Innholdsfortegnelse for December 16, 2024 i India Today

The Andhra Pradesh government has repealed a 30-year-old rule that had made the two-child norm mandatory for those seeking election to local bodies such as the gram panchayats, mandal praja parishads and zilla parishads. The state assembly scrapped the AP Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill and the AP Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill on November 18. The bills were part of many passed in India in line with the family planning initiative pushed vigorously since the 1970s. Over the past three decades, Andhra’s population growth rate has declined; in fact, by 2021, it had come down to 1.5 (the replacement fertility rate to keep a population steady is considered to be 2.1). The state is now among those with the least growth in population. This will over time result in a skewed…

It had been a lazy overcast afternoon in Dantewada in Bastar division, south Chhattisgarh, when sudd enly the police lines, home to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), buzzes with activity. The local commander asks the troops—formations that have both boys and girls, and which are increasingly called the “tip of the spear” owing to their successes in the fight against Maoism—to get ready for a briefing. And so they do, gathering together their checked weapons, issued ammunition and hurriedly packing rucksacks with ready-to-eat rations, first-aid kits and spare clothes—not to mention body bags. Thirty-six hours ago, an agency monitoring phone calls in remote areas had traced one made from atop a forested hill in south Bastar, an unlikely place for a civilian caller. The information was passed on to top…

Given the hazardous nature of the job where disability and death are always nigh, the ministry of defence (MoD) has had a generous policy for compensating Indian military personnel who put their life on the line. This includes higher pensions for those who are disabled due to service-related injuries or illnesses or during combat in war. The compensatory benefits range from a full 100 per cent more of their normal pensions to lower percentages after medical officers assess the degree of disability. If not satisfied with the award, ex-servicemen have the option of moving the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) for redress. Normally, the AFT has been pro-servicemen in its judgments. However, the MoD has increasingly resorted to legal battles against military pensioners, challenging disability benefits where the AFT delivered a…

The buzzer at Chatterjee & Lal lets you into a rarefied world. One populated by people in paintings who are seemingly like us but where you can glimpse their inner universe through rips in the fabric of the mind and heart. This is Nityan Unnikrishnan’s exhibition titled Man in the Middle. The artist confides that most of the 11 artworks on show, except one or two, were made over the past year and a half. “What brings the works together is that I made them at this point in life, which is a very good time of life—middle age—when you pack and unpack things and you suddenly start to get a sense of the end for the first time. And so, the Man in the Middle,” explains Nityan, who has…

Ruchir Sharma is by no means a Marxist priest. For a quarter century, he helped Morgan Stanley devise capitalist investment strategies; then he became a capitalist, and founded an investment advisory firm of his own. He sat comfortably in New York, the capital of American capitalism, and presumably prospered. But he came to the uncomfortable conclusion that it was endangered, and wrote this book to warn the capitalist world. This is not the first time that capitalism has been in danger. Ever since Francis Newcomen constructed a steam engine in 1712 to replace 500 horses, capitalism has been climbing new heights—and falling off for a while every few years. After watching the Great Depression of 1929 ravage industrial economies, John Maynard Keynes wrote The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money…

Cathay Pacific’s much-awaited new business class, like many of its competitors, chooses to call its new seat—a suite. This Aria Suite will be retrofitted on the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft retaining the existing cabin configuration of 1-2-1, giving all passengers aisle access. My initial impressions are just how lounge-like this cabin (and seat) feels, with muted, earthy colours and clean, contemporary lines—almost like transposing the plush airport lounge experience to an aircraft. The standout feature is the sliding door with each Aria Suite that encloses the passenger. The Aria Suite, scores high on technology, in addition to its design and colour palette. A case in point is the generous marble-finish worktop, which discreetly features an embedded wireless charging mat. The wood grain finish table is an easy pull out, and…

