Could Eating Yogurt Help Treat Depression?

INN News Desk

A new research reveals that probiotics found in natural yogurt could help boost a person’s mood because they affect brain function.

Previous studies have shown that beneficial bacteria affected the brains of rats but no research has confirmed that the same occurred in human brains.

The study found that those who ate probiotic yoghurt twice daily for a month showed altered brain function, both in resting brain activity and in response to an ‘emotional attention task’, which was designed to monitor how the brain responded to certain emotions.

'Jumping Jepang' Chosen As 2014 FIFA Cup 'Anthem'

By Rajeev Rai / Mumbai

In an extremely momentous occasion for the IPL, “Dil Jumping Jepang” has been chosen as the anthem for the upcoming FIFA World cup in Brazil, 2014.

FIFA had been scouting for new artists to compose the theme song for the World Cup to rival “Wavin Flag” and “Waka Waka” from the 2010 edition. They tried many artists including Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black, but it was “Jumping Jepang” that caught their attention, and the decision was instantaneous and unanimous.

Opinion: 'When Hopes Are Dashed By Foul Politics'...

By TJS George (Guest Writer)

The heroes of modern political tragedy have villainy without the redeeming features of character and catharsis. Unlike Macbeth and Othello, the likes of Om Prakash Chautala and Janardhana Reddy knew that they were not victims but makers of destiny, and that they had the option not to abuse power. Yet, they displayed neither the understanding of Duryodhana nor the discretion of Ravana. They just went power-mad. Thousands of such abusers of power are still at large.

Deodorant Ad On TV Mistaken As 'Bharat Nirman' Ad

By Rupender Sharma / Delhi

A man in his 20’s mistook a deodorant ad running on TV as a Bharat Nirman ad, sources tells this correspondent. “You can’t blame me!” said a visibly embarrassed Rahul Singh, “They were showing such surreal images that made an aam aadmi’s life look so easy and enjoyable; I thought it was one of those Bharat Nirman ads.”

Rahul, who has never been able to impress any girl in his two decades long existence, was impressed when he saw hordes of girls running after a man after the man applied deodorant on his body.

Movie Review: 'Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani' Is 'Worthy' Film

By Niloufer Khan / Mumbai

While watching Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, the biggest question is not whether Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone get together or which anti-ageing cream Madhuri Dixit uses. It’s this: when Sooraj Barjatya saw Karan Johar and Ayan Mukerji’s latest offering, did he grin triumphantly or snort contemptuously? Because with its candy-floss friendships, picturesque settings, flat yet strangely endearing characters and destination wedding, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani fits neatly into the Rajshri Productions stable. In fact, the film could well be this generation’s Hum Aapke Hain Kaun? (complete with Dixit’s blessings).

Why PMO Is Protecting The Uusecured 'Defaulters'?

By Rajinder Puri / New Delhi

Recall the Oil for Food scam probed by the UN appointed Volcker Committee which submitted its report seven years ago.  Natwar Singh was sacked from the cabinet for alleged involvement in that deal after the Justice Pathak Commission probing the deal submitted its report. One would like to refresh the reader’s memory by what appeared in the article "Can Corrupt Politicians Preserve Freedom?" on August 15, 2006.

One wrote: “The Pathak Report most conveniently dovetailed with the political objectives of the Congress.  Natwar Singh "misused" his position but took no money. Therefore he deserved cabinet expulsion but no legal conviction.

'ZOOZOO' ARRESTED FOR SPOT-FIXING IN IPL MATCHES

By Farzaand Ahmed / New Delhi

Almost every entity associated with IPL is coming under scanner for betting and spot-fixing in cricket matches. The latest victim is ZooZoo – the white humanoid character promoting Vodafone telecommunication services.

“This ZooZoo was seen in most IPL matches and we have recovered hundreds of mobile phones from him,” Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar informed, “He (ZooZoo) speaks in a weird way so we are having trouble questioning him, but we hope to get more leads from him.”

ZooZoo is the third weird character – after Sreesanth and Vindoo Dara Singh – who has been arrested in the latest scandal that has shaken the morale of the otherwise corruption-free nation.

