Ideas News - Page 13

Digital divide: Why Irom Sharmila can't do an Anna

Cases like Sharmila expose the digital divide of Asia's third-largest economy and underscore how a growing urban middle class may be getting its political voice heard while millions of poor remain off the digital protest map.

From Steve Jobs to Anna Hazare: Why we need personal heroes

Whether we reduce movements to an individual, or companies to an apple logo, we will always try to identify with the solitary, because we too are solitary beings. There are billions of us, but we each want to be special, as Anna, or Jack, or Steve.

Running on empty: How Gurgaon is gobbling up its own future

Gurgaon has become the classic story of a city that lives beyond its means. Already the 24-hour gen sets have become a fact of life for those who can afford them. Next the taps will run dry as the wells hit rock bottom.

Anna, second national movement and lessons from the first

The Anna movement has happily borrowed the props of the national movement that got rid of the British. But that movement had Nehru, Patel, Azad. This has Bedi, Bhushan, Kejriwal. Shiv Visvanathan explores how they stack up against history.

The many emotions of Manmohan Singh

During the past few months, Manmohan Singh has been in the news – in print media and on news television – many times every day. Here are some of his best expressions.

Singh is (sin)Kinng

Is it time for Manmohan Singh to go? All the things that once worked in his favour, his deliberate non-flashy style, his self-effacing persona are all working against him. But when did Anna's fast become about Manmohan's job?

Arundhati on Anna: Losing her moral compass

Arundhati Roy's critique of Anna is uncharacteristically muddled and scattershot because – for once – they contradict her own dearly held political principles.

Scenes from Ramlila Maidan: Wake up Manmohan Singh

Inside the maidan, there's no hysteria or chest-thumping. Just people — darzis, farmers, men, women, Muslims and Hindus —gathered together to demand accountability from their government.

Paschimbanga? Come again? That's what you call paribartan?

West Bengal has decided, by all party consensus, it needs to become Paschimbanga. But it's left Bengalis, sorry Paschimbangalis, like Sandip Roy scratching their heads in confusion. Is this what passes for change in Kolkata?

We should be there: The Left and the Anna moment

The left-leaning intelligentsia describe the Hazare movement variously as elitist, fascist, naive and undemocratic. Nivedita Menon takes them to task for their demands for 'purity' and absolute incomprehension of and contempt for ’the people’ when actually confronted by them.

Farewell to small coins: An elegy for the chaar anna

The 25-paisa was a humbler coin from a humbler past.There's no room for the little guy in our wallets in these shining, rising days of inflation and growth.

Tweets of peace from Netistan: Where the real Indo-Pak dialogue happens

Governments posture, citizen diplomacy faces visa hurdles, candlelight vigils burn out. But welcome to Netistan — where Indians and Pakistanis chat, argue, and even organise World Cup tickets for strangers.

Sexting, retweet, woot all enter Oxford Dictionary

Retweet, sexting, woot. Can't make out what these words mean? Fret not, these are among a host of new entries that have been added into the Oxford Dictionary.

James Patterson tops Forbes list of highest paid authors

According to a Forbes survey, James Patterson is the highest paid author in the world. Danielle Steel is the second on the list followed by Stephen Hawking.

How Manmohan could get out of his mess for Rs 1,764

Manmohan Singh is obviously getting the wrong advice on how to deal with Anna Hazare. Here's a reading list that will help him break free of his dumb advisors.

What if Jesus was a woman?

'The Way' written by Kristen Wolf reimagines the story of Jesus with a woman in the central role.

Anna and the new middle class: Why UPA doesn't get it

The Anna Hazare movement is powered by a new middle class that does not care for old-world democratic ideals and constitutional niceties.

Hum mein hai hero: Anna group hijacks Hero jingle

Inspired by his fast and the consequent arrest, thousands of Indians felt that Anna was their voice, so they took the song from the Hero commercial, and overlaid it on a montage of images of Anna and the protest images.

Protesters We Like: Anna, Arundhati and the doublespeak of dissent

We're a nation of convenient democrats who believe certain protests are more legitimate than others, and that the 'bad' kind of dissent poses a danger to democracy itself. Hazare is just the latest target of this double-standard.

Lagaan did not impress me, it was a stereotype: Dalit leader in US

Aarakshan is taking on the touchy subject of reservations in India. The US has its own program of affirmative action for minorities. A Dalit activist in the US says there's a key difference between the two.

Anna Hazare: the last Gandhian standing

Anna Hazare might have a bit of Gandhi complex. But by detaining him before his fast, the UPA government has played into his hands. They've turned him into the last Gandhian standing which makes them the British sarkar.

Reading the newspaper on Independence Day: Decoding the lessons of history

The Times of India rewarded its readers with a six-page reprint of its historic August 15, 1947 edition. Contemplating this mini time capsule, Lakshmi Chaudhry asks herself: have we come a long way, baby? Or just the wrong way?

Nehru's tryst with destiny still towers overs its long-winded successors

Every August 15 we have a tryst with the famous speech Nehru made 64 years ago. It is the speech we use to measure ourselves against. And each time it tells us something more about who we have become.

When it's time to be counted, I am with Anna Hazare

When it comes to the crunch, I would rather stand with Anna Hazare than anyone else in the motley crowd of corrupt politicians whose moral bankruptcy is sought to be hidden in constitutional niceties.

The King Cobra must have a home too

Despite the king cobra being the world’s largest venomous snake, only two people are known to have died from its bite in Karnataka in 20 years. We have to remove venomous snakes but is there a humane way to do this?

The big picture: Aarakshan and its Radhakrishnan problem

Aarakshan has all the self-importance of a "message" film but it tells us nothing we didn't already know says Avirook Sen. But there is a portrait in the film which says more than all the dialogue its actors spout.

The Karna Syndrome and Rahul Dravid as the hero

It is an Indian tragedy that we don't recognise our true heroes even if they were served to us on a plate with watercress around them, as PG Wodehouse would put it. We celebrate Arjuna, and not Karna.

UK Riots: Proposed social media crackdown is wrongheaded and dangerous

The British PM called for government to have the power to shut down social media services in times of violence. It is time to stand up and protect us from Cameron and his cronies’ crass stupidity.

The speech Manmohan Singh won't make on August 15

Firstpost writer Anant Rangaswami says there are times when one must acknowledge that all is not well, like Queen Elizabeth did in 1992, and that the PM should do now – the past year has been India’s Annus Horriblis.

'In Arun Shourie's imagination, God has to offer explanations'

How can extreme suffering be so commonplace if there is a God who knows everything, who is all-powerful and also compassionate? Respected mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik offers answers that intrigue and surprise.