Innholdsfortegnelse for Monday, September 11, 2023 i India Today

In poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, godmen and politicians are natural allies. Several prominent leaders from both the BJP and Congress are deploying babas of various hues to rally the faithful to their electoral cause. Never before has the intertwining of religion and politics been so pronounced in the run-up to an election in MP. Hindu religious preachers—ranging from the well-known to the emerging—are crisscrossing the state, delivering professionally organised sermons at the behest of their political hosts. The magnetic pull of their sermons endears crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands and makes them a coveted asset for politicians seeking an edge in the assembly election scheduled for November. Interestingly, the utilisation of these preachers isn’t exclusive to leaders of the BJP, often accused of practising Hindu nationalism. These godmen are…

The Congress party is looking to regain lost ground in the Lok Sabha seats where it takes on the BJP one-on-one in 2024, instead of negotiating a seat-sharing formula with its INDIA bloc allies. Most of these seats are in Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh (128 LS seats altogether, of which Congress won just four in 2019). With reports suggesting a spike in Rahul Gandhi’s popularity after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party believes it can win back at least 50 seats. No wonder, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has declared Rahul the party’s PM candidate.…

The Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology held its 32nd Convocation Ceremony in Chennai on August 14, 2023. The Institute has a distinguished history spanning over three decades and offers multi-disciplinary academic programmes in various fields of Engineering, Science, Technology, Law, Dental Science, Pharmacy, Nursing, Management, Arts and Science and Allied Health Sciences. The institution holds a prestigious position, being established under Sec. 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, and proudly carrying an ‘A++’ Grade accreditation from the National Accreditation and Assessment Council. It consistently strives for innovation and improvement in higher education, adapting to global changes in the educational landscape. At the heart of this institution is a dynamic and exceptional faculty, employing innovative teaching methods and equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class research facilities. The collective efforts of…

MOX or Mission Operations Complex-2 in the heart of Peenya, a teeming hub of small-scale industries in Bengaluru, has an unimpressive PWD-type façade. The road leading up to it does have a fresh coat of tar. It was in preparation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on August 26 to congratulate Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists for the superlative success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon. But it had to be put off till after his visit due to security reasons. On the MOX porch are displayed real-size models of Vikram, India’s now-famous moon lander, and its companion, the Pragyan rover. They were transported from the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) at the other end of the city for the PM’s benefit. Sheathed in a shiny gold-coloured thermal blanket,…

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Uttarakhand aspires to become a Rs 3.3 lakh crore economy this year with a 10 per cent growth rate. And it wants to achieve this by striking a balance between the development and conservation needs of the Himalayan state. The chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, agrees. Speaking at the INDIA TODAY State of the State Uttarakhand First conclave held in Dehradun on August 25, Dhami shared his vision of transforming Uttarakhand into the Switzerland of India by building infrastructure to promote tourism and accelerating manufacturing in the plains. After all, roughly half of the state’s GDP comes from the activities in its factories. Home to numerous temples and pristine mountains, the Devbhoomi, as it is called, also has an immense tourism potential. “But not at the cost of environment,” cautioned Dhami.…

Movie buffs of a certain vintage, this reviewer included, M have often decried the 1980s as the unquestioned nadir for Hindi cinema. The only redeeming thing about that decade, we have declared, were the ‘art’ or ‘parallel’ films made by directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Ketan Mehta—even if those were sometimes just as trite as the commercial films (and even if the parallel star-system headlined by Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Smita Patil, could be as much of a closed echo-chamber as the mainstream star system). However, there comes a point in the life of any serious cineaste when one can look back on even disreputable decades through a lens that combines nostalgia with serious analysis, allowing us to recognise the good things amidst the dreck,…

Q. Is this the right time to venture into the film industry of the South? I think it was destined. I have always wanted to work in the Telugu film industry. Bollywood films and those made in the South have always had this mutually nurturing relationship. With OTT platforms, the popularity of films made in southern languages has increased even more. I am lucky I got the perfect opportunity in Devara. Telugu cinema is where my mom started her career. I would consider myself blessed if I can get even a fraction of the love she received. I do hope this film and my work in it will make Amma happy! Q. Do you believe you are emerging from the shadows of lineage? I am so thankful for the opportunities…

We meet today at a time when India is taking purposeful strides towards the vision of Amrit Kaal. The country is buoyed by optimism and deeply engaged in realising that promise, striding on the pathways of clearly enunciated goals and policies. What is remarkable is that such an outlook pervades at a time when the world is grappling with serious issues affecting growth across all major economies. India’s resilient growth is a testament to the slew of policy measures unleashed by our inspirational Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. Some major policy initiatives include: tripling of public capex, best-in-class public digital infrastructure, the PLI scheme to attract private investment in focus sectors, establishing strong Farmer Producer Organisations supported by a multi-stakeholder integrated Agri-Stack to empower farmers, targeted welfare spending leading…