IPL-7 WILL BE A MOVIE STARRING 'SACHIN TENDULKAR'

By Jignesh Ahuja / Mumbai

The IPL series will continue despite the recent spot-fixing controversy, confirmed the BCCI. However, IPL 7 will see a small format change so that Sachin Tendulkar is visible even in the next season.

“The current 20-20 league format is very hard to sustain given all the controversy,” a BCCI spokesman told to a newly acquired news website before the morning rush at his tea counter, “We can deliver all the drama and excitement without all this trouble by turning IPL 7 into a scripted movie.”

But writing the script is proving difficult. “We’re trying to make it exciting,” said writer Amit Jain, “but after the spot fixing scandal, drunken celebrities fighting security and late night rave parties, anything we write just seems a bit boring and predictable.”

WILL 'MARUTI' BECOME 'TATA MOTORS' IN GUJARAT?

By Poonam Mondal / Ahmedabad

Narendra Modi’s political strategy may be working wonders for him, but definitely not his business strategy.

According to a report, discontent is brewing in 44 villages covering 126,000 acres of land in the Mandal Becharaji belt, which has been notified as special investment region (SIR).

SIRs are similar to special economic zones, but units established here are not just export-oriented. Apart from commercial and industrial units, such regions can also house residential areas and offer logistic connectivity.

BEYOND CHHT'GARH, NAXALS REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE?

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Ever since last week’s massacre in Chhattisgarh, elements of the intelligentsia have launched ferocious search for The Root Cause of violent Maoism—the Holy Grail of India’s left-liberal discourse on terrorism.  It’s been claimed, again and again, that the conflict is being fuelled by the predatory intrusion of the Indian state into the adivasi heartland—through state terrorism, the dispossession of their land, and the impoverishment of peoples by neo-liberalism.

PARENTS SEE EDUCATION IS ROLLING IN ANDHRA PRADESH

By Sarat Chandra / Hyderabad

Poverty continues to shape the experience of children in India as it impacts many areas of their lives from health and education to future opportunities, according to a new research by Young Lives India.

The research, compiled in a book titled ‘Changing Lives in Andhra Pradesh: Young Lives Children Growing Up’, found that children and their families may have higher aspirations, but their chances in life are often heavily influenced by where they are born and their family circumstances.

WHY ASSAM IS FERTILE GROUND FOR MAOISTS?

By Sunderlal Behruaa / Dispur

Decades of militancy have pushed Assam back by ages, economically and otherwise. Now as the state finds a semblance of normalcy, there’s a new menace threatening to undo all the good work over the years. It’s the Maoists. While no incident of violence by the Left ultras has been registered so far, there are clear indications that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) is making a serious effort to strengthen its base in the state. The broader aim is to make it part of the zones under their control.

DEVELOPMENT IS FAR CRY, AP CM IS WORKING FOR 'PILERU'

By Ramesh Reddy / Hyderabad

The Rs 150 crore grant was meant for all the 294 assembly constituencies. But chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has splurged it only on Pileru constituency in his native Chittoor district that is represented by him in the Assembly. In a record of sorts, the state government has released Rs 102.6 crore for various development works in Pileru in the last 15 days. 
    
After taking over as chief minister, Kiran Kumar had set up the Special Development Fund (SDF) for taking up works that are not part of the regular plan in all the assembly constituencies. For the financial year 2013-14, the state has sanctioned Rs 600 crore for the SDF and for the first quarter, the finance department released Rs 150 crore.

CRICKET SITUATION ANALYSIS: 'RIP THE VEIL OF SILENCE'

By Ayaz Memon (Guest Writer)

It is about time senior cricketers spoke up against the mess that has beset cricket in India. The IPL fixingbetting mess calls for introducing a strict system of checks and balances on Indian cricket. 

The end of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League has been in dismal conditions, with not just the league and the Board of Control for Cricket in India sullied, but the game of cricket itself being adversely affected. 

'THE FAT MUMMY, THE SCAPEGOAT FOR CHILD OBESITY'

By Neha Anand / New Delhi

Fat Indian mommies are raising fatty kids. That is the conclusion of a 4-city survey conducted by the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation which found that 64.8 per cent of mothers surveyed in Delhi, Agra, Pune and Bangalore were overweight or obese, as were 19.2 per cent of their sons and 18.1 per cent of their daughters.

