'Kashmir is not Syria!' Is The Rise Of Hard-Line, ISIS Supporting Jihadists In The Valley More Myth Than Reality?

Many feel that pictures of ISIS flags in Kashmir are a clear indicator of the Islamic fundamentalists having made inroads into the Valley but police in conflicted area tell a different story. 'Kashmir is not Syria. An organisation like ISIS establishing a base in Kashmir and working the way it does in Iraq and Syria is just not possible. Let us not underestimate our grids', said a top official. The only tangible link between ISIS and Kashmir has been found among youths who were attracted towards the ideology while outside the country. Over the years, only three such cases have come to light.

Are Expiration Dates On Medicines Just A Myth?

If some drugs remain effective well beyond the date on their labels, why hasn’t there been a push to extend their expiration dates?

The box of prescription drugs had been forgotten in a back closet of a retail pharmacy for so long that some of the pills predated the 1969 moon landing. Most were 30 to 40 years past their expiration dates – possibly toxic, probably worthless.

An Indian IT Firm Hires High-School Graduates And Turns Them Into Software Programmers

Even as most other firms seek talent from top-ranked tech institutes, Zoho Corporation hires high-school graduates and trains them over 18 months.

Not inclined to pursue his studies beyond high school, 17-year old Abdul Alim dropped out of school in 2013. Unable to find a job in his hometown in North East India, Alim moved to Chennai in the South with nothing more than Rs 200 in his pockets.

Classic Denial, Victim Blaming By Cops And Politicians After Biker Jagruti Hogale Dies Dodging A Pothole

Jagruti Viraj Hogale, a well-known woman biker, was on her way to a weekend getaway with her friends to Jawhar — known for its waterfalls — when she swerved to allegedly avoid a pothole, was thrown off her bike, and crushed to death under the rear wheels of a truck on the Jawhar-Dahanu highway in Maharashtra. For the 34-year-old biker's grieving family, the main culprit is in plain sight.

Why It’s Unfair To Ban Commercial Surrogacy?

Altruistic surrogacy alone will deprive many would-be parents of options. Earlier last month, a couple in our family successfully got custody of their newborn through surrogacy. Filled with emotional highs and lows, the past nine months left the parents-to-be disillusioned about the prevailing surrogacy practices. 

Following a successful embryo transfer, the surrogate, after receiving a hefty advance payment, went underground despite the formal facilitation of the process by a reputed gynaecologist. She appeared only a month after delivery to hand over the parents' prized possession. The blessed parents swiftly forgot their misery as soon as all the paperwork was completed and they received their little bundle of joy in their hands. After all, their dream of having their biological child had finally come true.

Diplomacy in the Age of Social Media

Public diplomacy is a buzz word that has been around for decades, but today it is well ensconced with a significant other – social media.

Diplomacy is a fine art, heir to centuries of epochal deal making, system building, peacemaking and conflict avoidance and resolution – it is, in many ways, a profession for the ages. In the minds of men and women at large, however, it is also seen as a profession conducted in rarefied environs, in dizzying ivory-towered heights, away from the hurly-burly of earthling life. In India, I have often faced the perennial question,

Debate: Why the ‘Neuroscience of Lynching’ Article Is Flawed

Can the science of hate help us realise who the bigger criminal in a lynching is?

• Original article by Sumaiya Shaikh, published July 18, 2017
• Rebuttal to the original by Shruti Muralidhar – below
• Sumaiya Shaikh responds to the rebuttal, published July 19, 2017

This is in response to Sumaiya Shaikh’s article in The Wire titled ‘The Cognitive Neuroscience of a Lynching’. She has attempted to explain the human behaviour seen in acts of extreme violence, such as lynching. As a trained and practising neuroscientist who works in the field of learning and memory, I find that a lot of the neuroscience in her article is unsubstantiated, outdated or plainly incorrect. Following are some chosen paragraphs from her write-up, accompanied by my comments.