India in the 2012 Olympics.  The Olympics are never free from political influence and associations, but in India, political infighting has literally cost the nation’s athletes the chance to compete under their own flag. India’s membership in the International Olympic Committee has been frozen since December 2012, when the IOC learned that India elected officials accused of corruption to its national Olympic committee. The Indian Olympic Association will hold new […]

The chemistry and momentum is clearly with a charismatic Modi but will he have the numbers to become India’s next prime minister? For almost three decades, Sharad Pawar has been India’s prime minister-in-waiting. A few years ago, when journalists asked him if he had finally given up on his prime ministerial ambitions, the Maharashtra leader candidly admitted that with a party of less than 10 MPs, his chances for the […]

A number of explosions have rocked the Mahabodhi temple complex, south of Gaya in northeastern India. The Buddhist pilgrimage site his home to a towering Buddha statue and a holy tree where Buddha is believed to have reached enlightenment. Indian police reported eight blasts at the Bodh Gaya temple between 5:30 am and 6:00 am on Sunday morning. Four exploded inside the complex and 2 outside, but the temple, a […]

In Pic :Flood waters gush around a giant statue of Lord Shiva in the holy city of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand state Media in India are criticising the government’s lack of preparedness in dealing with the monsoon floods, which have killed more than 100 people in the northern parts of the country. Nearly 73,000 people are stranded in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rainfall and landslides, […]

Foodgrain needs to stay fit for round-the-year consumption. Fruits and vegetables must stay fresh until they reach the plate. But forget all-weather warehouses or cold storage facilities, most developing countries dump millions of tonnes of food in the open at the mercy of the elements, birds and rodents. More wheat rots in India than the total production of Australia, which loses less than 1 percent of its grain in storage […]

HARYANA HAS emerged as the hub of premium quality basmati rice in the country, accounting for as much as 40 percent of exports. Sushil Jain, president of Rice Export Association, Haryana, says, “Exports from Haryana have nearly doubled in the past two years. The value of the rice produced last year was close to 8,000 crore.” Among the districts, Karnal alone accounts for 50 percent of Haryana’s exports, which is […]

Dolphins have long been one of our favorite ocean-going animal counterparts, blurring the line that separates human intelligence and emotion from the wildness of nature. Sadly, though, this attraction has resulted in dolphins around the world being exploited for our entertainment, subjected to a life in captivity. But now, in a bold move to protect the well-being of dolphins, India has moved to ban dolphin shows — a push that […]

Yasin Bhatkal is India’s most wanted terrorist. How has he managed to elude the top sleuths. ON 13 July 2011, terror revisited Mumbai. Three powerful bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar, killing 26 people and injuring 130. This terror case throws up an interesting anecdote, which is pertinent today in the wake of reports that Indian Mujahideen (IM) leader Yasin Bhatkal, 40, had a hand in the […]

India’s broadband connection base decreased 0.12% to 15 million at the end of February 2013, from 15.01 million at the end of January, according to the Indian Telecom regulaton. TRAI Meanwhile, the country’s mobile operators continue to clean up their act: the total number of mobile connections in the country (including multi-SIM and inactive connections) has dropped to 861.66 million in February, even as the active mobile connection base increased: […]

Mei is one of Taiwan’s unwanted. The attractive, two-year-old Formosan Mountain Dog is friendly, up-to-date on all her shots, and spayed. In Canada, she would be an ideal candidate for adoption. But in Taiwan, the former stray spent months bouncing around shelter-to-shelter, unable to attract the interest of potential new owners. Adoption rates in that country are low, making it nearly impossible for mutts and dogs with disabilities to find […]