Editorial

The Military Doctrine

EVERY YEAR WE pay tribute to men and women who have died in combat with solemn speeches and ceremonies. These men and women enter the military, risking their lives—but this risk is not, as is often described, a ‘sacrifice’ for a ‘random higher cause’. THIS cause is a matter of true threat ...

Cover Story

The Spirit of the Indian Soldier

Humble, honest and firm, the former Army Chief, General (retired) Ved Prakash Malik on why a dialogue between civilians, politicians, bureaucracy and army is the need of the hour... “We are a democracy. I would like more people to think of the army. The political sections, as well as the bureaucr...

Up-To-Date

Mumbai Serial Blasts Case

SC upholds conviction of Sanjay Dutt, reduces jail term VERDICT\\ The Supreme Court in March upheld the death sentence of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The court also upheld the conviction of Sanjay Dutt under the Arms Act. The court, however reduced the actor’s s...

Hugo Chavez Breathes His Last

Nation Mourns the Socialist Leader’s Demise, Readies for Elections DEMISE\\ President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela died after a struggle with cancer leaving behind a bitterly divided nation in the grip of a political crisis that grew more acute as he languished for weeks in hospitals in Havana and C...

India Flattens Aussies to Get a 4-0 Lead

CRICKET\\ Never in the 81-year-old Test history has India won more than two matches against Australia in a single series. But in March 2013, India and its able Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni crushed Australia 4-0. Chasing 155, Cheteswar Pujara made a calm unbeaten 82 to propel India to a six-wicket vi...

Italian Marines Return

Special Court Set Up for Case RETURN\\The Italian marines—who refused to return to India after travelling home to vote for their National Election in March 2013—arrived in India at the end of March ending a bitter stand-off between the two concerned countries. The Supreme Court had on February ...

Rape Accused Found Dead

Family cries foul over alleged suicide SUICIDE\\ Bus driver Ram Singh, one of the six accused in the rape, torture and murder of the 23-year-old New Delhi physiotherapy student was found hanging in Tihar jail in this month. The 34-year-old Singh, the alleged ringleader in the attack, was found hang...

Foreign Despatches

I really believe in the motto; the right place at the right time

AFTER GRADUATING with a Master’s degree in economics from Madras Christian College in Chennai, I worked at a market research firm, IMRB, in Mumbai. It was there where I found my passion for market research. I realised that I wanted to know more, specifically the psychology behind consumer decision...

Social Agenda

THE FIVE Commandments

Our expert’s top five tips for social media marketers Managing and growing a brand’s presence, no matter the medium, is serious business. Yet, many still believe that the job of a social media professional is frivolous at best— simply to tweet once in a while, upload photos and videos, and ge...

Platform 1

Are You a Google Search Result?

What our search history says about us GOOGLE IS THE nickname of a close friend’s son. He is nine years old— that makes him younger than Google Inc. He was born in Stanford, a few months after the publication of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake. When we came to know about his christening, w...

Looking Back

ON SCREEN OFF SCREEN

Media man, journo and BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli remembers his days as a telly newscaster I was born in Mumbai. My father worked in the government so we moved a lot. First seven to eight years were spent in Rajasthan, in a place called Khetri, which was a copper area, a year in Malanjkhand. That ...

Platform 2

India’s Vote Against Sri Lanka

Both Sides Fighting Over Half a Point INDIA’S VOTE AGAINST Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 21 was ill-advised. Of course, some would argue it was inevitable, given the political influence of Tamil Nadu on the UPA government. Indeed, it is a bit of a cliché that dipl...

Good Karma

MOUTHPIECE OF THE YOUTH

Anshul Tewari and his Youth ki Awaaz are giving the Indian youth what it never had; a podium to raise their voices In 2008, when Tewari had just finished his board exams and was wondering what career path to tread, he was also writing letters to editors of national dailies, expressing his views on ...

Reading Room

Don’t Buy This Book Now!

A hilarious, easy read which can impact a reader tad too strongly, as our reviewer found out... I ALMOST did not write this book review. That is not to deny the fact that I had actually volunteered to write it, or that— once I had committed myself to it—I did not want to write it. The truth is ...

The Walking

Powerful, whimsical and hard-hitting, an interesting second novel from a young writer DISPLACEMENT AND identity. I and you. Them and us. Violence and inner peace. The prison one flees and the land of second chances. Ties to one’s soil or land, the repulsion of the new terrain. Sense of family, su...

Hitchhiker's Guide

A Trek Through The Ages

Where turquoise has a different meaning—Istanbul It was on the last day of my trip to Istanbul that I discovered quite why I had developed such a powerful bond with the city. The country is called Turkey, and the signature colour—if you go by the glazed tiles and the evil eye talisman—is blue...

Garnish

The Desi Gora of an Italian Kitchen

Bill Marchetti talks of love—for cooking, travelling, and the country he now calls home In a dimly-lit corner of the otherwise bright room, sits a portly white man. He wears a rather mean beard, the kind which the gora Bollywood baddies, such as Bob Christo, are known to brandish. Had it not been...