Opinion

Dhanada K Mishra Within two months of its long-delayed opening, the Khandagiri flyover in Bhubaneswar seems to have developed defects in its expansion joints requiring urgent repairs. Expansion joints are a critical component of any bridge. They help connect the different spans while providing for...

Melvin Durai Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took a Blue Origin rocket into space Tuesday, just a week after fellow billionaire Richard Branson flew a Virgin Galactic plane into space. While these space trips may seem like self-aggrandising indulgences by a pair of tycoons, they’re also...

PSM Rao Why privatise LIC? The government says it is not privatisation but only an initial public offering of some stake. That was what Anurag Thakur, then Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, unequivocally stated in the Parliament sometime back.  The Cabinet Committee...

DK Giri The US engagement in Afghanistan is somewhat akin to their lost war in Vietnam. There, America militarily stayed over a decade and withdrew without achieving its purpose. Similarly, in Afghanistan, they remained deeply engaged for two decades and left without accomplishing the tasks...

SN Misra Justice Prathiba M Singh of the Delhi High Court while hearing an estranged couple’s plea for divorce has observed that a common code for all citizens as expressed in Article 44 of the Constitution “ought not to remain a hope, but become a...

Melvin Durai Isak Munda, a 35-year-old man from Bubupali village in western Odisha, is a former labourer who now makes his living through YouTube. He uploads videos using his cellphone and downloads thousands of rupees into his bank account. “I make videos about life in my...

Panchanan Dalai In his essay “Selected Snobberies”, Aldous Huxley opines that there is nothing in the world that modern people are not snobbish of. Had he been alive, he would have certainly incorporated into his list the ‘snobbery of marks’, which has surreptitiously invaded our...

Dr Guru Prasad Mohanta The US decision in early May 2021 to support patent waiving of Covid-19 vaccines at World Trade Organization (WTO) was a surprise move. India and South Africa had submitted a proposal in October 2020 seeking waiver of certain provisions of Trade...

Padmalochan Dash In hybrid warfare, various methods and components, both conventional and unconventional, are brought to a synchronised usage. Among the important components employed; the electronic warfare system and the unmanned aerial system (UAS) are very much at the forefront of choice because of the...

Melvin Durai Independence Day in the United States is also known as “Fourth of July,” a day of celebration that excites many people. While most Americans are happy to celebrate independence, some are happier when it’s over because they can finally get some sleep. No...