The Veerappan farce turns into tragedy
'While the people of two states hope for a happy ending to this tug of war between hero and
villain, it is clear events will follow a familiar of action. A fresh manhunt will be launched,
and after a few days, media and police interest will evaporate. And things will return to
normal,' says Krishna Prasad..
The birth of Hizbul Mujahideen
'Master Ahsan Dar came back to Kashmir in 1990 to establish a "hard-hitting fighting organisation" to spearhead the freedom struggle.' A three-part series on the Kashmiri militant outfit that's now ready for talks with India.
The Jethmalani affair: Time to look more closely at the judicial system
'The episode brings down high constitutional functionaries like the attorney general, the Chief Justice and the former law minister from their exalted pedestals and proves them all to be victims of their personal interests.' Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising on the crisis in the judiciary.
Looking back to step forward
Nepal Prime Minister G P Koirala last visited India nine years ago. As he prepares to visit India on August 1, expectations are high in both countries. In the two days he is in New Delhi, a host of contentious issues may emerge.
'I have AIDS. Can I get admission here?'
George Iype reports from the Kundukulam Memorial Research and Rehabilitation Centre at Thrissur, India's largest AIDS rehabilitation centre where dying patients live in peace. A Project Hope feature.
AIDS in India: A reality check
'I have been discarded by my family, by society'
'I am proud my son was the first officer to be martyred and the last to come back'
All they have is memories, says A Ganesh Nadar, after a moving encounter with the late Major Saravanan's family. The officer was among the first to achieve martyrdom in the Kargil war.
'Slum dwellers are treated like shit'
'There is no place for them in society.' Magsaysay award winner Jockin Arputham
the friendly president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation, has no qualms about his humble status, and feels that what success he has had in improving the lot of the scores of poor around him, is because he has worked from within that system, being part of it.
The Coming Holocaust
'An Indian official told a gathering of USAID officials: "Even if we lose 25 million, we are one billion strong and can take it." He did not seem to realise that unlike the flu or even the plague, HIV selectively attacked the young, vigorous, energetic, productive segment of the populace,' says Ashok Row Kavi.
The DGCA: Investigator, Prosecutor, Jury, Judge and Executioner
'Isn't this against the principle of natural justice? The very purpose of having the elements and a working system of check and a counter-check over each other's functioning is defeated by such concentration of power in a single individual,' says Wg Cdr (retd) R V Parasnis.
Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan!
A strange thing happened when the Thackeray case came up for hearing. All phone lines in the city were jammed. Some policemen claimed it was done to prevent rumours from spreading.
Hizb offer a bid to reclaim primacy in J&K
The Hizbul Mujahideen, by asserting its 'Kashmiri', 'representative' character, has sought to wrest the initiative from the foreign militants who have been dominating the separatist movement. Abeer Malik analyses the motives for the sudden ceasefire offer.
'On the face of it, there is no need to arrest'
'Arrest would be violative of the principles of Constitutional jurisprudence laid down by the Supreme Court in the Joginder Kumar vs State of UP case,' feels advocate Shrikant Bhat.
'In no case is arrest compulsory'
Advocate Shrikant Bhat provides a ready reckoner to the legal issues involved in the Bal Thackeray case.
Is airline safety a myth in India?
'Patience is what the media in general and the television media in particular, lack. If not all, at least a part of the sensationalism value must be sacrificed in the interests of genuine concern for those involved in the tragedy,' says Wg Cdr (retd) R V Parasnis.
The Hawala case: Birth. Demise. Resurrection
The Supreme Court recently issued a directive to the income tax department to present before it all the facts and documents pertaining to the infamous hawala racket of the early nineties in which many Indian politicians and bureaucrats were implicated.
Indo-Israeli ties: A new beginning
After the recent overtures, it is clear India sees Israel in a new light and is serious about establishing a lasting and fruitful relationship with that country. After so many years of inactivity, the relationship is finally promising to bloom.
Mission Destabilise
The ISI has spread its tentacles to South India. George Iype reports on the security scene there in a three-part series.
Indo-Nepal relations: At the crossroads
'Politics, propaganda and media hype apart, there is no denying that the ISI has been using Nepal for anti-India activities. It is a convenient staging post for supply of arms, ammunitions, explosives and fake currency to anti-social and anti-national elements in India. It is also an easy conduit to fuel the insurgencies in the northeast,' says Wing Commander (retd) C M Jaywant.
Who's the saint, who the Satan?
'They [the Christians] are born Indians,' said the Bajrang Dal activist. 'But they are not Indians by heart. They are foreigners.'
'We will remain Christians till we die'
Inside one of the few concrete buildings in her village, momentarily cheating the blistering sun, Sarada is telling you why it doesn't pay to be afraid.
Poor foresight compounds Kashmir situation
'At the root of the problem lies the fact that although New Delhi has always claimed the state to be an integral part of India, Kashmir has, in practice, never been treated as such,' says Professor Brahma Chellaney.
'The LTTE will wet their pants when they see my army...'
Ranjan Wijeratne was a daredevil defence minister. If the LTTE did not like him, it was with good reason.
The truth that killed Vijay Ekka
Some time before he died, at some point in police custody, Vijay Ekka must have realised that truth can be dangerous.
The army fights back!
For the army, it was a fight to the finish. The Tigers had not anticipated this. They thought that once the IPKF left, the Sri Lankan army, which lacked both the firepower and training to fight a guerrilla war, would wilt.
Wounded Journey
Ten years ago, Ramesh Menon was in Sri Lanka to cover the unceremonious return of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. What was it like as Indian jawans packed their bags and boarded a ship back to India after a protracted two year war? A decade later, he goes down memory lane.
Bone of conversion
Conversion appears to be the bone of contention between the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Church in India.
Witness to a murder
There is a 10-year-old boy somewhere in North India, in what you can call a safe place, who bears the cross of a bloody truth.
Breakthrough in treatment of 'diabetic foot'
Dr Ramachandran, managing director of the Chennai-based M V Hospital for Diabetes and Director of the Diabetic Research Centre says, "It is a myth that the prevalence of diabetes is low among Indians in India.
'More drug use is going on in society than we are aware of'
The past four years have not only seen an increase in the Asian drug habit in Scotland, but also of two peculiar phenomena termed as the 'holiday drug habit', and the 'to-and-fro' syndrome.
Retiring@30
'Retirement ain't all that it is cracked up to be. Ask anybody who has retired,' says Anvar Alikhan.
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