Abhirup Bhunia | Correspondent Home Minister P Chidambaram has made his stand clear on the Maoist issue even after the Naxals launched two deadly attacks in mere 72 hours killing as many as 35 and injuring more. The stance implies continuation of the Green Hunt that literally invites internal strife. After the EFR camp in West Bengal was vandalised killing 35 policemen and injuring many more, the Maoists launched an offensive in quick succession in Bihar. The latter killed 11 civilians (villagers), making it mandatory for the government to rethink its strategies. In unprecedented moves ear...

Abhirup Bhunia | Correspondent A violent avalanche struck the turmoil-state J&K killing at least six soldiers of the Indian Army in the Baramulla district. More than almost 500 were trapped in the high-altitude war training camp of the INA. "A massive avalanche rolled down in the Khilanmarg mountain, engulfing a high altitude warfare camp set up by the army there. About 70 soldiers have been rescued so far from under the avalanche debris," gushed an official of the defense. A huge rescue and relief operation has been initiated and work is in progress. One of the police officers said six bodies...

  Abhirup Bhunia, Correspondent   Mumbai/Delhi: Vandalism is the ideology when it is Shiv Sena. On numerous occasions earlier did we see the dreadful face of the Sena and they seem to like reinstating our faith in their wickedness. Today, the Shiv Sena men created ruckus by violently criticizing Sharukh Khan who expressed grief over the Pakistan players being snubbed by the franchisees for IPL 3. Their extreme Hinduism/Hindutva (you may call whatever you like, but all this is junk since true faith in religion/God cannot be the igniter of atrocity) came into focus, when the Shiv Sena commented...

The HRD minister Kapil Sibal had toured the West a few months ago, when he had talks with the best in the world of education that includes Yale, Harvard, Boston, etc. Sibal’s vision includes setting up ‘innovation universities’ in India in partnership with the world's best universities, that would be world class. This decision might have a downturn, since the higher education scenario cannot be changed merely by expending crores and setting up an Indian Columbia or an Indian Oxford; instead spending half of that money in bettering those that are already there and are capable of making it to th...

        We have become so hardened to violence, so used to death, so indifferent to bloodshed, that compassion ceases to exist in today’s times. Browsing through the news channels, one gets to see a Peshawar blast in Times Now, a sadistic water protest in Bombay in IBN, a militant (Kasab) confessing to the crime of killing people in NewsX, and so on and so forth. There was a time when death looked like an astounding occurrence, and now is the time when the death toll is being counted mercilessly. India has been particularly witness to various atrocious events since the 1980’s. To commence with...

  The Dead Sea, according to climate specialists, is going to die out by 2050. This water body of international repute, proclaimed, “don’t go by the name”, but until this day. The magical waters capable of floating men, could not cast its spell on the ruinous demands of man. This is not exactly an upshot of global warming, (the Copenhagen Summit is spared); this rather is a manmade calamity. "Saving the Dead Sea is a regional issue, and if you take the heritage, environmental and historical importance, or even the geographical importance, it is an international issue," said, Dureid Mahasneh, a...

  After 62 hours of carnage that shuddered the nation and swept away the commercial capital, Bombay was looking back, silently. It did not speak, cry, or revolt, only thoughts that were unexplainable rocked the minds of several people who survived the violence, stared at the bloodshed, helpless. Hopelessness still plagues Bombay and consequently India. Not because the security is not yet effective, but because they are bound to recall not just a date, 26/11, but the worst 62 hours of his/her life perhaps. For those who were there every day might just still see some moments when the horror stri...

Yes! You got that right. The cosmetic that you use might be a left over of some human fat or to put it in sensitive terms, the cream could be the result of a gruesome slaughtering. In Peru very recently, the police have arrested some people on charges that are shocking. It has been reported in Peru too many times for the people there not to know. However for the rest of the world, it could be a first time shocker. The story goes like this: A group of people targets the poor, tempts them towards lucrative job offers and ends up killing them. Then the fat and tissue from the body is extracted. F...

  This perhaps was the worst show of democracy being mocked. The freedom of press which is inscribed in the constitution of India has for the third time in the last few years been attacked. The Shiv Sena men apparently on order by Bal Thackerey forced their way into IBN Lokmat and IBN 7 offices in Maharashtra. 15 archaically armed men vandalized the newsroom, destroyed the TV screens, computers and brutally assaulted the editor-in-chief and other staff including women and senior journalists of IBN. This infact came as a protest against the criticizing of Thackereys take on Sachin Tendulkar in ...

New Delhi, Nov 12: In the backdrop of violent racial attacks down under, Australian PM, Mr. Kevin Rudd is on a visit to India’s capital. He is greeted by tough questions to be answered in India. Several Indian students were attacked owing to their race in Australia over the past few months. Melbourne seems to have been the worst offender. In a webcam session various Indian students have raised questions and concern over their security. ‘Why do you call us, if our security is not available? We are not here to get bashed’ was one of the voices against the racial atrocities in Australia. Kevin Ru...

Shakespearean sonnets have always maintained its grace in the literary world ever since its evolution. I beg his pardon if calling it merely a poem diminishes the aura of the splendor, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day…’ alias ‘To my love’, but that’s exactly what we are entitled to call it. Limitations have never played a role in his poems, but here in this piece the radiance of free flow that is projected by him defies all earthliness. Perhaps waiting for the precise word to be invented that will describe this poem’s loveliness will turn futile. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?...

Perhaps India’s uniqueness lies in its tenderness. This statement is elaborated by the incident which comes as a pleasant surprise for all. “My moto is to ensure education for all” – no this is no vague government making tall claims. It is West Bengal’s village resident Babar Ali’s statement. He lives in Gangapur. He is 16 years old and is the principal of his shoddy yet promising school comprising of 800 students, 10 qualified teachers and a room. Babar has always been an aspiring student as well as a teacher. He would be grieved at the sight of children deprived of education, so he had star...

Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace prize. He recently said in an interview that the only guru of his life is and was Mahatma Gandhi. While, Gandhi, the truest follower of non-violence has been deprived of the Nobel-honor, Barack Obama has one under his belt. Barack Obama has already scripted history being the first black president of USA, but the nobel prize going to him has raised eyebrows of many. The wall street journal directly questioning his worthiness of a nobel.... He has decided to donate the 1.4 million dollars to charities, according to latest reports. He says it was unexpected, ...

Wake Up Sid – one of the latest releases in Bollywood is a film with a common subject yet so beautifully refreshing. The film set in Bombay revolves around the two principal characters, played by Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma. The college being the backdrop of a movie is no new stuff but this film captures the emotional aspect of a new generation kid. Siddharth played by Ranbir does not care about anything, knows how to extract every bit of enjoyment from life, and is not bothered about succeeding his father’s million rupee business enterprise. He is arrogant, ignorant of the ‘real wor...

India’s official entry into the Oscars this year is Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory , the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced. Director and writer Paresh Mokashi says the basis of the film is the adventure of film-making. So this is a film within a film to some extent. The film traces back 95 years or more down the memory lane, when Dhundi Raj Govind Phalke(commonly known as Dadasaheb), the inspiration for the film, had made India’s first full length film amidst struggle and difficulties that no filmmaker can imagine today. The film Dadasaheb Phalke made almost a century ago and cr...