The authors of the study blame the high-calorie effect of maternal love on a number of factors. One is the traditional Indian mindset. “Despite the obesity of their children they are fussing over them and if the child is overweight they consider them healthy rather than fat,” Dr Anoop Misra told the The Telegraph (UK). He claims this misguided attitude has been shaped by and transmitted by grandmothers “who had known famine.”

TRIBUTE: THE MAN BEHIND BENGAL'S CINEMA RENAISSANCE

By Richa Rai / Kolkata

“But, my city, I know, can neither handle me nor ignore me,” filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh had said in a recent interview. There’s no doubt Ghosh was something of an agent provocateur in both Kolkata and Indian cinema. From the subjects he chose to explore in his films to the way he dressed, Ghosh was always urging us to reconsider the stereotypes that we take for granted as normal.

But from the grief and shock that’s evident in the reactions to his passing this morning, it’s obvious that for all the thorn that Ghosh may have been in convention’s side, the filmmaker was also much admired and beloved.

OPINION: BJP 'ALL SET' TO REPEAT '2009 BLUNDERS'!

By Dr. Subhash Kapila (Guest Writer)

In 2013 as I survey the Indian political scene the most striking point that hits the mind is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to repeat the 2009 blunders and has failed to politically exploit the issues of migovernance and corruption of the ruling Congress Party. The magic, the passion and convictions of a Party that had raised India’s expectations is missing. All because of a paralysed apex level BJP political leaders’ in a self-destruct mode intent on checkmating the rise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the popular choice of emerging as India’s next Prime Minister.

DIGNIFIED CHANDRABABU NAIDU FALLS WITH 'LOOSE TALKS'

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Telugu Desam Supremo Chandrababu Naidu’s asides replete with allegations of watching x-rated pornographic movies by inmates in prisons, especially in Chanchalguda central prison, need not be covered-up as a general observation. It doesn’t pass muster that way. The remarks of Naidu are absurd and don’t augur well for his tall stature.

RANBAXY DEBACLE: PHARMA'S TARGET IS DRUG INDUSTRY

By Dr.Rashmi Sanyal / Delhi

It’s abundantly clear that the Ranbaxy fiasco in the US, in which the company has to pay $500 million for allegedly selling adulterated drugs, is the big opportunity that the multinational drug companies have been waiting for to malign India.

Grabbing Ranbaxy by the scruff of its neck, the propaganda machines of the Big Pharma have unleashed a campaign against Indian generic manufacturers: if India’s $2 billion dollar Ranbaxy is bad, the rest of the industry should be bad as well. Their medicines are dirty and they are really bad not just for the North Americans and Europeans, but for Africans and Latin Americans as well.

MANNEQUINS MAKES MUMBAI MEN SEXUAL PREDATORS

By Ajit Karmakar / Mumbai

Till recently, my daily commute included the Dadar flyover. Every morning, sitting in a taxi, I would see a plastic mould of a headless and limbless female torso, wearing a bra and a panty, dangling from the façade of one of the old buildings that stands at the edge of the flyover. I’ve done this route for years. That torso has been there too. It never struck me that being in a car driven by a man who also saw that torso placed me in grave danger. Because if corporator Ritu Tawade is to be believed, that torso could “affect the mindset of men” and make them commit “wrong acts”.

SALWA JUDUM'S CRIME LIST: 99 RAPES, NOT A SINGLE 'FIR'

By Pallavi Polanki (Guest Writer)

When the Supreme Court in 2011 banned the Salwa Judum, a state-sponsored tribal militia propped up to counter Maoists in Chhattisgarh, it ordered the state government to investigate and register FIRs against all alleged criminal activities of the Salwa Judum.

In addition to allegations of murder (500 cases) and arson (103 cases), 99 affidavits were submitted to the Supreme Court accusing the tribal militia of rape.

SPOTLIGHT: 'PILL FIGHT HEADS FOR A BITTER FINISH'

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Savitri Saxena (58) was diagnosed with cancer even as her family celebrated her grandson’s admission in a prestigious Delhi college. Numbed by the news, Savitri was shocked further when she learnt that the prescribed medicine would cost at least Rs 20 lakh a year, before she could move to safer and cheaper drugs.

Rajarshi Mantri (38) urgently required stents for his heart condition. The electrical engineer was told the cost would be anything between Rs 80,000 and Rs 3 lakh. Bulk buyers get the same stents for Rs 30,000.

