Science and technology initiatives have been important aspects of the Indian government's five-year plans and usually are based on fulfilling short-term needs, while aiming to provide the institutional base needed to achieve long-term goals. As India has striven to develop leading scientists and world-class research institutes, government sponsored scientific and technical developments have aided diverse areas such as agriculture, biotechnology, cold regions research, communications, environment, industry, mining, nuclear power, space, and transportation. As a result, India has experts in such fields as astronomy and astrophysics, liquid crystals, condensed matter physics, molecular biology, virology, and crystallography. Observers have pointed out, however, that India's emphasis on basic and theoretical research rather than on applied research and technical applications has diminished the social and economic effects of the government's investments.
India has a long and proud scientific tradition. Nehru, in his Discovery of India published in 1946, praised the mathematical achievements of Indian scholars, who are said to have developed geometric theorems before Pythagoras did in the sixth century B.C. and were using advanced methods of determining the number of mathematical combinations by the second century B.C. By the fifth century A.D., Indian mathematicians were using ten numerals and by the seventh century were treating zero as a number.
Technological discoveries have been made relating to pharmacology, brain surgery, medicine, artificial colors and glazes, metallurgy, recrystalization, chemistry, the decimal system, geometry, astronomy, and language and linguistics . These discoveries have led to practical applications in brick and pottery making, metal casting, distillation, surveying, town planning, hydraulics, the development of a lunar calendar, and the means of recording these discoveries as early as the era of Harappan culture.
The arrival of the British in India in the early seventeenth century--the Portuguese, Dutch, and French also had a presence, although it was much less pervasive--led eventually to new scientific developments that added to the indigenous achievements of the previous millennia. Although colonization subverted much of Indian culture, turning the region into a source of raw materials for the factories of England and France and leaving only low-technology production to local entrepreneurs, a new organization was brought to science in the form of the British education system. Science education under British rule initially involved only rudimentary mathematics, but as greater exploitation of India took place, there was more need for surveying and medical schools to train indigenous people to assist Europeans in their explorations and research. What new technologies were implemented were imported rather than developed indigenously, however, and it was only during the immediate preindependence period that Indian scientists came to enjoy political patronage and support for their work.
Western education and techniques of scientific inquiry were added to the already established Indian base, making way for later developments. The major result of these developments was the establishment of a large and sophisticated educational infrastructure that placed India as the leader in science and technology in Asia at the time of independence in 1947. Thereafter, as other Asian nations emerged, India lost its primacy in science, a situation much lamented by India's leaders and scientists. However, the infrastructure was in place and has continued to produce generations of top scientists.
At the onset of independence, Nehru called science "the very texture of life" and optimistically declared that "science alone can solve problems of hunger and poverty, of insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening customs." Under his leadership, the government set out to cure numerous societal problems. The Green Revolution, educational improvement, establishment of hundreds of scientific laboratories, industrial and military research, massive hydraulic projects, and entry into the frontiers of space all evolved from this early decision to embrace high technology.
The Ministry of Science and Technology was established in 1971 to formulate science and technology policies and implement, identify, and promote "frontline" research throughout the science and technology infrastructure. The ministry, through its subordinate Department of Science and Technology, also coordinates intragovernmental and international cooperation and provides funding for domestic institutions and research programs. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, a technology transfer organization, and the Department of Biotechnology, which runs a number of developmental laboratories, are the ministry's other administrative elements. Indicative of the level of importance placed on science and technology is the fact that Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao held the portfolio for this ministry in the early and mid-1990s. Some argued, however, that Rao could truly strengthen the sector by appointing, as his predecessors did, a chief science adviser and a committee of leading scientists to provide high-level advice and delegate the running of these ministries to others.
Despite long-term government commitment to research and development, India compares poorly with other major Asian countries. In Japan, for example, nearly 3 percent of GDP goes to research and development; in South Korea and Taiwan, the figure is nearly 2 percent. In India, research and development receives only 0.8 percent of GDP; only China among the major players spends less (0.7 percent). However, India's share of GDP expenditure on research and development has increased slightly: in 1975 it stood at 0.5 percent, in 1980 at 0.6 percent, and in 1985 at 0.8, where it has become static.
Because of the allocation of financial inputs, India has been more successful at promoting security-oriented and large-scale scientific endeavors, such as space and nuclear science programs, than at promoting industrial technology. Part of the latter lack of achievement has been attributed to the limited role of universities in the research and development system. Instead, India has concentrated on government-sponsored specialized institutes and provided minimal funding to university research programs. The low funding level has encouraged university scientists to find jobs in the more liberally funded publicsector national laboratories. Moreover, private industry in India plays a relatively minor role in the science and technology system (15 percent of the total investment compared with Japan's 80 percent and slightly more than 50 percent in the United States). This low level of private-sector investment has been attributed to a number of factors, including the preponderance of trade-oriented rather than technologyoriented industries, protectionist tariffs, and rigid regulation of foreign investment. The largest private-sector research and development expenditures during the FY 1990-FY 1992 period were in the areas of engineering and technology, particularly in the industrial development, transportation, communications, and health services sectors. Nonetheless, they were relatively small expenditures when compared with government and public-sector inputs in the same fields. The key element for Indian industry to benefit from the greater government and public-sector efforts in the 1990s is the ability of the government and public-sector laboratories to develop technologies with broad applications and to transfer these technologies--as is done by the National Research and Development Corporation--to private-sector industries able to apply them with maximum efficiency.
India ranks eleventh in the world in its number of active scientific and technical personnel. The quality of higher education in the sciences has not improved as quickly as desired since independence because of the flight of many top scientists from academia to higher-paying jobs in government-funded research laboratories. Foreign aid, aimed at counteracting university faculty shortages, has produced top-rate graduates as intended. However, because of limited job prospects at home, many of the brightest physicians, scientists, and engineers have been attracted by opportunities abroad, particularly in Western nations. DRDO developed its own parallel processing computer, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Rao in April 1995. Developed by DRDO's Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group in Hyderabad, the supercomputer is capable of 1 billion points per second speed and can be used for geophysics, image processing, and molecular modeling.
In his book ‘Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists’ he has suggested that capitalism serves as a handy tool to abate poverty and provides equal opportunities for all.