Coming home to the movies has become easier. However, the new approach to home entertainment is much more nuanced, devoid of extra cables and a confusing tech-jungle. That’s where Optoma AZH430UST, a projector that stays so close to the wall, it’s practically a decoration, fits in. But don’t let its proximity fool you, it’s packed with features. Short and Sweet Forget ceiling mounts and tangled cables, this ultra-short throw (UST) marvel projects a whopping 100-inch image from just 30cm away. It’s like magic, minus the smoke and mirrors. Plus, with no shadows from wandering presenters, your meetings or sporting events screenings might finally stay on track. A Bright Idea With 4,000 ANSI lumens, the AZH430UST doesn’t just handle ambient light—it owns it. Whether you’re in a well-lit room or a…

Apple’s MacBook Pro 14-inch 2024 might look familiar, but under the hood, it’s a whole new world. Think of it as a classic novel rewritten with a plot twist—familiar cover, mind-blowing content. Sleeker and Smarter Apple sticks to its sleek design playbook, offering the MacBook Pro in Space Black and Silver. While the aesthetics are familiar, the real magic is under the hood. The Liquid Retina XDR display is now brighter than ever, hitting 1,000 nits for both HDR and SDR content. The new nano-texture option reduces glare so effectively that you’ll wonder if it also deflects unwanted attention. More Power, Less Drama Powered by the new M4 family of chips built on enhanced 3-nanometer technology, this MacBook Pro delivers performance that could make desktop PCs nervous. With up to…

On December 4, amidst the solemnity of his sewa duties at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal had an unexpected brush with danger. A former Khalistani terrorist, Narain Singh Chaura, opened fire at the entrance of the holiest of Sikh shrines where a wheelchair-bound Sukhbir (he has a fractured leg), clad in the blue sewadar uniform and holding a spear, was serving as a guard. The swift intervention of onlookers thwarted the attack, and Chaura was overpowered and handed over to the police. Sukhbir had been stationed at the Golden Temple as part of his tankha—punishment for religious misconduct—handed down to him just two days before. Folded hands, ashen face, teary eyes…Sukhbir was the picture of penitence as he stood before the Akal…

In Petrapole, West Bengal, India’s busiest land crossing with Bangladesh, a truck carrying cotton yarn rumbled across the border. At the wheel for this sortie across from Petrapole land port was Annapoorni Rajkumar, a woman from Tamil Nadu. What made this special wasn’t just the landmark event of a woman driving a heavy goods vehicle across an international border from Bengal for the first time, but also the speed with which she completed her task. In just a few hours, Annapoorni returned after offloading her cargo in Benapole, in Bangladesh—an unheard of turnaround time. The credit goes to the Suvidha portal, a digital vehicle facilitation system introduced by the Bengal government in collaboration with the Land Ports Authorities of India (LPAI), Indian Customs and the Border Security Force. The portal…

DEATHS 15,342* ↘ Claimed: 22,151 ↘ Compensated: 5,479** ↘ Amount paid: ₹10 lakh ↘ Total outgo: ₹547.9 cr. *As per MP govt **GoI PERMANENT DISABILITY ↘ Claimed: 3,252 ↘ Compensated: 3,241 ↘ Amount paid: ₹5 lakh ↘ Total outgo: ₹162 cr. TEMPORARY MINOR INJURIES ↘ Claimed: 964,774 ↘ Compensated: 521,350 ↘ Amount paid: ₹50,000 ↘ Total outgo: ₹2,606.75 cr. TEMPORARY DISABILITY ↘ Claimed: 33,691 ↘ Compensated: 33,672 ↘ Amount paid: ₹1 lakh ↘ Total outgo: ₹336.72 cr. Compensations were paid between 1993 and 2011 CONVICTION 8 No. of accused sentenced to two years in jail but granted bail soon. CBI chargesheet named 12 entities (9 individuals and 3 corporates) PENDING CLAIM CASES 952 With Additional Welfare Commissioner 522 In Welfare Commissioner Revisional Court 18 In high court and Supreme Court…

↘ Disability Pension: A monthly pension paid to soldiers who are disabled due to service-related injuries or illnesses ↘ War Injury Pension: A special pension for soldiers who are injured in combat/operational duties ↘ Liberalised Disability Pension: A higher rate of pension for disability due to service-related injuries not requiring a medical board to assess its extent ↘ Constant Attendance Allowance: Monthly allowance paid to soldiers who require constant attendance due to their disability ↘ Medical Expenses: Reimbursement of medical expenses for treatment of service-related disabilities ↘ Employment Opportunities: Reservation of government jobs for disabled soldiers ↘ Education and Training: Provided to disabled soldiers to enable them to acquire new skills and find alternative employment…