'PROLONGED SITTING 'WORK' COULD SHORTEN OUR LIVES'

INN News Desk

The habit increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and slows metabolism. Emerging studies have found that prolonged sitting increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, slows metabolism and even shortens our lives.

A University of Sydney study has found that adults who sat 11 or more hours a day had a 40 percent increased risk of dying in the next three years compared with those who sat for fewer than four hours a day, the New York Daily News reported.

SPECIAL REPORT: IS DELHI UNIVERSITY 'REALLY' DYING?

By Harish Trivedi / Delhi

Delhi University (DU) has been so constantly in the news in recent weeks as to have become a spectacle. Some of the finest minds in our public life have issued alarmed and alarming statements about its future direction. Day after day the media has carried extensive reports on the critical state of DU’s health, as if it were a hapless victim of brutal violation about to die. In turn, the vice-chancellor of DU has been accorded the kind of space in media which could be the envy of ministers and film stars. 
    
So what’s all the hullabaloo about? On the face of it, it’s only a syllabus and a new degree structure, so when did these dry academic matters become so newsworthy?

IS JHARKHAND NEXT ON CHIT FUND PONZI SCHEMES?

By Sumit Rajan / Ranchi

West Bengal and neighbouring Odisha and Assam might be bearing the maximum brunt of the recent chit fund scams, but Jharkhand is not far behind. The deadly tentacles of the ponzi scheme have also gripped several people in the state. As usual, the people bearing the brunt are the lower middle class and the poor who trusted their life’s savings with these companies.

INDIAN NAVY SCANDAL, WIFE-SWAPPING WITH FORCE

By Kajol Singh & Avinash Acharya

In the last few months, the navy has been hit by at least four major scandals

• Wife of a marine commando based in Kochi alleges her husband forced her into a ‘wife-swapping network’ in Visakhapatnam. - Navy response: Marital discord.
• Wife of a naval lieutenant based in Karwar alleges she was forced into getting sexually involved with husband’s colleagues. - Navy response: Marital discord.
• Naval officer accused of sending obscene mobile text messages to several women. - Navy response: Officer dismissed after general court martial.
• Naval officer enters into an illicit relationship with the wife of a superior and ‘stealing the affection of a brother-officer’s wife’. - Navy response: Officer dismissed.

One afternoon last month, Malayalam news channels aired the visage of a 25-year-old woman, pixellated to protect her identity. She was the wife of an Indian navy officer, a 26-year-old marine commando, posted at its Kochi base. What she put on record as having undergone in the navy’s precincts in Visakhapatnam, where her husband was posted before being sent to Kochi, shocked audiences and sent seismic waves across the naval establishment. Here’s what she said on TV: “My husband coerced me have to have sex with his superiors and threatened to kill me if I refused.”

HOW MUMBAI LOST 200 ACRES OF PUBLIC SPACE?

By Niloufer Khan / Mumbai

Given the official shroud of secrecy over old leases of large tracts of land in the island city of Mumbai, it is not surprising that citizens learnt only recently that the term of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) in Mahalaxmi is ending on May 31.

Club officials and members are scrambling to get the lease renewed, while public opinion is solidly against leaving this relic of the Raj (which still genuflects to British royalty) a private amenity for the elite, sprawling over 225 acres in the heart of the city.

THE DEADLY REBELS: ASSAM BRACES FOR NEW 'THREAT'

By Simantik Dowerah (Guest Writer)

Barely out of the decades old Ulfa terror, Assam is staring at another similar, and potentially bigger, menace: Maoists. While there is no concrete proof yet that the red rebels have entrenched themselves in the state, stray indications point to that fact they could be in the process of doing so. Some recent cases prove that Maoist leaders from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are trying hard to spread out in the state by recruiting local youth.

CAN'T AFFORD FEES? AVAIL 'SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL LOAN'

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

If you want your child to enrol for a professional course like MBA, IIT, CA, CS or attempt a competitive exam test like GATE, more often than not, she would want to attend coaching classes. And, the fee for such coaching classes can drill a big hole in your pocket.

