia and Afghanistan. The kingdom built by Maharaja Gulab Singh was ably
Another Independence Day, a seasonal outpouring of patriotism. The Prime Minister will deliver a lacklustre speech from the ramparts of Red Fort; loudspeakers will blare out patriotic Bollywood numbers; the Father of the Nation and the First Dynasty will be invoked. We shall be told that the mighty British Empire was brought to its knees by a
While the Iraq war has largely faded from our TV screens, some 85% of all voters still call it an important issue. Most want U.S. troops home from Iraq within a couple of years, many of them sooner. They support Barack Obama's position, not John McCain's. Yet when the polls ask which candidate voters trust more on the war, McCain wins almost every
The war between the United States and Iran is on. American taxpayer dollars are being used, with the permission of Congress, to fund activities that result in Iranians being killed and wounded, and Iranian property destroyed. Many Americans remain unaware of what is transpiring abroad in their name. Many of those who are cognizant of these activiti
Following his service to his British masters in the Balkan wars of 1990-91, George Soros convened a series of meetings inside Serbia, that were to launch the “Rose Revolution”, the “Orange Revolution”, and a series of phony democracy insurgencies designed to undermine nation-states and create a “ring around
The recent agitation by Rajasthan’s Gujjars, supported by their caste-fellows of neighbouring states, which convulsed Rajasthan and parts of north India for over a month in May-June 2008, has turned the spotlight on one of several fatal afflictions the British injected into our society and left independent India to fight as best she could. Re
American Conundrum in Pakistan In analyzing China’s relationship with Pakistan, one cannot help but address the presence of the other major world power in Pakistan — the United States — and note how the two relationships differ. The US presence in Pakistan is decades-old, and there is no question that the Pakistani Army
One of many imponderables in Indian strategic analysts’ portfolios is the Sino-Pakistani relationship: how is it to be understood and evaluated? The subject becomes particularly hazy in light of the fact that the Pakistani Army, key to Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policymaking apparatus for decades, has been historically close to the
A Service Provider (pun intended) skillfully poached the MPs of rival parties to gift a faux victory to the UPA, its new foe-turned-friend, which thus emerged victorious from the 22 July 2008 parliamentary vote. This prompted a wag to quip: “The 2 of US took 7 circles and become 1.” The dominant Congress Party can now be expected t
Parliament was coerced into proceeding with the UPA’s one-track policy, unmindful of the pitfalls in the strategic arena of its breakneck dive into the lap of the United States, in the belief that it is our energy-salvation for generations to come. Before the celebrations, however, we must pause to reflect on questions not yet asked. Are
It was 23 January 2008 and Bangladesh Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He minced no words in elaborating his Interim Administration’s achievements. Promising to hold the much-awaited Parliamentary elections in December 2008, Ahmed boasted the tenure of his administration
“There was a siege going on; it had been going on for a long time, but the besieged themselves were the last to take notice of it”. - Paula Fox India’s civilisational identity is in grave peril. We are a civilization in retreat, both geographically and demographically. Barely 1200 years ago Afghanistan and
(NSD Repertory Company performed ‘Banbhatt ki Atmakatha’, based on the famous novel by Pt. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, in Abhimanch Auditorium of National School of Drama, New Delhi on June 13 & 14, 2008) My unfamiliarity with the text of Pt. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi’s ‘Banbhatt ki Atmakatha’ presumably put me at a di
The historic Harvard commencement speech of Russian Nobel Laureate, dissident, writer, and social critic Alexander Solzhenitsyn, delivered on 8 June 1978, is still a mirror to our times - Editor Opening RemarksI am sincerely happy to be here with you on this occasion and to become personally acquainted with this old and most prestigious Univer
Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the current US Presidential campaign, aside from the studied avoidance of any serious proposals to address the worst economic depression since the 1930’s, is the fact that both major party candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, have to date been stone silent on the most pressing issue of future war or
[The post-World War II era has been dominated by the Jewish story, causing near-invisibility of other people. Durban 2001 showed escapism towards ‘Israeli occupation’ of Arab lands, and close-mindedness towards the Roma Holocaust and the truth of 1915 in Western Armenia / Eastern Anatolia – Editor] Others [read Roma, Gypsies]
Like Goa, Delhi and Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh has also turned into a major attraction for foreign tourists. Sadly, far more than its outstanding geography, people and culture, the tourist influx reveals a deadly narcotic nexus. An increasing number of localities are falling prey to this business and addiction. Allan D’Sa, Deputy Superi
The loss of billions of bees raises questions about our pesticide controls. It’s likely most people have never heard of Gaucho. And no, it’s not a South American cowboy. I’m talking about a pesticide. There is increasing reason to believe that Gaucho and other members of a family of highly toxic chemicals - neonicotino
The second initiative that India has launched to incorporate security into its Look East policy and assert full control over the Andaman Sea is New Delhi’s move to improve relations with Myanmar despite strong opposition from Washington, London and Brussels. A special relationship with Myanmar is critical to India’s policy to establish
Maoists are finally close to forming a government in Kathmandu. President Ram Baran Yadav, relying on Article 38 (1) of the interim Constitution, has called on them to explore the possibility of providing the semblance of a government. In the run up to the presidential elections, Maoists ‘betrayed’ UML candidate Madhav Kumar Nepal, but
One of the most important foreign policy decisions made in the last fifteen years by New Delhi was the “Look East” policy because it opened the door to closer interaction with a number of India’s Asian neighbours. In 1992, when former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao formulated the Look East policy, the government had also embark
Jammu continues to burn as Hindu nationalists struggle alone but undaunted against sabre-toothed partisans of Allah who seek to efface all vestiges of civilisational heritage from the land of Rishi Kashyap. Backed by a de-nationalised media and a shameless political dispensation at the Centre, the events in Kashmir must be seen in the context of a
In his futuristic India: The Most Dangerous Decades, 1960, American strategic analyst Selig S. Harrison predicted the likely disintegration of the nascent Indian state. His thesis was pooh-poohed by many analysts, especially as his grim prophesy did not materialize all these years. However, recent geo-political developments culminating
Now that the promos for God Tussi Great Ho showing Amitabh Bachchan as the almighty in a white Western suit have been replaced with a less culturally offensive mix of song and dance, perhaps it is time to meditate on a few things Bollywood directors need to keep in mind. We’re Indians, guys! We take God seriously.And that means more than Rumy
After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the attention of public intellectuals was drawn by two influential books spelling out the post-Cold-War world situation. Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History claimed that utopia had started with the definitive victory of liberal-democratic capitalism, which would soon turn the whole world into a US subu
In the war-ravaged Balkan nation, Serbia, an Indian will always have a definite indulgence: its sizeable Roma population. These migrants from India, about 1000 AD, wow Indians with their appearance and culture, and ways of socializing that is classically Indian. Their burly sense and tradition of music and dance, which anthropologists and ethnologi
The Indo-US nuclear deal, also called the 123 Agreement, is for cooperation between India and USA on the peaceful uses of n-energy. The UPA government claims it is will ensure India’s energy security through assured supply of uranium from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to operate the yet-to-be-constructed n-power reactors, by liberating In
Very few found the victory of India's government in a confidence vote on Tuesday evening [22 July 2008] anything like startling news. The margin of victory, however, turned out to be much wider than many had expected. This created a tailor-made situation for conspiracy theories, with the media going to town with two of them. Almost no one has