Reading this book is more like spending leisurely time with a group of friends who grew up in the ’70s (as I did), who love all things Hindi film (as I do), and who are now nostalgically teasing out their responses to that decade of film-making via their memories, experiences and the tools that hindsight has given them. Writers, journalists, academics, and practitioners like Vishal Bhardwaj, Subhash Ghai, Ketan Mehta…join hands to celebrate the decade that gave us (and this list is absolutely free of order or rationality): Sholay, Deewar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Zeenat, Parveen, Shabana-Smita-Naseer-Om, Bachchan, Benegal, R.D. Burman, Manmohan Desai, Chupke Chupke, Garam Hawa, ‘Ram Prasad Sharma’ and ‘Basanti’. And the very best of Ajit. This collection takes from, and caters to, a large variety of us. A…

The human spirit is drawn to the unique and individual. This need is amply satisfied when in nature. Possibly as important as donning good walking shoes is packing an adventurous spirit for these journeys of discovery, that stand as a sharp antidote to the excesses and strains of modern life. Nature and wild places, biosphere reserves and forests, even city gardens, and waterways, allow the transition from more circumscribed living into realms of introspective respite. Volcanic High, Teide, Spain As far as the eyes can see, are shimmering mounds of ash, sprawling plains, cavernous gorges, and scree slopes. I’m driving through the UNESCO world heritage-listed Teide National Park, the largest park of its kind in the Canary Islands, Spain. Looming large over the 135-square km scape, is the Teide volcano…

Never has the launch of a café created such a flutter in Mumbai’s creative, cutting-edge F&B landscape as Armani/Caffè at the snazzy new Jio World Plaza. It’s the Italian fashion house’ first Armani/Caffè in India (and South Asia). But shouldn’t be your only reason to drop by. Style that whispers The cafe positioned adjacent to the Giorgio Armani boutique isn’t the least bit fancy. In fact, of all the famous dining rooms in the world, this one surely is among the most austere. The 52 seater dressed in muted blues, silk wallpaper and delicate palm motifs is a slice of calm for the city’s discerning shoppers. The only eye candy comes from a rose gold bar and a wall studded with wines from Italy. Armani ventured into food and drinks…

The coastal road of downtown Rio de Janeiro seems to be a good place for me to test out the Volkswagen ID.4, to gauge it for city driving. But that’s not all, I do get to push and throttle it a bit on a slightly more challenging, winding road to the iconic Grumari beach, just outside Rio. I’m thrilled to be among the first to try out Volkswagen’s first ever fully electric SUV, the ID.4 today and to spend enough time with it to forge a definitive opinion. First impressions: A very good-looking drive with almost futuristic lines. There’s a nice mix of curves and rigid geometric accents on the silhouette, with a sharply sculpted look. I always find that flushed door handles add a nice sporty, luxe touch to…

In politics, timing is everything. On November 26, as the country celebrated its 75th Constitution Day, Tejaswi Yadav, the leader of the Opposition in Bihar, chose a moment of political vulnerability to make a bold demand in the state assembly. That of bringing in a new bill to raise the reservation limit in government jobs and educational institutions in Bihar to 85 per cent. Just three days before, the news hadn’t been kind. In a bruising electoral debacle, Tejaswi’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had lost three critical bypolls; the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), of which his party is a key constituent, failed to secure any of its four Bihar contests. So his policy proposal smelt very much like a political retort. By invoking a theme central to his…

IN June 2022, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sprang a surprise by choosing Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde as the chief minister of Maharashtra, with their own Devendra Fadnavis, in whose cabinet the former was a minister from 2014-19, as his deputy. Though it was speculated that Fadnavis would be doing some backseat driving in the government, that was not to be. Shinde soon came into his own in terms of politics and policy, something that led to tensions within the ruling Mahayuti combine. The wheel has now come full circle for both. Two and a half years ago, Fadnavis found himself having to propose Shinde’s name for head of government. The Mahayuti’s swashbuckling victory, with 230 of the 288 seats in the assembly amassed in its balance, could not…