INN checked out with a few coaching classes. For JEE, the entrance exam for IIT, the fee was as high as Rs 2 lakh. Even for GRE, GMA and CAT, the fees were easily in the range of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000.

NAXAL 'SRINIVAS', KINGPIN OF CHHATTISGARH ATTACK?

By Mithilesh Mishra / Raipur

He’s never once mentioned them, even in passing, in all the interviews he’s given: the brother called Parshuraman, who was killed in a firefight with the Andhra Pradesh police back in 1994; the sister called Kanukamma, whose body was torn apart by bullets while fighting by his side.

He never once mentioned the son born that year, who went to school in Sukma wondering if one the things he’d learn that day was that his father and mother were dead. He’s spoken only of ‘The Cause’, the man who ordered the massacre of 29 in Chhattisgarh last week.

“The language of war is killing”, said 9/11 perpetrator Khalid Sheikh Muhammad. Ravula Srinivas, secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, has long known this. His story tells us what happens when people cease to matter and only a cause remains.

INDIAN POLITICAL SCENARIO: THE WOLF AT THE DOOR!

By Rajinder Puri / Delhi

Remember that ancient tale about the boy who cried wolf? False alarms of an approaching wolf lulled society into ignoring the wolf when it really came. In India the word ‘Emergency’ has acquired a dirty connotation. Indira Gandhi’s fraudulent imposition of dictatorship in the name of emergency justified by leveling totally false allegations against Jayaprakash Narain brought this about. Much later Indira Gandhi acknowledged her error publicly in a speech delivered at Ram Lila Ground in Delhi. But the damage had been done.

Now in public perception no real emergency can ever exist. But consider the current situation.

PRIVATE SECTOR IS NEW FOUNTAIN HEAD OF CORRUPTION

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Mention the word “corruption” and images of sleazy netas and babus are conjured up in the popular imagination. Corruption is typically associated with politicians and bureaucrats who run government organisations, spearheaded by individuals who abuse their discretionary powers to enrich themselves at the expense of the public at large.

But at least two studies that recently entered the public domain indicate that corruption in the Indian private sector has come of age. This is what has been highlighted in two reports prepared under the aegis of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) – interestingly, this particular UN agency deals with corporate corruption. These reports were prepared despite the non-cooperation of representatives of private firms.

'WHITE MAGIC' IN DAMBALA VILLAGE OF KARNATAKA

By Khaja Pasha / Bangalore

It is a rare and a beautiful sight to watch traditional lime kilns — surprisingly still surviving today amid the din of machines and urbanisation. INN visits Dambala in Gadag district and learns a thing or two about lime kilns.

While strolling around Dambala village in North Karnataka’s Gadag district, surprised to spot some dome-shaped structures built of brick and mud mortar. Chandi Saab, a passerby, who could read my face, said “It is a lime kiln (sunnada batti in Kannada) used to produce quick lime by burning limestone”.

WHY RAHUL GANDHI ANGRY ON CHHATTISGARH ATTACK?

By M H Ahssan / Raipur

Rahul Gandhi’s agitated one-liner at the high-level security review meeting in Raipur two days ago took all participants by surprise. The Congress vice-president was present at the meeting held at Raj Bhavan to take stock of the Maoist attack in Darbha Ghati that killed 14 Congressmen, seven security personnel and three civilians. It was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Shortly after the meeting started the young Congress leader shot off “who will take the responsibility?” It surprised the participants, particularly those from the Chattisgarh state government, which included Chief Minister Raman Singh, Chief Secretary Sunil Kumar and top police officials.

DEVJI CHETAN, MASTERMIND OF CHHATTISGARH AMBUSH?

By Ramesh Reddy / Hyderabad

According to informed sources, the central military commission naxalites leader Devji chetan is the man behind the Chhattisgarh ambush. The CPI Maoist militia network, the backbone of the Naxalites, as well as their intelligence wing played a crucial role in the Darbha Valley ambush in Sukuma district of Chhattisgarh in which 28 politicians, including Salwa Judum founder Mahendra Karma, Chhattisgarh PCC president Nandkumar Patel and his son Dinesh were killed.

SPECIAL REPORT: INDIA'S SELF-INFLICTED WATER CRISIS

By Upender Dikshit / Delhi

Ultimately, a solution to the country’s water management problems lies in creating fragmented water markets regulated at the level of various states.

