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The shift in the national focus from covid to coal has been prompted by fears of a nation-wide power blackout in the face of disruption in the movement of the vital commodity from the mines due to excessive rainfall, but the fact is that the energy crisis is part of a global post-covid phenomenon that is redefining the global energy scene, something that energy experts have been warning about in recent times.

Pakistan’s father of nuclear science, Abdul Qadeer Khan, who died recently was born in Bhopal. “This child appears to me prodigy…. Look in his eyes.” In 1936, these were the words of Maharani of Narasinghar, a tiny princely state, 45 kms from Bhopal. Zulekha Begum, mother of Qadeer Khan, who turned out to be father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb and the Maharani were good friends and both ladies visited each other frequently. In one of her visits to Narasingarh, Zulekha Begum has taken young Qadeer along with her.

India is home to 430 million (43 crore) mobile video gamers presently and the user base is estimated to go up to 650 million (65 crore) by 2025, a latest report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMA) has revealed. Coupled with this, according to official sources, children’s compulsive addiction to video games and the agony they are facing has emerged a worrying signs where children so addicted become more and more violent endangering future generations. Video games designers control the players’ behavior by providing stimulus and rewards resulting in children with poor impulse control or struggling with studies and not knowing the consequences are the most vulnerable to fall prey to the evil charms of video games. Many bright students, addicted to video games, loose focus in both studies and sports. They have to contend with falling grades and failing health. There are addicted students so obsessed with the games that they forget even how to speak and undergo protracted counseling to relearn speaking. There is, therefore, the need for regulation of the video industry. Currently, it is free for all.

Jaipur: Bengaluru golfer Khalin Joshi fired a scorching nine-under 61 to take the lead in round one of the Rs. 40 lakh Jaipur Open at the par-70 Rambagh Golf Club (RGC) here.

Chandigarh: Amandeep Drall will spearhead a strong field in the 10th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour to be played at the Chandigarh Golf Club par-72 layout from Wednesday.

The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has blamed the Hindu parents, the Hindu families, for not giving their children the values of pride for one’s religion and traditions. He was not far from the youth. The Hindu parents in recent times have lost control on their wards as they give more importance and credence to their political friends and bosses than listening to their begetters. The political bosses are the mentors. In the past the words of parents represented the words from Geeta and Ramayan.

The demand for the repeal of the sedition law and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act(UAPA) has now come to the fore once again with the former Supreme Court Justice Rohintan Nariman forcefully stating that the time has come for the apex court to let citizens breath more freely by removing both sedition law and UAPA from the statute.

Union Government needs to carefully develop appropriate stratagems on how best to counter the recent lone wolf attacks by terrorists in the Kashmir valley. The developments in Afghanistan with Taliban in power have posed a new challenge. Of course Taliban has assured that its soil will not be used for any terrorists attack against any neighbouring country. But has the Taliban have complete control over all the different terror outfits on its soil? Just resting on assurances will not do. Adequate preparedness is needed. As regards the nearest neighbour Pakistan its intentions are known.

Fear is the key! That’s the title of a James Hadley Chase novel. It had a Native American doing targeted killings of rich pokes. The first killing is followed by a second. The third body gets the cops thinking: This killer is killing only the stinking rich. The fear sinks in and then comes the extortion calls. Of course, the rich and famous empty their safes one after the other – ‘Fear is the key!’

Deshbhaktas’ beating their drum of ‘nationalism’ reached such a high decibel that has become deafening. India’s leadership, in the name of nationalism, reached even such a point when it decided to abstain from the voting in the United Nations which passed the resolution that recognized access to clean environment a human right. In this case the Deshbhaktas’ nationalism clearly goes against humanity, since 24 per cent of all global deaths, roughly 13.7 million a year, occur because they are exposed to human greed that has polluted air, water, and land, and are even subjected to chemical exposure.