Born on February 3, 1963 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Raghuram Govind Rajan is the son of former intelligence officer R. Govindarajan and the third child in the family. An Indian economist and the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, who is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements, he served as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and his three year tenure is known for bringing the bleeding rupee back to strength and for battering down the inflation fangs to 6 per cent from double-digit levels. After a glorious career as an academician at the Booth School of Business, he was hired by the International Monetary Fund as its Chief Economist. Always a highachiever, Rajan completed his schooling from some of the best educational institutions in the country and abroad. An alumnus of IIT-Delhi and IIM-A, Rajan's thesis 'Essays on Banking' earned him a Ph.D. in management from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Childhood & Early Life
Raghuram Rajan completed his schooling from ‘Delhi Public School R. K. Puram’ and then went on to ‘Indian Institute of Technology’, Delhi. He was presented with the ‘Director’s Gold Medal’ upon completion of his graduation in electrical engineering from the Ivy League institution, in 1985. He then went on to study at the coveted ‘Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’. In 1987, he completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the celebrated management school with flying colours and earned the distinction of winning the Gold Medal. Pursuing his Ph.D. overseas, at the ‘MIT Sloan School of Management’, he successfully defended his thesis ‘Essays on Banking’ to receive a doctoral degree in Management in 1991.
Career
Rajan started his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the ‘Booth School of Business’, University of Chicago. During his tenure he was invited to deliver guest lectures at many reputed institutions such as the ‘Stockholm School of Economics’ and ‘Kellogg School’.
Rajan put forth his analysis of the global economies in 2005 in a paper titled ‘Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier?’ The paper attracted much criticism at the time but the eventual downturn in the international markets made many concur with his views.
Rajan then returned to teaching in 2007 for a short while before he was offered the position of an honorary economic adviser by the then Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, in November the following year. He was at the helm of financial reforms committee formed by Indian Government’s Planning Commission.
In 2010, this prodigal economist authored ‘Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy’. The book was well received by audiences and critics alike and was also named as the best business book of the year by Financial Times.
Raghuram is also a member of several prestigious organizations which include the ‘Group of Thirty’ and ‘American Academy of Arts and Sciences’. During the year 2011, he presided over the ‘American Academy of Arts and Sciences’.
The following year saw another appointment in the Indian Government when he was named as successor of Kaushik Basu, the outgoing Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. In this capacity, he was assigned the task of conducting the Economic Survey for India 2012-13.
On September 5, 2013 he assumed office of the Governor of Reserve Bank of India, the central bank of India. His appointment made him one of the youngest ever to hold the position, after Manmohan Singh. Ever since joining office, the pragmatist financial expert has been dedicated towards bringing down inflation in the country.
Rajan's three year tenure as RBI Governor is known for bringing the bleeding rupee back to strength and for battering down the inflation fangs to 6 per cent from double-digit levels. He demited the office of the Governor of RBI on 4 September 2016.
He is currently serving as the Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements.
Major Works
Rajan has made immense contribution to the field of economics, the greatest being his prediction of the economic turmoil in the US. Though he was ridiculed as a ‘Luddite’ initially but the ensuing economic crisis in the US and then Europe during 20082012, cemented his position among some of the greatest economists of our times.
Rajan's three year tenure as RBI Governor is known for bringing the bleeding rupee back to strength and for battering down the inflation fangs to 6 per cent from double-digit levels. He demitted the office of the Governor of RBI on 4 September 2016.
Awards & Achievements
The ‘American Finance Association’ conferred upon Rajan the ‘Fischer Black Prize’ in 2003. The award is presented to economists under the age of 40 for their outstanding contribution to the world of finance. He also won the fifth ‘Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013’ for the "ground-breaking research work which influenced financial and macro-economic policies around the world".
Personal Life & Legacy
Rajan married Radhika Puri, whom he met at IIM-A; the couple has two children. Radhika is a teacher of law at ‘University of Chicago Law School’. The economist is also an avid sports and quiz fan and even took part in the ‘Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2015’, among others.
Laksa
It is a delicious noodle soup made with rice noodles. Rice, like many other parts of India, is a staple in Assam. This soup’s mouthwatering taste comes from Coconut Milk, Tamarind paste, flavored fish paste, and spices. Unlike most of the street foods, this one is actually quite healthy and filling, and truly lip-smacking!! The base is a spicy broth made with a spice paste and coconut milk, with noodles and other additions such as chicken or fish. Well asam laksa is similar but the big difference is you don’t add coconut milk. Instead, the broth has a sweet-sour flavor based on tamarind.
Kinalas
Kinalas is a noodle dish similar to the usual mami. However, kinalas contains a topping of what looks like Pansit Palabok sauce, and the meaty pork or beef bouillabaisse made from boiling a cow or a pig’s head until the flesh tenderizes enough to detach from the bone surface. Kinalas and log-log are noodle soup dishes known by many but is more delectable when served Bicol style. The noodles are cooked in a broth of a skinned pig’s head with a very special brown-colored sauce. The soup is topped with very tender meat slices that also came from the pig’s head. Sprinkled with roasted garlic and spring onions, this dish is great when served piping hot with or without an egg. One may also add kalamansi and patis, chicharon and even chili peppers to suit one’s taste. Kinalas is usually paired with Baduya, Banana Cue or Camote Cue, Empanada, Cassava Cake, Pork Chicharon or Puto, whichever you prefer best.
But why is Kinalas worth tasting?
It is because Nagueños cling to their culinary tradition and the austerity of what they serve, does not affect the taste of cooking and that is what distinguishes Kinalas from other noodle dishes that are also commonly found. A noodle soup using the cheapest finest ingredient that will truly entice from it’s aroma to its final drop of soup taste.
When in Nagaland, one should never forget to try this very appetizing noodle dish from the famous Naga Kitchen. This may be a simple dish, but it is very much different from the popular noodle dishes served at major restaurants in the area. It’s being an original “oragon” dish makes that big difference.
Sanpiau
Sanpiau is a kind of rice porridge served with fresh coriander paste, crushed black pepper, tangy fish sauce, and finely powdered rice. To add a bit more taste, it is topped with pan sizzled spring onions. It is simple yet absolutely delightful to taste.
The cuisine of Mizoram is said to be rich in the food culture. One of the popular dishes from the state is Sanpiau. It is a popular snack that is served on the road side stalls and homes. The dish is prepared with rice porridge and it is served with coriander paste, onion, black pepper, fish sauce and powdered rice.
To make egg sanpiau rice is first boiled and peeled garlic, salt and salt are added to it. The rice is cooked till it starts thickening. Scramble a boiled egg. To garnish the dish, cilantro can be chopped. The dish is served hot.
“India’s Foreign Policy: Towards Resurgence,” compiled and edited by Major General Dhruv C. Katoch comes at an opportune moment as the 16th Lok Sabha wraps up and experts buckle up to critique India’s reinvigorated foreign policy under the bold and decisive leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj. It will be hard to deny the distinct shift in the country’s foreign policy endeavours from a reactive and passive stance of the past few decades to its transformation into a proactive, dynamic, and ambitious arm of Indian statecraft.
