In India many boys of my generation in school grew up on a staple diet of American/British comic books (to the great annoyance of our parents who felt we were neglecting our textbooks). I was delighted to read The Independent report that comic/graphic books are emerging stronger and gaining popularity in view of the failure of the media to satisfy public thirst for information regarding the raging conflicts, including the Iraq war. Here is what The Independent writes: “They’re a far...

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, a former Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, led India to victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war that resulted in the partition of Pakistan, and the formation of Bangladesh (earlier known as East Pakistan). The Guardian obituary here… Manekshaw (April 3, 1914 – June 27, 2008) died aged 94. Silloo, his wife, passed away in 2001. He is survived by his daughters (Sherry and Maja), and was born into a Parsi family. The Times obituary here… Senator Barack...

As a young journalist I was once reminded that a journalist could either be a watchdog or a lapdog, can’t be both. Journalism, like other professions, has undergone a visible “change” in the past three decades. There was a time when many considered it a vocation (a calling), but now it is being increasingly treated as a mere job in any other industry. Shaun Mullen’s earlier post on TV personality Tim Russert evoked interesting comments in TMV. Who is a real journalist? Can...

The young Corporal Sarah Bryant, a member of the British Intelligence Corps, has become the first female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. The mortal remains of Sarah and three other soldiers killed on June 17, when a device exploded in Helmand province near their base at Lashkar Gar, have reached Britain. (Photo above of Sarah on her wedding day to her husband Carl Bryant in 2005). Reports The Telegraph: “The sight of Sarah Bryant’s bare shoulders in her wedding dress is almost...

John Kenneth Galbraith, a distinguished economist and the popular American ambassador to India in the 1960s, once described the country as a “functioning anarchy”. Please judge for yourself if Galbraith was right or wrong… The drawing (on the left) shows the 27-storey house of Mukesh Ambani, world’s fifth-richest man, being built in Mumbai, home to Asia’s biggest slum. Mukesh’s $ I billion home would be ready in six months. Here is The Independent story…...

It is a commentary on our times that any report from Afghanistan and Iraq in the news blogs/media now provokes at best a cynical remark, or worst a yawn. But there are a few indefatigable columnists/journalists whose assessments of the ongoing tragic drama continues to provide fresh insights. Simon Jenkins, a distinguished journalist, is one of them. In a recent column in The Sunday Times, Jenkins makes interesting observations about Taliban and Al-Qaeda. “In seven years in Afghanistan, America,...

South Australia (SA) is often celebrated as the Down Under’s food and wine centre. Its capital city, the picturesque and laidback Adelaide, and its suburbs have rightly earned a well-deserved sobriquet of being the “cultural capital” of the country (and among the top liveable cities in the world). As a visitor here, I can vouch for the excellence of wine and the enjoyable concerts! I hope to explore Australia’s extraordinary natural environment, history and indigenous culture…and...

The guessing game is becoming intense as to who would be the main players in Barack Obama’s aspiring administration. Obviously, Obama will bring in a new team to run the federal government, the Oval Office and the Democratic Party if he makes it to the White House. So who will run the country if the voters decide that Yes, He Can? The Economist takes a look at the potential candidates. The article ends with the warning: “The ambition of Mr Obama’s team is exciting, but in office...

We often hear that the world is now a “global village” and “globalization” is inevitable. But there are warning signs we cannot overlook. Two experts point out that “for the first time in more than 200 years we are moving into a world not wholly dominated by the West. “If we want to influence this environment rather than be held to ransom by it, and if we want to take hold of some of the worrying features of globalisation, then real, practical multilateralism...

What do you think was the cargo in one of the last shipments to a U.S. research base in Antarctica before the onset of winter darkness? See the MSNBC story here…

The media revels in highlighting the debonair French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s romantic links, past and present. If this subject interests you then please click here… to read more about a rising female star who was once linked romantically with Sarkozy.

If Barack Obama’s victory speech was graceful and chivalrous, Hillary Clinton’s clarion call to ensure the triumph of Obama in the race to the White House provided a fitting finale to a well fought out battle between the two Democratic Party rivals. If Obama’s words were seen as inspiring and forgiving, Clinton’s revealed the deep emotive and sensitive side of her personality which remained her hallmark during the entire campaign. Proving her detractors wrong, Hillary showed...

A large number of newspaper editors believe that the most common platform for news in the future will be online – and not print. Also, many think the majority of news will be free in the future. These and other interesting findings were revealed in a worldwide survey, “Newsroom Barometer,” released in May and conducted by Zogby International for the Paris-based World Editors Forum and Reuters. Nearly 700 editors and senior news executives from 120 countries were interviewed online....

