View Articles

Hidden in the caravan bungee-jumping into the United States from Mexico is HIV, respiratory diseases, chicken pox, hepatitis and tuberculosis with one-third of the “asylum-seekers” found infected with these ailments after tests done at Mexican border-city Tijauna. Being part of a large group helps camouflage such health issues, like a person who gets away with saying too much and the person listening unable to get the underlying underpinnings.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel returned to Havana November 15 after a multi-nation trip to Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, and Laos. He and his delegation had also stopped in Paris and London. In late September in New York, he had introduced himself to the world community at the United Nations General Assembly. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was in Havana for talks on November 22-23.

India’s retail sector, cruising towards $1 trillion by 2020 growing annually at 20 per cent, is in for exciting times as consumers want “clean and swanky” stores, even as ecommerce and kirana stores grow side by side as they too have their utility and share of the pie.

The sheer audacity of Piyush Gupta’s ambition is astonishing. He is aspiring to create an eco-system which will transform the entire transport system of India by making EVs (electric vehicles) ubiquitous. That, he believes, should cut down India’s oil import bill by no less than $100 billion — his avowed target. Pray, how?

Google employees are at it again. In April 2018, 3,100 out of 4,000 employees at the Google headquarters signed a letter protesting Google’s contract with Pentagon to develop an artificial-intelligence-based autonomous weapons system and forced the Google management not to renew that contract. On 1 November 2018, thousands of Google employees took out marches in scores of cities across the world to protest absence of unbiased and firm policies against sexual harassment at work. On 27 November 2018 again, there was another bout of protest—this time objecting to Google’s surrender to the demands of the authoritarian Chinese regime which wanted to censor what the Chinese citizen could search and watch or read on the worldwide web.

The report that the health ministry has asked the MCI to review the tuition fees in medical colleges is a welcome step. Better late than never, it has become so essential because the fee structure in private medical colleges has gone sky high and is out of reach of not only poor people but even the middle classes are now feeling the pinch. They have to shelve their savings and even borrow to send their wards to the medical colleges. This is not only for MBBS courses, but even for the admissions to the Ayurvedic colleges. Tuition fess even in some of the Ayurvedic colleges, especially those which are deemed universities, are quite high. As a result several meritorious students are left out of the medical colleges due to exorbitant charges which they are unable to pay. Such situation leads to feeling of helplessness causing serious stress in the minds of the students and the whole family. The students have worked hard to fulfill their aspirations to become doctor; now at the stage when they have achieved merit, they are denied admission because of financial reasons, is a very sorry state of affairs.

BHOPAL: It was less of polling and more a festival for many sections of voters. It was a thrilling experience for the first time voters. Many of them reached the polling booths in groups and after exercising their franchise they proceeded to picnic spots. First time female voters were more exited and were dressed in their best when they reached polling booths.

Journalists are often accused of being ‘intellectual thugs’ for lacking in skepticism. Something that can be applied in full while reporting and not questioning Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wishful thinking that Navjot Singh Sidhu will one day become Prime Minister of India and both countries will become permanent buddies! Imran Khan did not voice that in jest. He sounded and looked serious. Besides, Imran Khan spoke a harsh truth, maybe two.

The world is grappling to resolve a host of problems. Compounding the issues are new problems to be created by disruptive technologies. Though technological advancement is certain, its impact, particularly on job creation and employment, is yet to be assessed. Disruptive technologies like crypto-currencies, blockchains, e-commerce, internet of things (IoT), machine2machine learning, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and robotics and the use of these disruptive technologies in drone surveillance hold out great scope for economic development. But a note of caution for the use of technologies like crypto-currencies, block-chains and e-commerce: there is need to regulate its operation through appropriate global and national laws so that tax evasions do not take place and no black money is created. G 20 had earlier resolved to tackle the menace of black money, tax havens, imaginative accounting, transfer pricing and the like. Though a humble beginning was made there are miles to go.

Once the Hindutva brigade decided that there is no other option for it but to refocus on the now forgotten Babri-Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, the entire captive media launched a campaign to revive the issue and rouse the people’s sentiments. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its allied organisations announced to hold a ‘huge’ Parishad to finalise the programme for construction of the temple at the very site where centuries old Babri Masjid stood till December 6, 1992 when the goons of the Sangh Parivar demolished it.