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Saturday, September 28, 2024
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Book Excerpts

Burma was once toast of the world. Now, it is on list of top 10 places to avoid

The cost of Burma, now Myanmar’s withdrawal from the world has been material and intellectual impoverishment on a scale unmatched in Asia.

India only cares about national interest. And Nepal has been at the receiving end of it

India finds its ‘national interest’ much more important than democracy or cordial relations with a neighbour like Nepal.

While Osama was trying to convince supporters he was alive, Zarqawi declared Islamic State

From Abbottabad, Osama bin Laden told his followers he was well, but privately was obsessed with his inability to rein in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

‘Screw it, we’ll do it’: This is how Flipkart decided to sell phones online

Flipkart’s mobile phones category went live in early 2010. The first order came in shortly.

As a creator of Cambridge Analytica, I fell for Facebook’s call to ‘move fast, break things’

Facebook is a doorway into minds of Americans. Mark Zuckerberg left that door wide open for Cambridge Analytica, Russians, and who knows how many others.

Kashmir, Bengal, Malwa: Akbar justified invasions by claiming he was freeing people

Akbar’s chroniclers wrote that the Mughal emperor felt preservation of the condition of the subjects of a region was his moral obligation as a just ruler.

Muslim women enjoyed greater freedom during Delhi Sultanate and Mughal rule than now

Many royal women were known to have built imperial mosques; many mosques, from Delhi to Bengal, had sections reserved for women to come and pray.

When a jobless youth helped Delhi Police crack a code & foil terror attack at India Gate

No one will know what effect such a terror attack would have had on India-Pakistan relations, which were fragile in the aftermath of the Parliament attack.

Dalai Lama is at the centre of a new great game in Himalayas between India, China & Tibet

To add to the Dalai Lama’s misery, the United States has now reached the stage of effectively abandoning the Tibet issue.

How Indian Army won the famous tank battle of Asal Uttar in 1965 against Pakistan

In August 1965, having tasted blood in Kutch, the Pakistan Army sent in thousands of soldiers into Kashmir, expecting to wrest it from India.

On Camera

Dear Bengal govt, don’t steal our memories, land, and clean air by removing trams

Nostalgia, romance, and a love of heritage alone cannot make the beloved trams of Kolkata sustainable. Simple science can. Transport Minister, are you with us still?

10 yrs ago, battery leasing failed to boost demand for EV cars in India. Now, it’s making a comeback

Under this model, battery is provided to EV owners on a subscription basis or lease. With more people open to buying EV cars, the lower upfront cost could likely drive wider acceptance.

Army gets high-altitude artillery firing range in Arunachal, 2 more to come up in the north

The artillery regiment has incorporated simulators in a big way for various functions like driving & weapons training, especially for Agniveers to get realistic training.

Lesson from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan: if you have no patience, you don’t deserve democracy

Sri Lankan transition was smoothly managed. Check Bangladesh for contrast. They forced their incumbent into exile, installed a mostly unelectable govt of non-political people.