Monthly Archives: February 2018

In this perceptive piece, the author reflected on the recent crisis in JNU, and expressed her anguish over the way the present Vice-Chancellor is handling the entire issue.

In Gurugram’s Public Hospital a pregnant woman was denied access to hospitalisation and thus compelled to give birth outside under full public view because she failed to produce her Aadhar Card on time. Similar cases have been reported from across the country where vital facilities such as medicine and food have been denied to people at their inability to furnish an Aadhar Card. Should our obsession with documentation be allowed to deprive us of our basic dignity as human beings?

POLITICS Prime Minister Modi’s Ramayana jibe at Renuka Chowdhury agitated the Congress and has captured the nation’s imagination. Irrespective of political inclinations and party affiliations are our parliamentarians disrespecting the sacrosanct character of the Parliament as the temple of Indian democracy?

FROM THE BOOKSHELF In this brief review essay, Professor Avijit Pathak has reflected on Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi's new book Exam Warriors (Penguin Books), and with absolute humility advised him to rethink what he has written in this well packaged product.

Digitalization as a compulsive strategy shall only prove alienating and disastrous in a milieu where infrastructural development is scarce and public readiness is incomplete. Denial of basic resources and facilities in the absence of adequate familiarity to these strategies can often prove threating to the very welfare of the system and its people. Can we strive towards a more inclusive strategy? Minakshi Yadav

SCULPTURE A sculpture is a form of art that requires not only immense patience and skill but also the versatility on the part of the artist to celebrate and bring to life animate objects as realistically as possible on a myriad of materials ranging from metal, stone and wood. Here we celebrate five of the greatest sculptors the world has ever produced and discover what made their approach to their work unique and aesthetic. Rihaan Khan

RAFALE DEAL Congress President Rahul Gandhi attacked the ruling party over its alleged silence over the Rafale Scam and the ambiance of secrecy that is being maintained by them in the Parliament. Rahul Gandhi also went on to attack the Prime Minister over the Defence Minister’s refusal to disclose details of the deal before the Parliament.

PARADOX OF OUR AGE In an aging society like Japan, it is proposed that the major chunk of caregiving work for the elderly will be provided for by specially designed robots by 2025. Can human touch and presence be replaced by programmed computers even of the most sophisticate nature?

UNION EDUCATION BUDGET 2018 Quality school education is imperative for the larger cause of development in the country. However poor infrastructure, lack of trained personnel and a plethora of other concerns have stopped it from becoming a truly progressive domain. The budget trends as far as education is concerned are also quite unsatisfactory. Given this context what will be the future of our schools and the quality of education they impart? Bharat Dogra

Knowledge is shaped and in turn, shapes the knower. This process of learning is central to the reproduction of human society. However, with the onset of modernized/routinized and even ritualized cults of learning, education may often tend to lose it essence for the young. Given this situation, how can we rediscover the process of knowing that is sensitive and open to the child's needs? Jinan.K.B