There are people, within and outside the USA, who view the Nixon era as the beginning of a conscious effort to divide the country, and launching of ‘a civil war’ that would be politically advantageous to the ruling side. Are there now signs that the war may be coming to an end after four decades? “There is genuine reason to hope that 2008 will bring at last an armistice — maybe even a lasting peace — in America’s Forty Years War, the internal conflict more commonly...

The blame game has already been going on, and is likely to become ugly and fierce as to who is causing maximum pollution and contributing towards visible changes in environment. On the one side we have “developed” countries refusing to have a critical look at their reckless consumerism. While on the other are the “developing” countries wanting to mindlessly ape the Western lifestyle and thus putting an unbearable burden on the scarce resources on our planet earth. All this...

If the criminals are multiplying fast courtesy the internet, the same technology is also helping the police to nab them. Australian law enforcement agencies have so far arrested 70 persons, in the 19 to 81 age group, for child pornography and abuse offences across the country. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a further 20 people have been issued with summons to appear in court where they will be charged with possessing child exploitation material. More arrests are expected in coming weeks and...

A drug based on an ancient Chinese herbal remedy, first used more than 2,000 years ago, holds the promise to save millions of children who die each year from malaria. “Within two years there might be enough supplies to meet the needs of everyone in the world suffering from malaria – up to 500 million people – at a 10th of the cost of existing drugs.” More here…

One of the tests of a good leader is how he/she talks about the opponents in the wake of a heady victory. Barack Obama scored full marks in his speech delivered after his triumph in Montana primary. Now he stands poised to win the Democratic Party nomination to take on Senator John McCain in the US presidential polls. I listened to the Obama speech live…its was oratory at its best, and the words flowed with sincerity and humility, befitting a potential leader of a great nation. Obama began...

President Nicolas Sarkozy was joined by fashion giants from around the globe yesterday in paying tribute to the iconic French designer, Yves Saint Laurent, who has died aged 71, reports The Independent. “Yves Saint Laurent was the last of the French pioneers, including Chanel and Christian Dior, who established Paris as the fashion capital of the world. His death late on Sunday night, after a long struggle against brain cancer, has plunged France into a kind of unofficial national mourning…”...

Senior clerics from the 150-year-old Muslim seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, which is said to have inspired the Taliban, have issued an edict saying they wished to wipe out terrorism. The Indpendent reports: “The Deoband institute was established in the aftermath of the 1857 uprising against British rule, an uprising that was brutally suppressed by the imperial forces. Highly influential, it controls thousands of smaller seminaries and madrassas around the world, from Britain to Afghanistan....

As Nepal’s deposed King Gyanendra begins house-hunting as a common citizen in view of the deadline to vacate his palace within a fortnight, The Independent discusses various issues related to Nepal’s monarchy as well as the institution of monarchy in the world. Why is Nepal ending its monarchy? So where do royals still have power? Once they’re gone, do they ever return? What does a royal do when they’re sacked? Is the game up for the world’s monarchies? More here… Meanwhile...

The medical fraternity has hailed as “miracle” the birth of an “ectopic” baby at Darwin in Australia on Thursday. The healthy 2.8 kg baby survived despite developing in her mother’s ovary instead of her uterus. The delighted parents have named their daughter Durga, after one of the most powerful goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. Most ectopic pregnancies end in miscarriage or are terminated early because of the risk to the mother, reports the BBC. “The mother and...

A landmark treaty banning cluster bombs was formally adopted at Dublin on Friday by 111 nations, including many of America’s major NATO partners. It aims to outlaw all current designs of cluster munitions, and requires destruction of stockpiles within eight years, reports AP. The treaty also opens the possibility that European allies could order U.S. bases located in their countries to remove cluster bombs from their stocks. “The United States and other leading cluster bomb makers —...

Can you think of a better caption for this Associated Press photograph? (The Times of London gave this photo caption: “President Bush and Theodore Shiveley, a US Air Force graduate from Plano, Texas, bump chests at a graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado.”) More on “real” He-Man here…

As they say “visibility has become big business”. Apart from businesses/writers/bloggers, there is a whole range of organisations/people turning to the internet for increased visibility. Have you ever thought of a scenario when, for some reason, you decide to end your visibility on the net and start enjoying total anonymity…by erasing any mention of your name from the net? In other words, unGoogle yourself. The brutal truth is YOU JUST CAN’T…Read on…