Category Archives: Op-eds
Char Dham will go on
“One of the greatest rescue missions in history” necessitated by a construction project pushed through at high cost, beginning with the safety and well-being of workers. Madam, what are you celebrating aside from such an event having been a matter … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Char Dham highway, Draupadi Murmu, Silkyara tunnel collapse, Syed Ata Hasnain
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On India’s new ‘Vigyan Puraskar’ awards
The Government of India has replaced the 300 or so awards for scientists it used to give out until this year with the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP), a set of four awards with 56 laureates, The Hindu has reported. Unlike … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Bhatnagar Award, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Space, Khader Vali Dudekula, Millennium Plaque of Honour, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Environment, PIO, Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, The Hindu, women in STEM
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Hasan Minhaj’s search for the premise
When Hasan Minhaj spoke on his show about living through some dangerous experiences as a Muslim man from an Indian family growing up in the US of A, he wasn’t speaking the truth. He told Clare Malone of The New … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds
Tagged Clare Malone, Devesh Kumar, Hasan Minhaj, journalism, Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker, The Wire
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A difficulty celebrating Chandrayaan 3
I’m grateful to Avijit Pathak for his article in Indian Express on August 29. After the Chandrayaan 3 mission achieved its primary objective, to soft-land a robotic lander on the moon’s south polar region, there was widespread jubilation, but I … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Op-eds
Tagged Avijit Pathak, Chandrayaan 3, Indian Express, Indian Space Research Organisation, nationalism, Patriotism
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A request to ISRO about Chandrayaan 3
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said its launch window for the Chandrayaan 3 mission is July 12-19. For now, the mission is expected to lift off on July 14 (at 2.35 pm IST). Chandrayaan 3’s mission is the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Artemis Accords, Chandrayaan 2, Chandrayaan 3, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan, Pragyan rover, S Somanath, Vikram lander
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Real heat
In the aftermath of Chicago’s infamous week-long heatwave in July 1995, the city’s residents, but including the mayor Richard Daley and his administration, couldn’t believe that so many had perished in the severe weather. They asked if the toll was … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged climate crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, Eric Klinenberg, heatwaves, really real, Richard Daley, World Meteorological Organisation
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Something more foolish than completing phase 3 trials in 1.5 months?
That the Union government and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had entered into a more intimate, but not necessarily more beneficial, relationship became evident in 2019 when then ISRO chairman K. Sivan trotted out a series of dubious claims … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Balram Bhargava, Covaxin, Gaganyaan, human spaceflight, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan
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US fusion bhashan
Nuclear fusion? Yay! Climate finance? Shh! Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged climate finance, Jennifer Granholm, Joe Biden, National Ignition Facility, nuclear fusion, US government
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The biopolitics of Covaxin
In a new investigation, STAT has reported fresh problems with Covaxin’s approval process in India, including the phase 2 trial dropping its placebo arm in favour of one preordained to make Covaxin look good and Bharat Biotech – the maker – … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Op-eds, Science
Tagged Balram Bhargava, Bharat Biotech, biopolitics, CDSCO, clinical trials, Covaxin, Giorgio Agamben, ICMR, Krishna Mohan
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A story of dogs
This article in The Wire, while entirely compelling, also contains an unarticulated tension. Headline: ‘How a Missing Stray Dog Led to the Withdrawal of a Caribbean High Commissioner to India’. Excerpt: Uploaded on social media, a grainy dimly-lit video apparently shows the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged animal rights, animal welfar, animal welfare, Charrandas Persaud, dogs, Maneka Gandhi
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