Summarising this phase of Indian foreign policy and linking it back to the historical traditions of ancient Indian wisdom on the subject, this book presents insights of thirty-six of the greatest experts of Indian foreign policy. The distinguished contributors include thought leaders from across the spectrum, ministers, diplomats, bureaucrats, and journalists, members of the Armed Forces, and academicians who have observed, experienced, and studied India’s engagement with the world for the major portion of the last century, till the present times.
Foreign policy of a nation has direct bearing on the lives of its citizens. In that sense this book serves as a great resource for foreign policy enthusiasts and laymen alike to understand the shaping of the fundamental aspects of India’s foreign policy since Independence. While it sheds light on the historical aspects of the evolution of India’s strategic thought, it equally delves into the state of India’s affairs in the world today. The success of the book is marked by the fact that it can be a starting point for a study of India’s foreign policy for beginners as well as a resource for a 360 degree perspective on the subject for the more seasoned practitioners. The major security challenges faced by the country, the role of India’s soft power in diplomacy, the importance of its vibrant diaspora, the promise of its burgeoning economy in its interaction with the world, have been covered by intellectual mammoths of the field. Special focus has been given to India’s neighbourhood, which has always held a significant position in India’s engagements. India’s relations with the major global players like the US, China and Russia among others have been dealt individually.
This book must find a space in your shelves for the multiple reasons listed above. But most of all, it deserves credit for bringing together this galaxy of intellectuals, including External Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swaraj, MoS for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, former minister M.J. Akbar, Union Minister for Commerce and Trade Suresh Prabhu, former Permanent Representative of India to the UN and current Union Minister of State Hardeep Singh Puri, former Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, and some of the most eminent ambassadors and academicians of India to share their thoughts on this pertinent subject at a propitious time in India’s history. For this one reason, India’s Foreign Policy: Towards Resurgence becomes one of a kind resource on India’s foreign policy and merits multiple readings.
India marks its 70th Republic Day on January 26, 2019. The celebrations this year have many firsts including a display of artillery weapons recently inducted in the army, an all-women army contingent and much more. 2019, for me is the year of Hope. May this new year be a year of good, wholesome, and generous for not just myself but for everyone in this country. With my spirit of optimism, there is a reason why we have Rahul Gandhi on the cover. Speaking about his political maturing, Rahul has recently come of age as a leader after the party’s victory in three assembly elections in the Hindi heartland, speaks a lot about how he has reconfigured his political programme and tactics to put democracy at their centre. This result will strengthen Rahul’s position within the party and also help him emerge as a centre point of opposition unity. During an interaction at an event organized by Indian Journalists Association in London, the Congress chief was asked if he views himself as the next Prime Minister, to which he responded, “I don't have these visions. I view myself as fighting an ideological battle and this change has come in me after 2014”. Let 2019 be the defining year for India.
In this issue, in the Platform section we discuss how, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help create consciousness about the nation’s real heroes and spread a spirit of respect for them, minister of human resources development Prakash Javadekar and minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre jointly launched a campaign to institute a “wall of valour” in 1,000 educational institutions across the country.
The Special Report deals with What lies beneath Mars. NASA has landed its eighth space craft on the planet Mars. Called InSight, the vehicle will drill deep into the surface of the planet. With all the optimism coming around here’s to a world of hope and love in 2019.
The Hitch hiker section takes you to Istanbul, the city of the past, the present and the future. Istanbul not only joins continents, it also joins cultures and people. Located in the Marmara region of Turkey, Istanbul is the world's most gorgeous and mysterious city, the coolest European city, the biggest Turkish city. Check out the beauty, the culture, and everything this amazing city has to offer.
Last but not he least, at MBD Group, hospitality is not about serving but also treating guests with elegance and excellence. Driven by the vision of the founder, Shri Ashok Kumar Malhotra, MBD group marked 15 years of successful existence and memorable moments with celebrations of its first flagship hotel in Noida.
Every reason to celebrate India!
“We have created a world record for launching 104 satellites simultaneously from the same spacecraft. We will soon register India`s presence on the Moon through the Chandrayaan-2 campaign.”-Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has decided to reserve 10% of seats in government colleges and 10% of government jobs for people who are not well off. This will be for those whose families earn less than `8 lakh a year or own less than five acres of land. To make this a law, the Constitution of India has to be changed and India's Parliament approved the change recently. Who will this help? People from families that are not well educated and those who sit on the back benches of society already get 50% of seats and jobs. The new move will help those who are‘backward’ when it comes to what they earn.
Rival political parties of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party have accused him of making this move in order to get votes in the elections that will take place this summer. They point out that the reservation will help caste groups like the Jats and Marathas, who don’t qualify for existing reservations, to get government jobs and seats in colleges. These are people who have traditionally supported Modi and this is his way of ensuring that they continue to do so, his rivals say.
In a surprising move earlier this month, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Urijit Patel resigned from his post. The government was quick to replace him with Shaktikanta Das who previously worked for the government.
Over the past many weeks, it had become clear that the Government and the RBI under Patel were disagreeing on many issues. For one, the government wanted the RBI to release money that the bank was holding in reserve. The government’s argument was that increasing the money flow would improve India’s economy and help businesses do better. The RBI in turn wanted to keep money in reserve in case there was an emergency of any kind.
In other words, it was the differences between Patel and the government that drove the RBI Governor out. The new RBI governor is expected to have friendlier relations with the government.
Kamala Harris, an American politician with Indian roots, has announced that she will be running for US President in the 2020 elections. Born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris will be the first person of Indian origin to take a serious shot at US presidency. She is a Democrat and her first challenge will be to win the nomination of the Democrats. The United States has a two political party system consisting of the Democrats and the Republicans. The current President Donald Trump is a Republican. There will be other candidates also vying to be nominated as the Democrat’s candidate and Harris has a tough nomination race ahead of her. If she manages to earn the Democratic nomination sometime in 2019, then the race to the White House (the home of the US President) will begin.
Men and women representing 196 countries of the world came together in Katowice, Poland to agree on a rule book which spells out the kind of steps countries need to take to reduce global warming. The meeting, nicknamed COP 24, is a follow-up to the Paris Agreement of 2015 when countries first agreed to keep the increase in Earth’s temperature well below 2 degrees Celcius as compared to average temperatures before 1900 when there weren’t so many vehicles or factories.
Global warming is the direct result of the increase in motor vehicles and factory activity that produce the greenhouse gases which in turn drive up temperatures. The Paris Agreement spelt out the steps countries needed to take to fight climate change. The rulebook finalized in Poland tells the countries how they need to go about things and how to report all the actions taken. This will enable the world to keep track of how well the promises made at Paris are being kept.
For example, the Paris Agreement asks every member nation to submit information about their greenhouse gas emissions every two years. The rulebook spells out which gases to measure, the means of measuring them and the kind of information each country has to submit.
