As diwan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer struggled desperately with the departing colonial rulers to prevent the kingdom’s riches, including its thorium deposits, from falling into the hands of the Congress Party whose leadership he did not trust. Thorium’s importance has been known since the early twentieth century when … Read More
India produced the world’s first thorium nuclear reactor, Kakrapar-1, in 1993, as part of a three-stage fuel cycle plan which included designing a new Advanced Heavy Water Reactor; the goal was to use thorium-based reactors to meet 30 per cent of our electricity needs by 2050. The Bhaba Atomic Research Centre … Read More
Pushed into a corner over the economic slowdown (amidst the plethora of scams besieging the regime), the Congress-led UPA has shown a keenness to push through 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail in the hope that it will pull the economy out of its current morass. This has triggered … Read More
Last year, when the anti-corruption movement captured the public imagination nationwide, Swami Ramdev had sparked off considerable controversy with his remark that India should emulate China in dealing with corrupt officials, that is to say, hang them. While not endorsing this extreme position, as more and more unsavoury scandals and … Read More
In a second major setback to the Media after the Nira Radia tapes exposed leading journalists blurring the lines between information gathering and influence peddling, the Supreme Court has underlined the need for introspection by castigating the news channels covering the Mumbai 2008 massacre for “totally wrong and unacceptable” professional … Read More
When a resolute MP chaperones Rohingya Muslims from far eastern Myanmar to Hyderabad in the south without a hitch en route, it is obvious the Centre has consented to compromise nationality. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should explain if the entrenched complicity with the demographic invasion from Bangladesh is the template … Read More
The steady trickle of Pakistani Hindus coming to India for pilgrimage and refusing to return has shattered the secular pretensions of our political elite, bringing out the truth that India is the civilisational homeland and legitimate refuge of Hindus of the undivided sub-continent. Hence it is imperative that New Delhi … Read More
The disproportionate increase in the Muslim population in eastern India, both on account of continuing migration and higher fertility vis-à-vis other communities, has triggered major demographic distortions. The growth has been particularly steep in Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar, and is nearing double digit figures in Manipur and Tripura (Census … Read More
Last month’s violence in Kokrajhar district, Assam, which resulted in 77 dead (so far) and nearly four lakh uprooted from home, their humble hearths torched to cinders, possibly to prevent them from returning to reclaim the vacated lands, was both the consequence of the sharply changing population profile in India’s … Read More
A television debate following the simultaneous failure of three grids on 31 July revealed India’s plans to integrate its power grid with China, and other neighbours. Not being a subject expert, one cannot opine if this conflicts with current moves by states to ensure ‘islanding’ so that sudden fluctuations in … Read More
