This month Madonna and Michael Jackson complete 50 years of age. Both Madonna and Jackson have attracted huge controversy, but with very different outcomes, says The Times. “In sheer numbers, both Jackson and Madonna are phenomenal success stories. His credits include the bestselling album of all time, Thriller (1982), with global sales somewhere close to 100 million. “His royalty rate is notoriously high, his fortune estimated in billions, and his overall record sales of 750 million...

The Economist magazine describes the Russian operation in Georgia as a major triumph for Vladimir Putin. “Just five days later, after pulverising the Georgian armed forces, Russia announced that it was ending its operations. This brutal and efficient move was a victory for Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president-turned-prime-minister, not just over Georgia but also over the West…” More here…

Reports from Pakistan indicate that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf is losing ground fast. The Guardian states that British and American diplomats are attempting to find an exit for Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, a staunch western ally, before he is dragged through a humiliating impeachment process. “Musharraf has been one of the Bush administration’s closest allies. While Washington would prefer not to host his exile, as it would look bad politically, it would...

India was split into two countries — Pakistan and India — in August 1947 when the British ended their colonial rule. Pakistan celebrates its independence day today (August 14), while India a day later on August 15. The photograph above shows Muhammad Ali Jinnah and M.K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), both designated as “Father of the Nation” by the newly independent nations respectively. This is a good occasion to remember the two great leaders and their vision of India and Pakistan. Here...

Six months ago I wrote about a brave Pakistani woman who has been relentlessly fighting the two arbiters of her country’s destiny, Pakistan’s army and the US administration. (See here…) When she was virtually hounded out of Pakistan, Dr Ayesha Siddiqa sought refuge in the world of US academia. Here is Ayesha Siddiqua’s fresh salvo from the Stanford University as reported in the Chowk. “Ayesha Siddiqa said that behind the US support for certain elements of the Pakistani...

Among the joys of living in a laid-back and quaint place like Adelaide in South Australia, with its well-stocked council libraries, is the pleasure of reading books. In the past three months, apart from delivering guest lectures at the two universities here, I have been able to go through six books…accompanied with good beer and wine!!! Here I wish to write about two fascinating biographies. First: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin...

I look back with regret that I could not study Greek, Latin and Sanskrit languages. It is easier to get good translations of the Greek and Latin classics than the Sanskrit literature. The ancient Sanskrit literature remains unparalleled in its metaphysical as well as erotic flight. I thank our co-blogger Hollyrob for sending me a write-up by David Shulman, Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that highlights a major project to translate Sanskrit — the Clay...

The Times of London makes an interesting study of 10 political personalities who were involved in sex scandals. Of these 10 leaders, five got away with it and five couldn’t. Beginning with the Profumo Affair in Britain in 1963 to the latest one concerning John Edwards in the US, the affairs have attracted a lot of public attention. More here…

US presidential candidate Barack Obama returned to the islands of his birth on Friday and began a much-deserved week-long family holiday. His wife, Michelle, said that you ‘can’t really understand Barack until you understand Hawaii’, reports The Times. His half-sister, Maya, whom he will be seeing in Honolulu this week, calls Hawaii “such a generally sweet place… you can come back here from almost anywhere and refresh yourself mentally”. “In his memoir Dreams from My...

Monday would be a crucial day for President Pervez Musharraf when impeachment proceedings against him begin in the Pakistan Parliament. However, there are reports that all-powerful Pakistan army would like to avoid the public humiliation of Musharraf and ask him to resign within a week. The Telegraph reports: “The claim was supported by a former military aide to the president who said that the army’s leadership wished Mr Musharraf to be spared the humiliation of impeachment. “The...

Well, fight whom? The terrorists or the Pakistani people’s mandate? President Pervez Musharraf, who became a military dictator in a coup in 1999, has become a pathetic figure begging his former generals to come to his rescue to remain in the presidential chair. Obviously, Musharraf has realized that the US might not be able to bail him out this time if the democratically elected government has its way. The present Chief of Army Staff’s decision regarding Musharraf would be crucial....

Yes, says The Economist. It seems that Pakistan’s rival centers of power are converging on one theme. “After showdown talks on August 6th and 7th Mr Nawaz Sharif and the PPP’s leader, Asif Zardari, reached a provisional agreement to impeach the president and restore the judges (sacked by President Musharraf). (Meanwhile in a dramatic development President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday dropped plans to travel to Beijing to witness the Olympics 2008 amid deepening political crisis at...

