India Narrative

Wiped-out in the five states during recent polls, the Congress cannot hope for better days in Himachal Pradesh, slated to witness elections by the year's end. Having run -out of leadership in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress is seeing a hope in the legacy politics ahead of the polls. It precisely aims to encash the sympathy factor in favour of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Six-time Chief Minister, a Congress stalwart indeed, died last year at age of 87. On Tuesday, the Congress appointed his wife Pratibha Singh, a sitting MP as new state party president, apparently unable to find a potential second line leader to lead the congress to the poll, against the well-entrenched BJP or  counter AAP's buzz in the Shimla hills. The congress has also revamped the party organisational structure and appointed four working presidents for 'caste and regional balance'. A former PCC president Sukhwinder Singh, one of Chief Ministerial post aspirants has been made Chairman of the

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Kyiv should take "political responsibility" for the Ukrainian servicemen and "militants of the nationalist battalions" blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, the strategic  port city in southeastern Ukraine. Discussing the situation in detail, and especially in and around the key port on the Sea of Azov, Putin told Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone conversation today that Mariupol has been liberated and there were no military operations there. "As for the Ukrainian servicemen and militants of the nationalist battalions blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant, the Kyiv authorities should take political responsibility and, guided by humane considerations, order them to lay down their arms. Prisoners of war are guaranteed life, medical care and treatment in accordance with international legal standards," said the Kremlin.   Quoting Denis Pushilin, the head o

“Nobody in India should be credit starved,” says Shruti Aggarwal, co-founder of Stashfin, a neo banking startup, which focuses on small ticket size loans between Rs 1,000 and Rs 10 lakh essentially helping the un-banked or the underbanked take care of sudden unforeseen needs. With a total funding of $75 million, Stashfin is now making headlines. Launched in 2016, it has raised funds from a host of investors across the globe including China based Tencent, Hong Kong headquartered Integrated Capital, Singapore based Saison Capital and Snow Leopard Technology Ventures among others. The US based Uncorrelated Ventures and Altara Ventures from Singapore have also invested in the company. Notwithstanding the Covid 19 pandemic and the slowdown in the economy, the Indian startup ecosystem last year raised $24.1 billion worth of equity investment. Stashfin, in a span of just six years, has now spread into 68 cities with a a customer base of 2.5 lakh customers. “What we offer is more a credit line

Afghanistan’s rulers, the Taliban, have designed a new formula , which apparently conforms to their puritan religious norms, of educating boys and girls. Girls will go to university on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday while boys will attend classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. In a bizarre decree  the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education has announced the allocation of specific days in a week for male and female students to attend universities separately, similar to an odd and even formula. According to the new timetable for the universities, three days of the week are allocated for all-female students during which no boy will be attending classes while the remaining three days will be given to boys with no female  presence. Based on this decision, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday are allocated for girls and Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday for boys. And this pilot project will be implemented first at Kabul University and Kabul Polytechnic University, reported Khama press. “With the new a

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded an alert about a mysterious liver disease outbreak affecting children in Europe and the United States as it said at least one death has been reported due to the ailment. The WHO said that it has so far received reports of at least 169 cases of “acute hepatitis of unknown origin” from a dozen countries. The cases were reported in children ranging from one month to 16 years of age, and 17 of those who fell ill required liver transplants. The UN health agency did not mention in which country the death occurred. The first cases were recorded in the UK, where 114 children were infected. “It is not yet clear if there has been an increase in hepatitis cases, or an increase in awareness of hepatitis cases that occur at the expected rate but go undetected,” WHO said in a statement. Experts say the cases may be linked to a virus commonly associated with colds, but further research is still going on. “While adenovirus is a possible hypothesis, inve

  With his frequent visits to Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a record of sorts. If his scheduled visit of 24 April 2022 materialises, he will become India’s first PM after 1980 to have visited J&K as many as 21 times. Modi is known to have toured Kashmir in the thick of militancy in 1990-94. According to the local BJP leaders, he visited all the valley’s six districts in 1993 when most of the mainstream politicians had resigned under the fear and diktat of gun. Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had escaped to London. Several of his ex-Ministers and MLAs had been killed by terrorists and others—with exceptions like Aga Syed Mehmood, Mohammad Shafi Bhat and Mohammad Sayeed Akhoon—had migrated and settled in Jammu. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who worked as the union Home minister for 11 months in 1989-90, used to live in Delhi. Ghulam Nabi Azad, another former Union Minister from J&K, had reduced his visibility after his brother-in-law was kidnapped and

When Imran Khan had to unceremoniously give up the office of Prime Minister, he left behind a troubled legacy. Pakistan’s economy was in shambles and the relations with several key foreign powers in free fall. However, in one area where he tasted some success was in forming an “Islamic alliance” with pal Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia, and in crying himself hoarse about 'Islamophobia’, instigating an almost riot like situation near the French Embassy after caricatures of prophet Mohammed were published in France.  He feverishly tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, taking it after decades to the UN Security Council where nothing came of it. And he managed to get the UN to adopt a resolution to mark an international day for combating Islamophobia. Under Imran Khan's watch the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) strengthened its position in Pakistan, while Khan himself became an unofficial spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban on the internatio

In December 2021, a vessel MV Seago Piraeus, was repatriated from Port Mombasa, Kenya for emitting radiation from a container (TCKU3337296), booked by M/s Prama Exports. Upon reaching the Indian port JNPT on December 25, 2021, the cargo was duly inspected by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) officials, who concluded presence of “Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material” (NORM)-Thorium-232 with marginally higher radiation levels. The radiation background of the container at 1 mtr distance was found to be 0.02 to 0.04 µSv/h and at container 1 mtr – 3 mtr height from base (two locations at opposite outside walls of the container: 32 µSv/h and 8 µSv/h). BARC officials determined that the amount of material would be in larger content, resulting in a marginally higher radiation field. According to BARC officials, NORM is non-hazardous and is not dangerous to a person coming in close proximity to it and allowed in small quantities under exemption certificate which is issued by the Atomic E

Whenever an animal is seen licking its wounds most people react by saying that it is something natural for them to do so and that it helps heal the injury. All sorts of creatures, including dogs, mice, ants and cats do it. Why do they do it and does it truly help questions a report in livescience.com? Creatures indulge in this action since licking brings a sense of self-soothing and the spit has attributes that assuage. Dr. Benjamin Hart, who is a retired veterinarian and University of California, Davis professor emeritus stated that licking is an instinctual response which has come across through evolution and it gives relief from pain and irritation, while also accelerating the healing process. Yet in the case of pets including dogs this can be ineffectual as modern medical science enables better treatment of wounds. University of Minnesota’s animal behaviour expert and vet, Dr. Kristi Flynn observed that for animals "without thumbs or medication”, licking is "the best they

President Ram Nath Kovind's recent highly engaged visit to Turkmenistan may hopefully infuse new life into bilateral relations. The country, which follows a “neutral” isolationist policy is, however, much like the rest of the Central Asian countries linked to India through shared historical and cultural ties that date back to antiquity. While much of the attention has been focused on the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India (TAPI) gas pipeline and connectivity projects, Turkmenistan, with its rich history and an abundance of exotic sites dotting its landscape, is a tourist's delight. Unfortunately, there are few, if any, tourist links between our two countries. Yet, Indians would find it interesting to know that the country has an amazing Buddhist heritage. Turkmenistan has traditionally been considered to be at the "cross-roads of history". It has been an important stop on the ancient Silk Route, and a melting pot of different cultures even before that.  It was in