A selection of the best news reports, analysis and opinions published by ThePrint this week.
Outing a personal secret as lesson for Imran: Featuring Vajpayee, Nawaz & a bit of me
Nawaz Sharif made a dramatic bid for peace with Vajpayee, but was tripped up by Pakistan’s army. It won’t be different for Imran, writes Shekhar Gupta in his weekly column ‘National Interest’. He argues that there are many lessons for Pakistan’s new prime minister, but the basic power equation in his country hasn’t changed, and it’s something that Khan needs to realize soon.
Unhappy with ‘generalist’ tag, IAS body wants appointment based on qualification
In an exclusive interview with ThePrint’s Sanya Dhingra, Rakesh Srivastava, the newly-appointed president of the IAS Association said that the association is looking to approach the government for qualification-based appointments, to counter the view that most IAS officers lack domain expertise to work in a rapidly-changing and technology-driven world.
Indian Army officer fights a lonely battle with his comrades over ‘fake encounters’
In Manipur, a Lt. Col has ‘highlighted’ fake encounters, pitting him against the force he loyally served for nearly two decades. While the citizens of the Imphal Valley hail the soldier’s conscience for speaking up and exposing the deeds of his own, his unit is now looking at him as a villain, reports Sujan Dutta.
Why you should not order the Basa fish at Indian restaurants
Basa might be cheap and easily available, but that’s just as far as its benefits go. Now, with reports of it being contaminated, the popularity of the ‘exotic fish’ in most big hotels has completely died down reports Sankalita Dey. Many five star hotels, such as the Oberoi, Taj ITC and the JW Marriott have stopped serving the fish across the country, but standalone restaurants continue to feature the fish.
Understanding the 42-year-old Idukki dam which is now saving Kerala
James Wilson, a special officer at Inter State Water Kerala , writes about the Iddukki and Idamalayar reservoir which has alone stored 21.3 per cent of the the total annual flow of the Periyar river. Illustrating the nature of the gigantic structure, he explains how the dam has played a major role in flood hazard management in the state.
What do Modi-haters say when confronted with the TINA factor?
The dominant question in most social gatherings is ‘what is the alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi? ‘ observed Rama Lakshmi. So she began an interesting social experiment chronicling her exchanges with people. She documents here the variety of questions and answers she discovered.
Indian Army chief wants to revolutionise the military — by cutting manpower
Sujan Dutta reports on the Army chief General Bipin Rawat plan’s to slash manpower at Army Headquarters in New Delhi to ‘usher in a revolution in Indian Military Affairs’. Quoting from a Army document accessed, he says the move is the result of observations that there are far too many personnel at Army headquarters who are redundant.