What didn’t COP 24 achieve?
At Paris, countries decided that they needed a report that would update the data on global warming. The result was a report released by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change which said that countries should keep the temperature increase to 1.5°C, instead of aiming at 2°C. Sadly, countries gathered in Poland failed to agree on this. Worse the United States and Saudi Arabia (the first, one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the world and the second, the world’s largest producer of oil) didn’t even welcome the report. Accepting the IPCC report may have given the planet a better shot at beating climate change, but sadly that did not happen.
Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte, more famously known as Mary Kom, won her sixth gold at the Boxing World Champions in late November, becoming the first female boxer in the world to achieve the feat.
35 year old Kom, who is the mother of three boys, has now set her sights higher-she says she wants to win a seventh world championship and also a gold for India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kom boxes in the 48kg category.
Despite her tremendous success at the World Championship, a well-deserved Olympic gold medal has proved elusive for Kom. In 2012, she could only win a bronze in the London Olympics. Interestingly, the latest world championship gold medal for Kom has come after a gap of eight years.
Thanks to her sporting achievements, the Indian government has made Kom a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Born into a poor farmer family in Manipur, Kom switched full-time to boxing only in 2000, largely inspired by the success of fellow Manipuri Dingko Singh, who won a gold medal in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. Kom is also an animal rights activist, which means she speaks out to prevent cruelty to and mistreatment of animals.
A new bridge across the Brahmaputra connecting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was opened last month. Called the Boghibeel Bridge, it is India’s longest rail-road bridge and as well as the second longest bridge in all of Asia. The bridge will make it easier for people to travel in and out of Arunachal Pradesh, which is quite poorly connected with the rest of the country now. With a rail line also part of the bridge, it is the first step towards the building of a major railway link across Arunachal Pradesh. The Bogibeel bridge is constructed at an estimated cost of `5,900 crore. The bridge has a two-line railway track on the lower deck and a three-lane road on the top deck. For the first time for Indian Railways, the girder has A steel floor system for railway tracks and concrete for road. The bridge, which was a part of the Assam Accord and sanctioned in 1997-98, is also likely to play a crucial role in defence movement along the IndiaChina border in Arunachal Pradesh.
You may have always believed that Virat Kohli was the king of cricket, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) just made it official. In its annual awards for 2018, the ICC chose Kohli as ‘ICC Cricketer of the Year, ‘Test Cricketer of the Year’ and ‘ODI Cricketer of the Year’. Kohli is the first cricketer ever to win all three awards in one year. He was also named the captain of the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year. “Not only is Kohli the first player to win these three major ICC awards together but he has also been named the captain of the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year for a fabulous run in international cricket,” the ICC said in a statement.
Kohli scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five hundreds during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 with six centuries. He also scored 211 runs in 10 T20Is. “It’s a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year. Having recognition at the global level from the ICC is something you feel proud of as a cricketer because you understand that there are many players playing the game,” Kohli was quoted as saying by the world body in a release. Three players each from India and New Zealand feature in the ICC's Test team of the year, while four each from India and England are part of the ODI side of the year 2018.
The people of Bangladesh have voted Sheikh Hasina back to power. Her partythe Awami League-won a huge majority in the recent elections. She has come back as Prime Minister for the third time in a row. Under Sheikh Hasina, Bangla-desh’s wealth has grown steadily and having the same person in charge for a long period has also given the country some stability. She has also been a friend of India, and has helped India nab terrorists who were basing themselves in Bangladesh and operating in the north-eastern states. However, her critics have said that the elections were not held in a fair manner and are calling for re-elections. However with Sheikh Hasina’s main rival-the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia-in prison, there seems little chance that that will happen.This was the first time since 2008 that the two major parties, Awami League and BNP, contested the elections. In 2014, the main Opposition BNP boycotted the elections, and 153 out of 300 candidates were elected without a contest. Hasina, who faced antiincumbency after being in office since 2009 was pitted against a united opposition fighting under the banner of Jatiya Oikya Front (JOF) led by jailed ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
There has been a lot of unrest in Kerala over the past few days due to fights between different groups in the state over the entry of women into the temple of Sabarimala located in the mountains of the Western Ghats. Following an order of the Supreme Court in 2018, women of all ages have begun entering the temple, angering certain groups. The protests over the entry of women into the temple became very violent and normal life came to a halt last week.
The Sabarimala crisis is another interesting debate between laws and faith. It concerns the entry of women of all ages into the temple of the Brahmachari (unmarried) God Ayappa. It isn’t clear when women between the ages of 10 and 50 were prevented from going to the temple. Some say it has been this way for centuries. Others say it was made an unwritten law in the 1970s after some male devotees complained and then laid down as law in a 1992 judgement of the Kerala High Court.
Whatever the status, some people complained to the Supreme Court about this and in September last year, the court said women of all ages could enter the temple, and at all times. People have protested against this and later in January, the court will hear their petitions on why this should not be done.
Meanwhile, devotees have been trying to prevent women from entering the temple. They were successful till early January when two women entered the temple with the support of the state government and the police, both of which have to follow the order of the Supreme Court. This has made devotees very angry and many political parties have also taken their side. There have been protests, some of them violent, in Kerala over this. Interestingly, some of the most active protestors are women devotees, all of whom say they are willing to wait till they are over the age of 50 to see their favorite deity
Hopefully, the court will solve the problem later this month but it is a tough decision-what matters more, law or faith? And do laws even apply when it comes to such matters of faith?
By the time you read this, we may know the winner of this year’s Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. But this year’s edition will also be remembered for early exits of star players who were favourites to win.
Roger Federer was defeated in the fourth round by Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas while Serena Williams lost to Karolina Pliskova in the quarter finals. Had she won the tournament, Williams would have equaled Margaret Court’s all time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. The early shock came from Andy Murray who lost his first round match. Later he revealed how much a hip injury was troubling him and announced that he would probably retire in 2019, possibly at Wimbledon, his favourite tournament.
However, to keep the ‘Old is gold’ proverb ringing true, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal continued to do well, making it to the semi-finals.
Flowers, fruits and vegetables are rotting away at the port of Miami in the southern United States. The reason-due to a partial shutdown of US government, there are fewer inspectors to check the goods coming in. The shutdown has been caused by a fight between US President Donald Trump and the US Congress over the building of a wall between the US and Mexico.
Trump has been asking Congress, to include money for a border wall between the US and Mexico in the budget. The Congress has refused, sparking the fight. The President will not approve the budget unless it includes money for a wall and the Congress, which is dominated by the Democrats, a political group that opposes Trump and his Republican party, has refused to include it.