The suicide of a woman BJP leader in Assam has snowballed into a major “cash-for-jobs scam”, which resulted in the arrest of five individuals, all linked to the saffron party. The controversy has sent shockwaves across the state as the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government, for the past two years, has been receiving public applause for introducing transparency in the recruitment process of government jobs. Job aspirants, particularly from the rural areas and economically backward sections, have often publicly acknowledged that they got government jobs through a merit-based recruitment test and did not have to pay any bribe. On August 11, Indrani Tahbildar, general secretary of the Kisan Morcha of the Assam BJP, died by suicide at her Guwahati home after her alleged intimate photos with Anurag Chaliha, a Kisan…

Caste and politics make for inseparable bedfellows, and it never gets more conspicuous than when elections are around the corner. In Rajasthan, where not one but two electoral battles await the ruling Congress—the assembly polls later this year and the general elections in mid-2024—Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot set the ball rolling by announcing a caste census and a six per cent additional reservation for the state’s “original” Other Backward Class (OBC) communities. On August 9, with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi by his side, the three-time Rajasthan CM made these announcements at a rally in Banswara district. In India, the last caste data was published in the 1931 census. In recent years, political parties that draw support from backward castes have been increasingly calling for a fresh caste census. They…

When the AIADMK cadre decided to call party supremo and former chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) ‘Puratchi Thamizhan (Revolutionary Tamil)’ at the party’s golden jubilee celebrations on August 20, it seemed like he was being raised to the same pedestal as the late J. Jayalalithaa (‘Puratchi Thalaivi’ or Revolutionary Leader). But then we already have a ‘Puratchi Thamizhan’ in badass actor Sathyaraj, a raucous villain of the ’80s who turned hero and then character actor as he aged. WIll EPS’s fortunes follow a similar trajectory?…

Q. India’s presidency of the G20 comes at a time when international agencies are bullish about the growth potential of the Indian economy. How will the G20 summit help bolster India’s image as an emerging economic power and as a credible voice at global economic platforms? I don’t think the image of a country and its branding can be bolstered through a summit. The financial world works on hard facts. It works on performance, and not perception. Whether it is the way India fought the Covid-19 pandemic and helped other countries to do so, or the way we managed our economy to make it the fastest-growing, or the way our financial and banking systems have been going from strength to strength, today, the world is aware of India’s trajectory. To…

7th India’s rank in terms of funding within the international spacetech ecosystem in 2023 INVESTMENT TRENDS (In $mn; *till July) Source: Tracxn TOP 3 COMPANIES* Pixxel 97.1 Skyroot 72.3 AgniKul 34.8 *Based on total funding TOP 5 FUNDING DEALS Skyroot 51 Pixxel 35 MTAR 24.4 AgniKul 20 SatSure 14.5 (Since 2020; in $mn) SPACE START-UPS BOOM IN INDIA No. of space startups registered in a year Source: Startupindia…

For now, a medical row has been put to rest. The National Medical Commission (NMC), the regulatory body guiding medical professionals, has put on hold its order requiring doctors to exclusively prescribe non-branded generic medicines to patients. The NMC’s about-turn followed a meeting on August 21 at which representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) spoke to the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya and expressed their apprehension about the quality of unbranded generics. This brought to an end a heated and nearly month-long debate between doctors and the government. However, the very possibility of such a directive coming into force has left many doctors shaken. Generic medicines are drugs that are not under patent, which means manufacturers other than the ones that came up with the medicine are able to…

“My whole career is like a movie,” says rapper and singer AP Dhillon when asked to pick the biggest highlight of his journey so far. The Canada-based Indian musician, who’s currently one of the world’s biggest Punjabi pop stars, told INDIA TODAY during a visit to Mumbai to promote his recently released Amazon Prime documentary series First of a Kind, that he hasn’t “had the time to sit back and take it all in”. The four-part series chronicles his remarkable rise to fame over the last four years. Dhillon sums up his accomplishments, which include over five billion streams on music streaming platforms and being the first Punjabi musician to perform at the Junos, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys, as “things that we did to make our people proud”.…

When Jayant Digambar Somalkar received a confirmation email from the Toronto International Film Festival, he thought it was a joke. “I could not believe it. I remember checking if it was fake. I was very happy,” he says. His Marathi feature Sthal (A Match) has been selected to premiere at the festival’s Discovery Programme, a section devoted to showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers from across the globe. That it is the only Indian film to make this cut elevates the prestige of the inclusion. It’s not his first work, of course. Last year, Somalkar co-wrote and co-directed the Amazon Prime show Guilty Minds with Shefali Bhushan. But Sthal, he maintains, is a passion project. The intimate feature centres on arranged marriages in India, underlining the dispensable way women are…