It is not unusual for the monsoon to play truant in one part of India or the other every year. The country’s water situation is so precarious that even a normal monsoon, spread unevenly, creates drought-like conditions in some part of the country. Very often the scarcity of water spills over into the following year. Some years ago, it was the Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh that was starved for water; this year, the Marathwada region of Maharashtra is confronting an acute water scarcity.

IS CONGRESS MISSING TRICK IN IPL SPOT-FIXING MESS?

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

The India Premier League (IPL) has lost its credibility. Cricket is turning into a game of spot-the-fixed moment. And with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N. Srinivasan determined to stay put despite the muck reaching his doorstep, the board has proved itself to be a rogue entity accountable to nobody.

That Srinivisan still refuses to step down points to the moral bankruptcy of the nation’s richest sporting body. It also underscores the all-important question at the heart of the whole mess: how should cricket be run in this country?

IPL-6: SRINIVASAN, SREESANTH, TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS

By Siddhi Sharma / Mumbai

N Srinivasan has never been a pushover - his performance in Kolkata on Sunday afternoon was masterly, something he backs himself to pull off each time. And unlike Srinivasan, Sreesanth probably doesn't have the wherewithal to go anywhere but down from here.

Given a choice, and the chance, S Sreesanth would probably have gone to watch Any Body Can Dance and not The Great Gatsby last week. The film, Gatsby, was not a patch on the book - they never are, are they? - but Sreesanth, if he'd seen it, would have started at the (somewhat altered) line: "The loneliest moment in life is when you watch your whole world fall apart, and all you can do is stare blankly".

MAJOR 'FAMILY DIFFERENCES' SURFACED IN 'NTR FAMILY'

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Despite Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu’s claim that there is no power struggle in the family of party founder N.T. Rama Rao, the differences in the family once again came to fore on Tuesday. Popular Telugu actor and NTR’s grandson Junior NTR said he was not invited to ‘Mahanadu’ or annual convention of the party which began here Monday, while his father N. Harikrishna said he would speak about injustice being meted out to them at an appropriate time.

WHY 'AMWAY' CASE IS SIMILAR TO A 'PONZI SCHEME'?

By Vivek Kaul / New Delhi

William S Pinckney, the chief executive officer of Amway India, was arrested yesterday by the crime branch of Kerala Police along with two other directors of the company.

A report in the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) quotes a top official of Economic Affairs Wing (EOW), Kerala as saying “With the call of easy money, they have been luring people to come and invest. And in turn, the new members had to get more people and this was leading to illegal money circulation. As a result, we had received several complaints against the company and we decided to arrest the officials.”

CIGARETTE ADS, THEIR ERASURE AND VINTAGE STATUS

By Samuel Joseph / Bangalore

Actor, director and filmmaker, Shekhar Kapur, poses with a cigarette hanging between his lips, his hands busy working on something in the kitchen, while a model, playing his partner, has her mouth agape in awe for an advertisement in 1979, endorsing the Wills Filter cigarettes.

The advertisement carries a tag-line: “Made for each other,” referring not to the ‘couple’, but the tobacco and the filter. 

Punctuating the then emerging advertising industry with significant presence, cigarette brands were prominent contributors since the 1960s, when varied advertisements and endorsements were allowed in public, given the absence of regulation.

WHY INDIA IS LOSING ITS WAR AGAINST NAXALITES?

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Five decades ago, the special forces officer Roger Trinquier set about understanding why his nation losing to enemies it outgunned and outmanned. France, he wrote, was  “in studying a type of warfare that no longer exists and that we shall never fight again, while we pay only passing attention to the war we lost in Indochina and the one we are about to lose in Algeria.  The result of this shortcoming is that the army is not prepared to confront an adversary employing arms and methods the army itself ignores. It has, therefore, no chance of winning”.

POOLED CAMPUS RECRUITMENT, BEST WAY TO GET 'TALENT'

By Rajan Dutta (Guest Writer)

Not long back, come the placement season, campuses used to be flush with companies raring to hire the best talent. Very often, more than 10-20 companies used to visit the same campus targeting the same set of 100 students. This often led to intense competition amongst companies as who could attract the most & the best. Many of us HR Heads discussed the futility of such competition, and the need for an efficient & effective method.