Trump wants the wall to keep people from Mexico from illegally crossing over into the US. The Democrats have said that the wall isn’t a good idea. But with neither budging, there was no approved budget under which the government could function. Unable to pay salaries to many employees, the government went into a partial shutdown on December 22. Some services like US Post, schools and airports continue to function.
The shutdown is hurting government workers who are staying at home minus a salary. They are queuing up for free food and loans and in some cases, even looking for other jobs.
RAHUL GANDHI HAS STRENGTHENED HIS PARTY IN THE LAST ONE YEAR, AND HAS RELENTLESSLY CAMPAIGNED IN EVERY STATE AND THE RESULTS ARE SHOWING
Ever since he has joined mainstream Indian Politics, Rahul Gandhi has always been the strongest opponent to the ruling party. Over the years, he has lent his voice to a number of issues but has always remained focused on propagating non-violence, equality and justice. He was seen spending his days in rural villages with the farmers in their farms and houses. He believes that a solution of any problem can be achieved if it is addressed at the ground level.
Born on June 19, 1970, Rahul Gandhi spent his early childhood between Delhi, the political center of India, and Dehradun. He studied at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi before moving to Harvard University in the USA. Later, Rahul was transferred to Rollins College in Florida due to security threats following his father’s, the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s, assassination.
He is now the mainstay of Indian Politics ever since he has imbibed the history and virtues of Indian politics and has developed a keen understanding of the Indian social fabric. In 2004 Rahul Gandhi entered politics and chose to stand from his father’s constituency and continue the legacy of serving the people of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. He won his first election with an overwhelming margin of 100,000 votes over his opponents — a testament to the faith placed by the people of his constituency in him. Rahul has always believed that the nation’s future lies with her people. In a decade-long political career, it has been observed that Rahul has held true to the very principles that won him the hearts of the people in his very first election.
In 2013, Rahul Gandhi was elected as the VicePresident of the Congress Party where he played the key role of channeling the party along the lines of Congress’ core principles. Rahul has recently come of age as a leader after the party’s victory in three assembly elections in the Hindi heartland, speaks a lot about how he has reconfigured his political programme and tactics to put democracy at their centre. This result will strengthen Rahul’s position within the party and also help him emerge as a centre point of opposition unity. His pivotal role in shaping the party along Congress’ core values over his political career earned him the post of President of the Congress Party in 2017.
The word “leadership” brings to mind a variety of images. Other than focussing on strengthening his party in last one year, Rahul has created several new departments right from farmers wing to unorganised labour wing to NRI wing. Moreover focussing on the rural agenda, Rahul Gandhi has relentlessly campaigned in all the election visiting every state and keeping his pitch simple. Recently during an interaction at an event organized by Indian Journalists Association in London, the Congress chief was asked if he views himself as the next Prime Minister, to which he responded, “I don't have these visions. I view myself as fighting an ideological battle and this change has come in me after 2014”. He tirelessly worked to democratise the student wing and youth wing of the Congress party and also ensured that young leaders take up leadership positions in the grand old party. Though Rahul Gandhi has been criticised more often than not, he has maintained to encourage the youth in politics after he has sensed the revolution across the nation from the past four years of growing intolerance, hate and violence in the country. His approach to connect with people by putting himself in their shoes is quite effective and contradictory to his own Congress party. Truly under Rahul Gandhi’s guidance, the Congress Party has once again emerged as the voice of the nation. A fourth-generation scion of the politically powerful Nehru–Gandhi family, 42-year-old Rahul Gandhi is surely the face of ‘New India’.
On a two-day visit to Germany, Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that while his party binds the people of India. Addressing the Indian community at a function organised by the Indian Overseas Congress in Berlin, Mr Gandhi claimed that the Congress' thought of “unity in diversity” came from the times of Guru Nanak Dev and thanked the members of the Indian community living in Germany, many of whom are from Punjab, for supporting the Congress and helping the party form government in the state. He assured them it was their government in Punjab and his doors were open to them in case they needed something. "When we needed you, you stood with us and helped us form our government in Punjab. A friend in need is a friend indeed and you have been true friends,” he told the gathering. Mr Gandhi also cited the "langar" concept in Sikhism, which follows the philosophy that no one should go hungry, no matter how weak or poor.
“The work Guru Nanak used to do, we work on the same philosophy. I thought, you are saying this today, we have been speaking of unity in diversity from the times of Guru Nanak. Our strength is listening to everyone, even the weakest, the poorest person. Every Indian religion talks about helping the last man in the line” he said. “The Congress belongs to all, works for everyone and our work is to spread the thought of unity in diversity. Today, the government in India is working differently,” he claimed. “Our job is to bring the people together and take the country forward and we have shown how to do it”, he added.
The Congress chief was accompanied by party leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur, who has been an MP and a Union minister in the past.
Highlights: Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses students at the London School of Economics (LSE).
RG when asked on corruption: ‘RTI is being weakened, destroyed’
Rahul Gandhi says the single instrument against corruption is RTI — it is the arrow that goes right into the heart of the bureaucratic machinery. Unfortunately, it is being weakened and destroyed. The other two instruments are Lokpal and a decentralisation system, the idea of a Panchayati Raj.
Rahul Gandhi speaks about empowering youth at London School of Economics (LSE)
“The political system empowers youngsters. But there simply isn't enough talented, capable youngsters in the system.” On transparency and political funding, he said, “The more transparency, the better.”
On dynastic politics: ‘I am elected’
On dynastic politics, Gandhi sais he is an elected representative. “The term dynasty is not precise. I am actually elected,” he said, in response to a question. “I think what you bring to the table is what is most important.”
We have to look at agriculture in connection with other aspects of economy
On asked about agriculture, he said, “Agriculture is linked with several things in the country. Its impact goes way beyond the farm. The vision that we can separate these things — industry, technology for instance — does not work. The fastest growth in India came in the rural areas. In the UPA period, the growth was in the rural areas because of MNREGA and loan waiver fired off the economy. When this happened, it triggered other aspects of the economy. We have to view this is a connected way.”
On the opportunities for the Congress
Gandhi said the party needs to bring in the millions of youth who buy the Congress idea and deliver to them an organisation that can work and can empower them to transform India. “To me, the Congress is yours. Gandhiji used to use the word ‘trusteeship’.”
On agriculture sector: ‘It is our duty to protect the farmer’
On agriculture, Gandhi said it is our duty to help and protect the farmer. He adds that the average Indian farmer doesn't make enough money to survive, which is an economic problem. It requires MSP, a sensitive touch when there's a calamity and sometimes loan waivers to help the farmer. In terms of productivity, we need to look at how to change habits, introduce technology, he added.