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For details, log on to: https://bestcolleges.indiatoday.in/ RANKING OF UNIVERSITIES 1600 universities in 4 major streams KEY PARAMETERS University performance rated according to… Reputation & Governance Academic & Research Excellence Infrastructure & Living Experience Personality & Leadership Development Career Progression & Placement UNIVERSITY VS UNIVERSITY Find a suitable university on the basis of… Six year results (2018-2023) National rankings: By state and city Government vs Private KNOW YOUR UNIVERSITY The details available on each university.. ↘ Brief profile ↘ Rankings in past 6 years ↘ Courses, seats and fee ↘ Admission: Selection criteria and cut-offs ↘ Placements: Domestic and international ↘ Faculty: Strength, research record and patents granted ↘ Infra: Campus size/labs/libraries/hostels ↘ Industry connect: Seminars, consultancy projects, competitions ↘ Global exposure: Foreign exchange programmes, tie-ups ↘ Funds and grants ↘…

Multi-visceral organ transplant (Multi-Visceral Transplant) is the new frontier in global transplant programs, and MGM Healthcare, Chennai is performing life transforming transplants that can cure certain chronic lifestyle diseases and improve the quality of life of a patient. This new program extends hope to thousands of patients whose lives can now be saved with these procedures. What is Multi-Visceral Transplant? Multi-Visceral Transplant involves replacing diseased or failing organs of the gastrointestinal tract such as liver, kidneys, Small bowels, pancreas, stomach and so on, with healthy organs from a deceased donor. This has been found to be very effective in patients with chronic diseases and those suffering from multi-organ failure and cancers of the GI tract. The Multi-Visceral Transplant Team under the leadership of Professor Dr. Anil Vaidya, has successfully conducted…

S. SOMANATH, 60 Chairman, ISRO ISRO’s ‘Captain Cool’, Somanath joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1985 and later contributed to the development of the PSLV and the giant GSLV Mark III. Before becoming ISRO chairman in 2022, he had overseen the propulsion systems for the Chandrayaan-2 lander. Somanath studied mechanical engineering at Kollam’s TKM College and has a Master’s degree in aerospace engineering from IISc. P. VEERAMUTHUVEL, 46 Project Director, Chandrayaan-3 Born in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, Veeramuthuvel has been part of some of India’s toughest space missions, including the Mars Orbiter. He did an engineering degree from Chennai, then an M.Tech., and after a brief stint with HAL, joined ISRO in 2004 as a project engineer. Simultaneously, he completed his Ph.D. from IIT Madras. As project director for…

WHEN THE LAW PROMOTES GENERICS Though retracted, mandatory generic prescriptions would mean… ↘ Doctors have to prescribe only unbranded generic medicines ↘ A pharmacist, not a doctor, decides which company’s medicine a patient should buy ↘ Reduction in costs, as unbranded generics are nearly 30-80 per cent cheaper, but dubious quality WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING Several measures are being taken to improve medical manufacture ↘ All producers expected to comply with revised good manufacturing practices within the next 12 months ↘ Extensive quality control in place for 1,800 unbranded generic medicines sold at Jan Aushadhi outlets ↘ Medicines sold at Jan Aushadhis saved an estimated Rs 7,000 crore in expenses last year NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR DOCTORS They are wary of their poor quality, ineffectiveness, and side-effects ↘ The…

Not long before Irrfan Khan’s death from cancer in 2020, Naseeruddin Shah received a message from him saying “Knock, knock, Naseer bhai”. Shah promptly rang him to ask how he was feeling. After a diversionary chat, Irrfan spoke words that moved Shah deeply: “Ab kya karein, how many people have the opportunity to see death approaching?…I wanted to do more with my life, but never got the chance. I don’t hold that against fate.” Gone at 53 at the height of his powers, Irrfan’s trajectory was relatively short, of about 20 years. But the boy from a small town near Jaipur who worked the mill, like many others, of a National School of Drama degree followed by mostly indifferent TV serials, made an outstanding impact on filmgoers at home and…

Nestled within Old Delhi’s Sitaram Bazaar, a hop, skip and jump away from Gali Khatikan’s serene-looking Hanuman Mandir, lies the Kathika Cultural Centre, a new non-profit ‘haveli-museum’ that seeks to become the city’s latest cultural hub. As the name suggests, ‘Kathika’ (which began operations in May) is inspired by story-telling traditions like kathawachan and dastangoi. Comprising two havelis that face each other, the space is choc-a-bloc with all manner of fascinating, nostalgia-provoking artefacts, books, photographs, statuettes, knick-knacks from previous decades, portions of ‘legacy tech’ machines (old typewriters, vintage scooters) and much else. There is an indoor, air-conditioned seating space and a lovely, old-fashioned courtyard. One of the havelis (fittingly, called Neem Ki Haveli), is constructed all around a majestic neem tree (I’m no expert, but that tree has surely witnessed…