Of the Raj constipated

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A school Yahoo group forum has a campfire atmosphere about it where 25 year olds eagerly lap up 80 year olds' reminisces of good old days. When one posts a message saying that he is 64 and wants to know if bowel movement deteriorates with age, it is bound to invite bawdy suggestions. Non-doctors like me came up with suggestions like positioning oneself in scary situations so that the bowels move like greased lightning. On our forum, the jokes would have carried on endlessly until a doctor, Richard Haythornwaite, stepped in and set the ball rolling in the right direction. Dr Richard Haythornwaite posted the following: Dear Anand, "A few thoughts for you and the group. It was 1948 and just two months into my first term at Jesus College, Cambridge, when our tutor popped a question to the five of us in his tutorial. 'Now,....

Dedicated USA-India flights may help the ailing airlines

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Air traffic between USA and India has grown sufficiently to contemplate dedicated flights between the two countries to maximise operational efficiency. Non-stop flights, even if carrying full loads, between USA and India are not the answer as the fuel carried will be more than the payload. If a refuelling airport exists exactly midway, the payload doubles when compared to that of non-stop flights. Till now, travel between USA and India necessitated a change of planes in the airports of Europe or Far East. These intermediary airports are off the as-the-crow-flies routes between the cities of USA and India, thus the routes are not the cheapest possible. East Coast of USA and India Between the major cities on the east coast like, New York and Boston and the Indian cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, there are two international airports in close proximity that are almost on....

Join the talk on Indian-Chinese internment in 1962

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Jews and Parsis escaped Roman and Iranian persecution to find refuge in India. They thrived and prospered in India for many centuries. A few left for greener pastures in the last century. Marauding hordes came from across the Himalayas, committed atrocities and later assimilated into the Indian fold but it never occurred to Indians to banish their descendants. China convulsed by the Opium Wars, Sino-Japanese wars, and the Boxer rebellion, threw up waves of refugees. Many died like flies, and a few just about made it to India from around 1800 AD onwards, to start from scratch. The latest wave of refugees escaped Japanese rape of China in WW-II to land in Honk Kong, and then on to Singapore. With the Japanese close on their heels, they again had to move to India. The 1962 Chinese debacle saw them interned and released after 1966....

The Pakistani revenge

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After Musharraf shot himself in the foot by messing with the Chief Justice, and got ousted, Pakistan lurched back to democracy. Benazir Bhutto returned in spite of being warned and narrowly escaped assassination in the joyous but tumultuous procession from the airport to her residence. However, she did not throw in the towel and many admired her guts. She was not lucky the second time. Many Pakistanis suspect Musharraf's connivance in the assassination. Zardari found himself catapulted as PPP's head but coyly admitted that he can never hope to be a Bhutto, and so plonked his son Bilawal on the Chair and anointed him as the chairman. Zardari promised to keep the seat warm till Bilawal Bhutto completes his education. Bilawal, not comfortable with any of the local dialects, delivered the inaugural speech in Queen's English. He ended the speech cutely with, "Democracy is the best....

The Army Chief's year of birth

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It would never occur to any General to get just a one year extension by claiming that his YOB as per Military Secretary's records was wrong, unless it is true. Would he risk his pension and all that he did in his 40 years of service going down the drain just to get that one year extra? In General VK Singh's case, apart from the matriculation certificate, the records of the military hospital where he was born point to the YOB as 1951 and not 1950. It did not occur to the MoD that this General might fight back. Confidently, MoD dug in its heels on the issue, however as a precautionary measure to dilute responsibility, it referred the case to the Ministry of law. It was a smart passing of the buck. The opinion of three former Chief Justices was ignored and the matter was referred to....

Majors' woes stem from 6th Pay Commission

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Since India gained Independence in 1947, there have been six pay commissions to review and fix Government officials' pay and allowances. Retired Majors and their equivalents in the Air Force and Navy did not have problems with recommendations of the first five Pay Commissions. The Sixth one reduced them to tears. In war, a well-led army is one where the casualty rate of the officers, percentage wise, is more than that of the men. During WW-I and WW-II, in the German, Japanese and the British army, the casualty rate of officers were higher than that of the men. The Israeli Army has maintained this ethos and fortunately for us, our Indian Army (and also the Pakistan Army) has been maintaining a healthy and honourable officer casualty rate statistics till now. It is all about losing face and conquering fear that prevents one from running away....

Energy security & the big fracking pollute

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Till the early 1970s, India used to be heavily dependent on international charity exports of wheat, corn and other food grains. It took the dynamic leadership of the then minister of food and agriculture, C Subramaniam, Bharat Ratna, to usher in the Green revolution which led to food self-sufficiency. It took Dr Kurien of Gujarat Amul less than half a decade to lead a white revolution making India the largest milk producer in the world. Considering the back ground of India being dependent on European charity to provide milk for our teeming millions of children, this was truly a major achievement of any developing country. An equally staggering opportunity lies unexploited in this country over the past several decades. This is the all-important sector of petroleum industry. We import 1.35 million tonnes of crude annually. A significant portion of this crude comes from the Middle Eastern....