On 2019 Lok Sabha elections
“The next election is going to be pretty straightforward — BJP on one side and the entire Opposition on the other side,” sais Rahul Gandhi. “We need to defend Indian institutions, the idea of one man one vote. It will be clear-cut election where everyone will be on one side and the RSS-BJP will be on the other side.”
On weaker sections f the community
Rahul Gandhi said, he has been himself through a certain degree of violence. “I understand how violence works and how violence is destructive. That experiemce made me compassionate and that is why I reach out to peple,” he said.
On his assessment of the Congress party
Next election is going to be pretty straight forward. Next election is going to be a BJP on one side and the entire opposition on the other side. That is how the next election is going to be. And the reason for that is that almost everybody in the opposition and also members of the BJP alliance feel that the encroachment taking place on Indian institutions, the systematic attack that is taking place in Indian institutions. You saw four Supreme Court Justices come out and say, we’re not allowed to do our work. You saw recently a journalist who was sacked because he did a program about farmers in Chhattisgarh. So there is a feeling in the opposition that for the first time, a organisation is challenging the very concept of India and this has not happened in the last seventy years. So there is this move that we need to defend the Indian institutions, we need to defend the idea of one man one vote, we need to defend the inclusive idea of India. And you’re going to have a clear cut election where pretty much everybody is going to be on this side and the RSS/BJP is going to be on the other side and once that maths starts to come into play, and you can look at the UP & Bihar alliances as sort of the central focus areas, it becomes very difficult for the BJP to win elections. The Congress is an idea that is actually very old, it is not a new idea in India, similar to the RSS which is also an old idea in India and these ideas, if you read Indian philosophy, if you read our history, these ideas have been in combat for thousands of years. There are different visions on how to organise society. The RSS vision of how to organise society is a top to bottom hierarchy where knowledge is centralised. And the Congress’ vision of organising India is a decentralised structure where knowledge is available with everybody and you try to reduce the hierarchy. That’s the basic fight. So the Congress has this idea embedded very deep inside it.
When you talk to Congress workers, when you talk to Congress leaders and you scratch the surface, you find this idea, you find nonviolence inside them. They struggle in the environment, they struggle to bring it out because the environment is aggressive, there is a lot of push back but that idea is deep inside Congress workers and Congress leaders. That’s a huge strength. Weakness is that the Congress is not able to express that idea effectively to the people. So when people outside the Congress look at the Congress, they struggle to see that idea clearly. When you look at the BJP or I look at the BJP/RSS, it's very clear what they’re saying. There’s no confusion. The RSS has spent a certain amount of time working on that idea. Gandhiji used to do that for us. The big leaders of the Congress struggle used to do that for us. And that’s where the Congress party has not kept pace. But the good news is that the idea is in the Congress and the idea is in many many Indians and the idea manifests. So for example, when you see a strong person beating up a small person, a weak person, a woman on the street, something comes out inside you, you feel the sense of protection, you feel I want to do something about this, that's the Congress, that’s the idea of Congress. And you will feel it in you. So the weakness of the organisation is that it is not able to reach out to you and say that the idea that you’re feeling, that’s us. And the second thing is that the Congress has over time closed itself and the Congress needs to start opening itself. It needs to start saying, ok, you guys need to come in, you guys need to help us run this system, you guys need to work with us. The Congress needs to expand out and the Congress needs to be precise about what it actually stands for. Opportunity to me is bringing in millions and millions of Indian youngsters who deeply buy the Congress idea and delivering them an organisation that really can work with them, empower them to transform India. Threat in the Congress - arrogance.
ON 1984 ANTI-SIKH RIOTS
It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy.
ON 2019 LS POLL
The next election is pretty straightforward. On one side there is BJP and on the other side, there is every opposition party. There is no way that the BJP can win the election.
ON INSURGENT GROUPS
If you do not give people a vision in the 21st century, somebody else will. And that is the real risk of excluding a large number of people from the development process. It's very dangerous to exclude people in the 21st century. Hate is a choice, and hate is a dangerous thing in a connected world. In the Congress party, we bring people together, we carry as many people as possible with us in the transformation process. There is a lot of hatred in the world today, but not enough act of listening. Listening is very powerful, and it can change the world.
Rahul Gandhi joined Indian politics 14 years ago in the year 2004 while declaring his participation in the Lok Sabha elections from his father’s constituency, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. He took part in 2004 elections and won with a great majority of votes. The young wings of Congress party in India IYC and NSUI have faced a significant increase in the number of young party members after Rahul Gandhi was given command of these two political entities. His tremendous victory in the year 2004 in Amethi constituency put an end to all the allegations that were made on his leadership qualities. He repeated his success again in 2009 elections and single-handedly won the Uttar Pradesh elections for Congress party.
Rahul Gandhi was arrested in 2011 Uttar Pradesh police in Bhatta Parsaul town while he was campaigning with the farmers fighting for the right full amount of money for their lands. He was released after 3 hours of his arrest and was advised to leave for Delhi immediately. Rahul Gandhi can be easily seen spending his days in rural villages with the farmers in their farms and houses. He believes that a solution of any problem can be achieved if it is addressed at ground level.
IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHEN THE WAR MEMORIAL WILL COME UP, WHAT ALL WILL BE DONE TO ASSUAGE THE FEELINGS OF THE NEXT OF KIN OF VICTIMS OF THE ROGUE-BUTCHER PAKISTAN ARMY AND HOW AND WHEN NEW DELHI WILL FORMULATE AND IMPLEMENT A CONSISTENT EFFECTIVE POLICY ON DEALING WITH PAKISTAN.
Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help create consciousness about the nation’s real heroes and spread a spirit of respect for them, minister of human resources development Prakash Javadekar and minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre jointly launched a campaign to institute a “wall of valour” in 1,000 educational institutions across the country.