When he took over the reins of the government for a third consecutive term this summer, there were two key issues PM Narendra Modi had to address urgently—inflation and unemployment. They are believed to have cost his government a majority in the Lok Sabha election. However, five months into Modi 3.0, a third challenge seems to have surfaced—slowing economic growth—threatening to worsen the unemployment crisis. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter of FY25 was 5.4 per cent, down from 6.7 per cent in the first quarter and way below the 8.1 per cent in the second quarter of the previous fiscal. In fact, growth was the lowest in nearly two years. The weak performance in the second quarter could now drag India’s full-year growth below expectations,…

AS INDIA’S AVIATION INDUSTRY PRE-PARES TO BECOME THE THIRD LARGEST DOMESTIC MARKET in the world and new airlines enter the competition while existing ones expand, a troubling question looms on the horizon: who will fly their planes? Pilots are becoming a prized resource for the simple reason that there may not be enough of them soon. Currently, India has 800-plus aircraft—mostly narrowbodies—between its airlines, which employ 11,775 pilots. However, while the country was able to issue 5,700 commercial pilot licences or CPLs in the past five years, it produced only 2,982 commanders or captains, who are given the charge of an aircraft and its entire crew, in the same period. And it is a commander crunch that the country has been grappling with at present, something that the ministry has…

When it was published in 1942, Ismat Chughtai’s most (in)famous work Lihaaf (The Quilt) sparked outrage—and an obscenity trial—for its depiction of queer, inter-generational intimacy. Begum Jaan and her masseuse/lover Rabbo explore desire in the safety of the quilt, an act witnessed by Begum Jaan’s young, distant relative. Everything is suggestive, narrated by an adolescent scared by the recurrent and seemingly violent phenomenon of the quilt rising, swirling, and eventually falling flat in the dark of the night. A quilter before she was a painter, Bhasha Chakrabarti extends the carnality of Begum Jaan’s quilt in her solo show, entitled Karvat, which means to toss and turn in bed. Spread over multiple rooms, Chakrabarti’s works refer to different types of turns, be they metaphorical, material, or physical. Right at the outset,…

A As the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) in partnership with the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), came to a close on a Sunday night in mid-October, there was a standing ovation at the grand finale for designer and couturier Rohit Bal. As he was escorted on to the stage, he hugged his showstopper actor Ananya Panday, resplendent in a black and gold cape and lehenga filled with roses, and did a little jig as his show ‘Kaaynaat: A Bloom in the Universe’ came to an end. It was an emotionally charged moment. Tears rolled down freely as models, designers and long-time friends blew kisses in his direction. Fighting months of health issues, Gudda, as Bal is lovingly called was back, doing what he did best—weaving dreams with his creations.…

The rustle of luxurious silk, the glint of gold; the shimmer of sequins complemented by the sparkle of diamonds, emeralds, and a dazzling array of precious gemstones signals the festive season in India--a period that fuels India’s luxury industry. But beyond the bling, five distinct jewellery categories draw the discerning collector as festive indulgence rise to a feverish pitch. The Gold of the Sun In India, gold transcends wealth, connecting generations as a milestone marker—from the first, tiny bangle gifted to a newborn to the ornate inherited heirlooms. No wonder, despite the 9 per cent reduction in gold’s import duty this year, domestic gold prices in India have surged by over 23 per cent. Gold isn’t just traded in India; it is cherished, safeguarded and revered. Setting aside traditional moments, Indian…

Think James Bond at a blacktie affair: sophisticated, dandy, charming but with just enough subtle menace to remind everyone that he could throw a punch if he had to. And when he leaves, Bond drives off in a car that looks like it could slip through the valet’s grip as nonchalantly as it would conquer a mountain pass. That car, if you’ve conjured one in your mind’s eye, would be the Audi Q8. It’s a flattering personification, no question. But the Q8 makes a strong case with its contrarian virtues: a nimble grand tourer masquerading as an SUV, it sits tall, but feels taut and balanced like a sports car once you get going. It proceeds in very civilized fashion: quiet, non-intrusive; the engine humming along discreetly. But when you…