All nations face challenges that, at times, defy easy solutions. What to do? Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, soon after his victory, invited in April this year 1,000 “brightest” among his countrymen for an “ideas summit” to look at the challenges and develop key goals for Australia. In May a comprehensive report was released. Cynics may view it as a routine popular gesture, but the report is worth a read. More than 1,000 Australians responded to an invitation from the Prime...

Australians are a different pedigree…Mate!!! “Anywhere else it would be a cause of embarassment, if not a modicum of shame,” writes The Times. “But to a country where a convict ancestry gives you aristocratic status, the revelation that the Australian Prime Minister is descended from not just one felon but six is a source of delight. “Kevin Rudd has already boasted of having convicts on both sides of his family – ‘an absolute pedigree’ as he has called...

Let us compare two New York Times reports. First, October 2001 report: “Pakistan’s intelligence service has had a longstanding relationship with Al Qaeda, turning a blind eye to growing ties between Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.” Second, August 2008: “American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service (ISI) helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government...

One of the delights of Paris is a leisurely meal and a glass of wine at a roadside cafe. I was taken aback to read The Times story: “The world economic crisis has hit borrowers in the US, banks in Britain and homeowners in Spain. Now it has claimed perhaps its most startling victim to date: the Gallic gastronome. “Lunches are being skipped, dinners shortened and apéritifs overlooked as the French cut back on their most cherished pleasure in an attempt to save their euros, according...

Israel prime minister, Ehud Olmert’s resignation last night follows months of mounting pressure over allegations of corruption. His successor, apart from managing the ongoing talks with the Palestinians, would have to face another major issue concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Guardian reports that “Mofaz, a former chief of staff and defence minister, said recently that an Israeli attack on Iran was ‘unavoidable’ because sanctions were not working. “Olmert,...

An important news has come from Pakistan. “Pakistan’s notorious ISI spy agency, a mainstay of the military’s domination of the nation’s politics, was last night placed under civilian control for the first time since it was founded in 1948, reports The Australian. “A brief announcement from the Prime Minister’s office said the ISI and the country’s other principal security agency, the Intelligence Bureau, would immediately be placed under the administrative,...

While Indian leaders have appealed for calm after a series of co-ordinated bombings ripped through the Western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Saturday, leaving at least 45 people dead and more than 100 wounded, some things about the bombings make little sense, says The Independent. “While Gujarat – whose recently re-elected Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of allowing the 2002 killings to take place – is the centre of Hindu-nationalist, or so-called ‘saffron’ politics,...

The Economist believes that If America can learn from its problems, instead of blaming others, it will come back stronger. “Nations, like people, occasionally get the blues…Eight out of ten Americans think their country is heading in the wrong direction. The hapless George Bush is partly to blame for this: his approval ratings are now sub-Nixonian. But many are concerned not so much about a failed president as about a flailing nation. “Everybody goes through bad times. Some learn...

In an earlier post I had written about European Union’s plans to reduce dependence on oil and to tap the potential of Sahara sun for solar power. Now comes T. Boone Pickens, the 80-year-old founder of one of the largest US oil exploration and production companies, offering alternative energy solutions. ‘The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone,’ reads a line from his new Pickens Plan. With surging global demand pushing crude oil prices to record highs and the US presidential...

In a spirited defence of his stand in the Indian parliament regarding his support to the India-US nuclear deal on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: “Our critics falsely accuse us, that in signing these agreements, we have surrendered the independence of foreign policy and made it subservient to US interests. In this context, I wish to point out that the cooperation in civil nuclear matters that we seek is not confined to the USA. “Change in the NSG guidelines would be a passport...

Britain and France are among European Union nations “discussing ambitious plans to harvest the energy of the Saharan sun, connecting a vast network of solar panels to electricity grids across the continent.” According to The Guardian, “the project, estimated to cost up to £35.7 billion, is backed by Gordon Brown and President Sarkozy of France.” More here… In 2006 President Bush famously said: “America is addicted to oil.” The Washington Post wrote then:...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush have a reason to celebrate. In a way the triumphant nail-biting passage on Tuesday of the India-US Nuclear Deal in the Indian Parliament is their personal victory. “The U.S. will urge other board members of the International Atomic Energy Agency to support an inspection plan tied to the accord during a meeting on Aug. 1,” State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said in Washington. “The 2005 accord signed...

Nepal, world’s youngest Republic, on Monday elected its first president, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, of the Nepali Congress (NC). Yadav defeated his nearest rival from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The Constituent Assembly on May 20 abolished the 240-year-old Shah monarchy and decided Nepal would be a federal democratic republic. A medical doctor by profession, Yadav spent more than two decades in hospitals in south Nepal’s Terai region before joining the movement for restoration of...