A pleasant surprise was in store for the audience of students, vice-chancellors of universities, serving and retired Army officers and the media who attended the function at the National Media Centre (NMC) in New Delhi. Because sharing the dais with messrs Javadekar and Bhamre, Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand, vice Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral KK Pandey, and Air Marshal H.N. Bhagwat (representing the three services) and former Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay, who initiated this campaign were Indian Army’s two living and serving Param Vir Chakra (PVC) recipients, who survived Pakistan Army’s intensified midsummer misadventure in Kargil in 1999, Grenadier, now Subedar, Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers and Rifleman, now Naib Subedar, Sanjay Kumar, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. Behind the dais was a large board with the portraits India’s 21 PVC awardees: Maj. Somnath Sharma, 4 Kumaon, (Posthumous), 1947; Second Lt. Rama Raghoba Rane, Bombay Sappers, 1948; Company Havildar Maj. Piru Singh, 6 Rajputana Refiles, (Posthumous), 1948; Lance Naik Karam Singh, 1 Sikh, 1948; Naik Jadunath Singh, 1 Rajput, (Posthumous), 1948; Capt. Gurbachan Singh Salaria, 3/1 Gorkha Rifles, (Posthumous), 1961; Maj. Shaitan Singh, 13 Kumaon, (Posthumous), 1962; Subedar Joginder Singh, 1 Sikh, (Posthumous), 1962; Maj. Dhan Singh Thapa, 1/8 Gorkha Rifles, 1962; Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, 4 Grenadiers, (Posthumous), 1965; Lt. Col. A.B. Tarapore, Poona Horse, (Posthumous), 1965; Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, 18 Squadron, (Posthumous), 1971; Maj. Hoshiar Singh, 3 Grenadiers, 1971; Second Lt. Arun Khetarpal, Poona Horse, (Posthumous), 1971; Lance Naik Albert Ekka, 14 Guards, (Posthumous), 1971; Maj. Ramaswamy Parameswaran, 8 Mahar, (Posthumous), 1987; Naib Subedar Bana Singh, 8 JAK LI, 1987; Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers, 1999; Capt. Vikram Batra, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, (Posthumous), 1999; Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1999 and Lt. Manoj Kumar Pandey, 7/11 Gorkha Rifles (Posthumous), 1999.
The nationwide programme named “Vidya Veerta Abhiyan” involves adorning a wall 15x20 feet with these portraits at designated prominent places in educational campuses to inculcate a sense of national pride and patriotism among the students. The expenditure on constructing the wall, the display, etc., is proposed to be borne by voluntary contributions by the teaching faculty and the students of the educational institutions.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Javadekar said, “We feel secure just because of the continuous vigil and alertness of our armed forces along the borders.” He added that armed forces personnel are our real postIndependence heroes while the freedom fighters who laid down their lives and faced atrocities for the cause of freedom are heroes of that period.
Expressing appreciation for the display of portraits of 21 PVC awardees to instil the spirit of patriotism among youth of the nation, Dr Bhamre complimented troops for tirelessly braving enemy bullets in difficult terrain while away from their families for long periods and he expressed confidence of their professional capability.
Both ministers condemned the recent barbarism by the Pakistan Army and presented portraits of the gallant PVC heroes to vice-chancellors of various universities present, including Arunachal Pradesh and a representative from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Invited to speak on the occasion, both survivor PVCs Yadav and Kumar, had the audience spellbound and repeatedly clapping as they simply and stoically shared their experiences of exemplary acts of valour during the Kargil conflict. Referring to the recent brutality by the Pakistan Army, Sanjay Kumar explained the “soch me farak” (difference in attitudes) of Indian and Pakistani armies and reminded how during that confrontation our troops had given decent burials to enemy troops killed, which Pakistan then had refused to acknowledge or collect the bodies of.
This event again raises two questions: Why has India’s pre- and post-Independence history not been taught in schools and why has a war memorial not yet been constructed, despite Arun Jaitley announcing plans for it during his earlier stint as defence minister?
India’s India Gate was made by the British as a tribute to 74,187 Indian soldiers, who were killed out of 1.5 million who participated in World War I. The Teen Murti was a memorial to honour personnel of the Indian Cavalry, who died in World War I. In World War II, 2.5 million Indian personnel were the decisive factor for allied victory, but the Brits left in too much of a hurry to make another war memorial. Indian troops have been paid impressive tributes by a number of allied countries for their role in both World War I and II, with citations of their gallantry well recorded in museums and memorials. The Indian government since Independence obviously had no time to even think about even one war memorial despite being responsible for ordering the armed forces to fight several wars and conflicts since then.
While the US entered both World War I and II late, it built imposing memorials and/or museums for both. There is also a memorial for US Marine Corps in World War II, as well as veterans memorials for those involved in Korea and Vietnam. And all of these are in Washington, D.C. The Arlington cemetery spread over 624 acres in Virginia, is as good as in Washington. There is a separate memorial for women soldiers. Visiting the Arlington National Cemetery is an emotional experience for not only soldiers but civilians too. And the crowds that come to visit national war memorials in the US are a testimony to the fact that no matter what the cause of deployment in any conflict even those publicly perceived as futile or unnecessary the respect that dead soldiers get is indeed wide and heartfelt. Visiting Washington, D.C. and the war memorials, this writer as an Indian, yet again felt utter disgust at how the Indian government since Independence has failed to inculcate national pride and how shabbily it has treated its armed forces.
It remains to be seen when the war memorial will come up, what all will be done to assuage the feelings of the next of kin of victims of the rogue-butcher Pakistan Army and how and when New Delhi will formulate and implement a consistent effective policy on dealing with Pakistan.
United States space agency NASA has landed its eighth space craft on the planet Mars. Called InSight, the names stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, and the lander will do something no Martian vehicle has done before-drill deep into the surface of the planet.
The unmanned craft is a very specialized robot-it will use its tools to drill into the planet's soil. It will study the deep interior of the Red Planet in order to understand how Mars and other heavenly bodies were formed.
The lander was launched from Earth on May 5. It touched down Monday, Nov. 26, near Mars’ equator after a seven-month, 485 million kilometer journey from Earth. Although it is the eighth time a Martian landing has been made, no robot has studied the interior of the planet before.
A Nasa Report:
Mars has just received its newest robotic resident. NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet after an almost seven-month, 300million-mile (485-million-kilometer) journey from Earth.
InSight’s two-year mission will be to study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the Moon, formed.
InSight launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California May 5. The lander touched down Monday, Nov. 26, near Mars' equator on the western side of a flat, smooth expanse of lava called Elysium Planitia, with a signal affirming a completed landing sequence at 11:52 a.m. PST (2:52 p.m. EST).
“Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “InSight will study the interior of Mars, and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon.”
The landing signal was relayed to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, via NASA’s two small experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, which launched on the same rocket as InSight and followed the lander to Mars. They are the first CubeSats sent into deep space. After successfully carrying out a number of communications and in-flight navigation experiments, the twin MarCOs were set in position to receive transmissions during InSight's entry, descent and landing.
From Fast to Slow
"We hit the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph (19,800 kilometers per hour), and the whole sequence to touching down on the surface took only six-and-a-half minutes," said InSight project manager Tom Hoffman at JPL. “During that short span of time, InSight had to autonomously perform dozens of operations and do them flawlessly — and by all indications that is exactly what our spacecraft did.”
Confirmation of a successful touchdown is not the end of the challenges of landing on the Red Planet. InSight's surface-operations phase began a minute after touchdown. One of its first tasks is to deploy its two decagonal solar arrays, which will provide power. That process begins 16 minutes after landing and takes another 16 minutes to complete.