Today, companies that form part of large groups have learnt to consolidate their efforts to target campuses as a group rather than as individual companies. Many companies have found it more productive, efficient and cost effective to consolidate their requirements and conduct 'pooled campus recruitment' with similar minded companies.

DYING WATER BODIES, KERALA LOSES PRECIOUS 'KENIS'

By Pavitra Menon / Trivandrum

Keni, the miraculous mini well of adivasis of Wayanad in Kerala, is well on its way to becoming a part of history - a victim of rapid environmental decline of this once bountiful state.

The name Wayanad comes from two words, Vayal (paddy field) and Naad (land), meaning ‘The Land of Paddy Fields'. It is set high on the Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 metres from sea-level. The district has a considerable population of tribals. Keni, an amazing water body developed using traditional wisdom and which doesn’t seem to have parallels anywhere in the whole country, is found only in this district.

'DISCARDING VEILS, EMBRACING CHANGE IN RAJASTHAN'

By Seema Dhar / Jaipur

Displaying extraordinary grit, courage and openness to change, women from some of the most feudal communities in Rajasthan's villages are changing the rules forever and leading development and local governance at the grassroots. 

As a child she used to keenly observe the government officials and leaders who came to her village Bassi, near Jaipur, Rajasthan, for official functions on occasions like Independence Day or Republic Day. Sitting in the audience, she used to watch in fascination as they addressed large crowds. She even had the urge to join them at the dais but knew she needed to become "someone important" in order to be able to do that.

Born into a family of daily wagers, it never really seemed likely that Murli Meena would achieve this desire. Although she was a natural leader, there simply were no opportunities for her to distinguish herself. Her fortunes, however, changed when she got married to someone who lived in the neighbouring village of Dehlala and decided to discard the 'ghunghat' (veil traditionally required for all married women).

COAL DEATHS : IGNORING THE WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Based on data collected from 92 coal power plants in India, a 2012 study that went largely unreported estimated the mortality impact of electricity generated from coal at 650 deaths per plant per year! INN analyses the key findings of the report and the remediation measures suggested. 

The Supreme Court of India recently dismissed a petition by anti-nuclear activists to stop commissioning of the nuclear power plant at Kudankulam. The petitioners argued that the plant did not meet safety standards recommended by nuclear experts, a viewpoint that the apex judicial body in the country obviously did not concur with.

CHHATTISGARH CONG STARES AT LEADERSHIP VACCUM

By M H Ahssan / Raipur

The killing of 27 Congressmen, including its senior leaders, in the Maoist attack has suddenly created a leadership vacuum in the party in Chhattisgarh. As the gravity of the situation sinks in the poll-bound state, the average Congressmen in the state as well as the central leadership are a worried lot. The party had taken long to create a new batch of leaders; things are back to the square one now. The party will have a pick a leader fast from the available ones.

COMING SOON, AN 'EGG' TO YOUR KITCHEN PLANT!

By Sarah Williams / New York

Looking for a fun activity that will get the kids interested in gardening, then consider growing your own eggs.  While eggs really do not come from plants, the Solanum melongena var. is a type of eggplant that produces egg-shaped fruit and is also known as the Easter Egg Plant.

This plant is easy to grow and can produce fruit for two years if taken care of properly.

THE ESSENCE OF CAMPUS RECRUITMENT IN INDIA

By Richa Rai / Kolkata

The Indian corporate sector is busy welcoming its campus recruits and the importance of inducting right is the HR flavour of the month. But in a “Circle of Life”-esque sense, with the closure, in this case of a successful hiring season, begins the first step of the next cycle. It is the start of yet another campus calendar and smart companies are already sitting down to chalk out their game plan for the coming year.

CONGRESS SUICIDAL ACT TO HELP 'TRS' IN TELANGANA

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

The predictions made by various pre- election surveys, including the latest one conducted by INN - CVoter, that the Congress is going to face a complete rout in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in the Telangana region, seems to have had little effect on the party high command.

The INN - CVoter survey predicted that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi ( TRS) would win 12 out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana region, while the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) and the Majlise- Ittehadul Muslimeen ( MIM) would win one seat each. Though it is not suggested as to which party would win the remaining three seats, going by field reports, they could be shared by YSR Congress Party, the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party ( TDP).