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Beyond the uproar
After all the media storm and fury in
the Ruchika case subside, we may again be left with the outdated laws
and tardy process of justice, writes Aruti Nayar
ONCE
all the media noise has subsided, with every one connected with
the Ruchika molestation case getting their 15 minutes of fame or
notoriety, what will remain will be the same outdated laws, the
same dilatory tactics and the same subversion of the legal
process. There will be two sets of laws, one for the powerful
and another for the powerless.
S.P.S Rathore embodies the “rot in the police force” |
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Hot spot in
the cold
Ladakh is witnessing a burst
of growth that its fragile eco-system is unable to handle. Glaciers
are shrinking. There is a shortage of water. Unregulated tourism is
taking its toll on natural resources, reports Shobha
S.V.
Ladakh,
India’s only cold desert, is one of the hottest tourist destinations
in the subcontinent today. Over 75,000 tourists visit this scenic
district of Jammu and Kashmir — a 100 per cent increase in the last
five years. This is indeed a meteoric rise from the time the
spectacular landscape was first thrown open to tourists in 1974.
Climate
calamity
The change in climate due to
carbon dioxide emissions and deforestation is far worse than thought
before, says Joydeep Gupta
GLOBAL
alarm over climate change and its effects has risen manifold after the
2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Basu’s
secret Punjab visit
When the Emergency was
imposed by Indira Gandhi, Jyoti Basu travelled from Kolkata to
Jalandhar by train under an assumed name to avoid arrest, writes Sarbjit
Dhaliwal
ONE
of the most well-kept secrets of the life of Marxist patriarch Jyoti
Basu is that he spent three days at a farm of a senior Akali leader in
a village near Jalandhar to attend a meeting of the politburo of the
party.
The
medieval mystique of Orchha
Hugh
and Colleen Gantzer visit Orchha in
Madhya Pradesh that was once ruled by the mighty Bundelas
IT
is a citadel and a city like no other we’ve seen. The citadel rises
on an island. On both sides of it flow two arms of the Betwa River,
protecting it like a moat. And out of the rocks and custard-apple
thickets of the island, hulking forbiddingly, is the walled
fort-palace complex of the Bundelas.
Room
on the moon
A
deep, giant hole on the moon could be suitable enough for setting up
human colonies, say scientists who have recently discovered the
protected "lava tube" on the lunar surface. In a major
discovery, geophysicists identified a vertical hole in the volcanic
Marius Hills region on the moon’s near side.
Leading singers stifled
my voice: Mubarak Begum
Vilas Tokale
HERS
was a voice that enthralled millions, a voice that she claims, was
stifled by her contemporaries in the Hindi film industry. Mubarak
Begum, the voice behind evergreen hits like "Mujhko apne gale
lagaa lo, O mere Humrahi" and "Kabhi tanhaiyon mein
yun hamari yaad aayegi", says she became a victim of the
politics in the film industry.
Enduring
human drama
Sourav Sarangi’s Bilal
tells the unusual story of a little boy, who helps his family face the
challenges of life, writes Shoma A. Chatterji
BILAL
(2008) is about a three-year-old boy called Bilal, born to blind
parents Shamim Akhtar and Jharna, but with normal vision. His little
brother Hamza is also sighted. The family lives inside an 8x10
partitioned room in central Kolkata’s Taltala in a predominantly
Muslim neighbourhood.
Film
it like Phalke
Paresh Mokashi’s Marathi
film Harishchandrachi Factory, India’s Oscar entry
this year, is full of exuberance of the soul, writes Shakuntala
Rao
IN
1910, Dhundiraj Govind
Phalke, better known as Dadasaheb Phalke, went to a Christmas cinema
show in Bombay. He watched a short film The Life of Christ.
While Phalke was not particularly impressed with the quality of the
filmmaking, it was the subject matter that caught his attention.
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