The InSight team expects a confirmation later Monday that the spacecraft's solar panels successfully deployed. Verification will come from NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, currently orbiting Mars. That signal is expected to reach InSight's mission control at JPL about fiveand-a-half hours after landing.
“We are solar powered, so getting the arrays out and operating is a big deal," said Hoffman. "With the arrays providing the energy we need to start the cool science operations, we are well on our way to thoroughly investigate what’s inside of Mars for the very first time.”
InSight will begin to collect science data within the first week after landing, though the teams will focus mainly on preparing to set InSight's instruments on the Martian ground. At least two days after touchdown, the engineering team will begin to deploy InSight's 5.9foot-long (1.8-meter-long) robotic arm so that it can take images of the landscape.
“Landing was thrilling, but I'm looking forward to the drilling," said InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt of JPL. "When the first images come down, our engineering and science teams will hit the ground running, beginning to plan where to deploy our science instruments. Within two or three months, the arm will deploy the mission's main science instruments, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) and Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instruments.”
InSight will operate on the surface for one Martian year, plus 40 Martian days, or sols, until Nov. 24, 2020. The mission objectives of the two small MarCOs which relayed InSight’s telemetry was completed after their Martian flyby.
“That's one giant leap for our intrepid, briefcase-sized robotic explorers," said Joel Krajewski, MarCOproject manager at JPL. "I think CubeSats have a big future beyond Earth's orbit, and the MarCO team is happy to trailblaze the way.”
With InSight’s landing at Elysium Planitia, NASA has successfully soft-landed a vehicle on the Red Planet eight times.
“Every Mars landing is daunting, but now with InSight safely on the surface we get to do a unique kind of science on Mars," said JPL director Michael Watkins. "The experimental MarCO CubeSats have also opened a new door to smaller planetary spacecraft. The success of these two unique missions is a tribute to the hundreds of talented engineers and scientists who put their genius and labor into making this a great day."
JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The MarCO CubeSats were built and managed by JPL. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.
A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES, and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), provided the SEIS instrument, with significant contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Switzerland, Imperial College and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and JPL. DLR provided the HP3 instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the wind sensors.
The luxuriously royalty of Made In India restaurant, the tantalizing aromas wafting from the kitchen, piqued my interest. The jolly welcome put me to ease right away. From the Murgh Tawa kebabs to Samak-e-Sakhnavi, Khamiri Roti with chicken stew, they really do melt in the mouth. Let us hear it from one of our guests about the place and its passionate chefs. Read on...
Have you been yearning to visit Purani Dilli to gorge on authentic kebabs, nihari, phirni and the like — but the fear of large crowds and congested areas is holding you back? Then head to Radisson Blu MBD Noida, Made In India fine-dining restaurant, which, besides excelling in Avadhi and Lucknowi cuisines, has now added Delhi 6 “tadka” to its menu to entice and appease the palate of its patrons.
Made in India has a luxurious and cozy set-up inspired by royalty. The decor is classy with imperial furniture that includes special “maharaja” and “maharani” chairs. There are black marble walls, golden panels all over the place and long, flowy white curtains. The vibrant ceiling has an interesting display of shlokas, while artefacts like the “sainik” figurine and “prakash yantras” — used by royals to know the time of the day — add to the awe factor of the facility.
The staff — from servers to chefs — are warm and extremely hospitable. With soothing classical music playing in the background, dining here transports you back to the regal era of kings and queens.
The restaurant has recently introduced a new menu, incorporating the tempting Delhi 6 cuisine. The dishes comprising traditional kebabs, biryani, korma, stew and others are curated by their chef Khursheed who has close to 30 years of experience in the business.
“He stays in Chandni Chowk, makes his own secret spices and mostly uses herbs to create the magic on plate,” the chef told IANS.
“We are now focusing on the Delhi 6 cuisine so that people don't have to travel all the way to Old Delhi for their cravings,” added the chef.
I kick-started the evening with appetisers on the chef’s recommendation. First, I was served Bharwa Paneer — deep fried cottage cheese marinated with gram flour, turmeric, ginger and spices with fresh pineapple stuffing. It had a crispy crust and juicy paneer on the inside. The fruit flavour elevated the taste of the dish, giving it a unique twist. It is a veggie delight.
The Murgh Tawa kebabs — chicken and Bengal gram patties infused with green chillies — were delectable and melted in the mouth.
Samak-e-Sakhnavi, a mix of minced fish, coriander, chilli and onion paste, was skewered and cooked on sigree. Served sizzling hot, it was heavenly and is a must-try.
Next came the Tala Murgh which will tantalise your palate and take you back to Old Delhi's lanes with its rich aroma and authentic flavour. It was the clear winner of the evening and I ordered it twice.
I also tried Mutton Tikka kebabs on the chef's insistence. These were prepared to perfection and deliciously spicy. This was another favourite of mine.
Vegetarians can opt for Khumb Gilavate — mushroom kebab marinated with kachari masala. These delicacies were enjoyed with Shahi Jaam — a paan flavoured cocktail topped with a lemon wedge. It was sensuous and left a sweet lingering aftertaste.
Dead Panic is a worth-mentioning cocktail — an exotic version of the classic Long Island Ice Tea. Decorated with a pineapple slice, this well-balanced concoction would leave you happily high.
Not a drinker? Then go for the tangy Ginger and Lime Crush mocktail. It is stimulating and I relished it to the last drop.
Coming to the main course, I asked for Khubani Bhare Koftey — cottage cheese dumplings stuffed with apricot and simmered in a blend of almonds and reduced milk. I am not a fan of koftas, but this one left me pleasantly surprised. The dumplings were squishy and went well with a laccha paratha.
Being a Punjabi, my plate is incomplete without Dal Makhni, which was silky, wellexecuted and had me salivating.
Next up was Nihari — lamb shanks cooked in its own steam with mace, brown onion and cardamom — with khameeri roti. It was by far the best I have had in town. The taste was exceptional and meat was so tender that one can easily cut through it with a fork.
And it's not over yet!
I also gobbled Mutton Korma and Murgh Estew with sumptuous biryani. And I must say these dishes gained a special spot in my heart. The thick curries had a robust blend of flavours and would please even the most finicky gourmand.
I wrapped my grand dinner with yummy phirni and homemade malai kulfi. The latter was a little extra sweet though.
The new menu has added zing to the existing one while retaining the traditional Delhi 6 flavours. The menu is now more diverse and elaborate to cater to different palates.
Made In India is thus a perfect stop for your next dine-out, whether an intimate dinner for two or a large group celebration.
In short
Where: Radisson Blu, First Floor, Sector 18 - Noida
Timings:12.30 p.m. to 2.45 p.m; 7 p.m. to 11. 45 p.m.
Price:Rs 3,800 for two (without alcohol)