Tag Archives: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Schrödinger’s temple
On January 22, in a ceremony led by Prime Minister and now high-priest Narendra Modi, priests and officials allegedly consecrated the idol of Lord Ram at the new temple in Ayodhya, with many celebrities in attendance. (‘Alleged’ because I don’t … Continue reading
A stage-managed World Cup
I’m glad the ICC Cricket World Cup ended the way it did, with good cricket on show. I’m disappointed that India lost but, to echo Sunil Gavaskar at the post-match show, I’m glad it was only to a better team. … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
Tagged BCCI, Cricket World Cup, Motera stadium, Pat Cummins, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Travis Head
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NYT’s ISRO coverage continues assault on sense
The New York Times refuses to learn, perpetuating views of ISRO that are equal parts blurry and illiterate, and often missing points that become clearer with just a little bit of closer reading. The launch and subsequent success of Chandrayaan … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged Chandrayaan 3, Gravity Film, Indian Space Research Organisation, NASA MAVEN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reason of state, The New York Times
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A lotus for Modi, with love from Manipur
This bit of news is so chock full of metaphors that I’m almost laughing out loud. Annotated excerpts from ‘CSIR’s new lotus variety ‘Namoh 108’ a ‘grand gift’ to PM Modi: Science Minister‘, The Hindu, August 19, 2023: It’s a … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged Bharatiya Janata Party, Genetic Sequencing, Jitendra Singh, Manipur, Naga chilli, Namoh 108, National Botanical Research Institute, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Hindu
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COP talks as ambition police
Part of what makes Greta Thunberg such a powerful voice in climate activism is her no-nonsense communication. Yesterday, for example, she called the impending COP27 climate talks, to be held in Egypt on November 6-18, an opportunity for “people in power” to … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis
Tagged COP27, fossil fuels, Greta Thunberg, Paris Agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UNFCCC
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A question about India’s new science prizes
really deserving candidates In a meeting chaired by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on September 16 and attended by senior members of the various science departments of the national government (DST, DBT, etc.), the Union government eliminated hundreds of awards … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ajay Bhalla, Appa Rao Podile, Brian Skinner, Gagandeep Kang, M Jagadesh Kumar, prestige bias, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rakesh Mishra, science prize
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‘Steps in the right direction’ are not enough
To laud “steps in the right direction” is to flout an intentional ignorance of the government’s track record. Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Scicomm
Tagged Ayushman Bharat, economic growth, editorials, Mudra Yojana, op-ed, PM-KISAN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat
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About vaccines for children and Covaxin…
I don’t understand his penchant for late-night announcements, much less one at 10 pm on Christmas night, but Prime Minister Narendra has just said the government will roll out vaccines for young adults aged 15-18 years from January 3, 2022 … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Bharat Biotech, Covaxin, COVID-19 vaccines, paediatric vaccination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vaccine triumphalism, ZyCoV-D, Zydus Cadila
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On The Caravan’s new profile of The Hindu
On December 1, The Caravan published a 50-page report entitled ‘Paper Priests: The battle for the soul of The Hindu’. The report – actually, as a friend put it, a big profile – has many good parts and many others, … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture
Tagged casteism, Malini Parthasarathy, newsroom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Siddharth Varadarajan, The Caravan, The Hindu
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Dirty power
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at the COP26 summit in Glasgow that India will install 500 GW of non-fossil-fuel energy generation capacity by 2030. In his analysis of Modi’s speech for The Wire Science, Kabir Agarwal wrote that the phrasing … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis
Tagged COP26, hydroelectric power, lanthanides, negative externalities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, solar panels, solar power, wind turbines
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