Editorial: The 'Deep Sinking Feeling' Of Poor 'Indian Navy'

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

Poor maintenance of submarines and warships is crippling India’s navy. Six months after a massive explosion sank a submarine, Sindhurakshak, a fire inside another, Sindhuratna, and the immediate resignation of navy chief Admiral D K Joshi are a grim reminder that all is far from well with India’s navy. 

Joshi’s prompt resignation, owning moral responsibility, is praiseworthy. But 12 mishaps involving conventional submarines and warships in a span of seven months could potentially cripple the navy’s operational capabilities. This may also severely impair India’s ambitions of becoming a strategic blue-water power able to operate far beyond its extensive coastline. 

Telangana Shame: Voice Vote Violation Of Parliament Rule

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE

OPEN EDITORIAL Many are describing the government's decision to pass the Telangana bill by a voice vote and black out the telecast of the proceedings  as the death of democracy. Particularly controversial is the Lok Sabha speaker's decision to move ahead with a voice vote — instead of the division vote as demanded by the opposing voices. 

"A voice vote can only be held with the consent of all the members in the house," says Subhash C Kashyap, a former Secretary General of the Indian Parliament and a honorary advisor to the government of India on legal issues. "Even if one member doesn't give his or her consent in favour of a voice vote, then the house cannot proceed with a voice vote but it has to go for a division vote," says the veteran parliament expert.

Focus: Aam Aadmi Party: Decoding the Indian Media Logics

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

The spectacular rise of the Aam Aadmi Party and all the recent controversies it has sparked prompt us to examine the role of media in the making of the "common man". This article traces the logics of print, television, and social media, to ask what it means to consider AAP as a "media party".

The victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is hailed as heralding a new era of urban politics in India, a sign of citizens finally waking up to the call of cleansing “dirty politics”. Riding on the sentiment of challenging legacy parties and their unscrupulous politics of stealth and loot, AAP has made an impressive foray into electoral combat by combining rhetoric with hard organisational work. 

'Andhra Pradesh Assembly On The Horns Of A Dilemma!'

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

EDITORIAL If any more evidence is needed to prove that the regional divide in Andhra Pradesh is complete and irreversible, it is the latest episode which forced the Congress legislators from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema to propose the names of rebel candidates in the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha. The Bill which is responsible for the ruckus in legislatures is only a formality. 

The bifurcation would be formalising the emotional division that has taken place over a period of time.  What we have been witnessing in the Assembly and the Council throughout February was the manifestation of a prolonged disconnect and disharmony that had set in the lives of Telugu-speaking people. The root cause for the malady is mutual distrust and lack of the spirit of accommodation.

Defiant Bharti On AAP: First Sign Of Political Suicide?

By Newscop | INN Live

Somnath Bharti has every reason to be a worried man. His midnight shenanigans in Khirki extension, when he led a mob into the home of four Ugandan women, accusing them of being part of a 'drugs and sex' racket and then barging into a police station demanding their arrest without a warrant, have caused outrage across the spectrum, uniting disparate elements who usually agree to disagree on everything. 

Congress Will Stand Exposed If Withdraws Support To AAP

By Kajol Singh | INN Live

As the Aam Aadmi Party was preparing to from the government, the Congress has dropped a bomb, with sources saying that the party may withdraw support to the AAP. Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi said there were differences of opinion within the Congress about supporting AAP, and the party was seriously considering withdrawing support.

While the AAP had never wanted support from the party, it decided to take support after Congress said the support was 'unconditional'. However, the Congress had later denied offering unconditional support. So, will it work against the grand old party's interest if it withdraws support? 

Editorial: Indian Lokpal Bare Raas Leela To Dabangg Style!

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

Political potboiler starring Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, RaGa and Preet Bharara. For those who thought the drama of desi life, all our ishkiyaon-dishkiyaon as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's blockbuster Raam-Leela quips, thrives only in Bollywood, think again. Our netas beat our abhinetas anytime, their posturing making 70 mm look small! 

Indeed,star-studded antics surrounding unveiling of the Lokpal Bill 46 years after a nation awoke to its destiny,as Jawaharlal Nehru put it, and smelt the coffee tops any filmi plot.

Just flashback to the beginning of the movie,sorry,movement for an anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, when satyagrahi superhero Anna Hazare lay fasting for corruption-free times.

Editorial: What 2013 Results Mean For Poll 2014 Scenario?

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

The results of the 2013 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are out but those looking for clear pointers towards how the next general election will play out are likely to be left scratching their heads.

The Bharatiya Janata Party turned in a spectacular performance in Rajasthan and wrested the state from the Congress. It has retained Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the latter with a significant increase in its seat share. But in Delhi, the BJP failed to properly ride the wave of anti-Congress sentiment, yielding crucial political space to the Aam Aadmi Party and falling short of a clear-cut majority.

Digital Journalism: How Internet Saved The Indian Press?

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

The Indian media is like pliable dough. It can be kneaded, punched, stretched and rolled in all directions. If overworked, it turns rubbery, dense and inert. And if the hands that knead it are dirty, it becomes impossible to separate the grime from the good. External pressures and internal pollutants jointly compromise the loaf.

“In 1791, American legislators had written, in their historic first amendment, ‘Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.’ Our first amendment said exactly the opposite: nothing in the future shall ‘prevent the State from making any law’ that takes away the freedom of press,” Caravan Executive Editor Vinod Jose in a brilliant, must-read essay mapping the ‘habits of mind’ that have crippled the Indian media.

Focus: Will Pakistan Accept Narendra Modi As India’s PM?

By Likha Veer | INN Live

With less than six months for the Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has found support from where he would least expect it — Pakistan.

Considered an extremist Hindu hardliner, Modi has in the past ridiculed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his failure to take a tough stance against Pakistan. During Singh’s September meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, Modi questioned whether the PM would be able to do justice to the soldiers who lost their lives along the LoC. “… It is also doubtful whether our prime minister will discuss the issue of our soldiers being killed on the borders. 

Will 'Telangana Bill' Be Tabled In LS Winter Session?

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

EDITORIAL  Even as all eyes are on the cabinet meeting on Tuesday that will consider the Group of Ministers (GoM) report on Telangana, indications are that the proposals may not get approved as it is. In fact with continued pressure from the Seemandhra lobby, highly placed sources aver that the cabinet may decide to look minutely at the proposals and may not clear it in one sitting. 
    
The proposals before the cabinet envisage creation of Telangana with 10 districts of the present Andhra Pradesh state with its capital being Hyderabad.

Indian Politics - 'From Insurgency To Electoral Democracy'

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

EDITORIAL ANALYSIS  Accommodative politics, combined with political incentives, helped pave the way for the Mizo National Front to turn into a mainstream political party.

If grievance ever had legitimate reason to be translated into political rebellion, it was in Mizoram. The Mizo National Front (MNF) was an insurgent group that emerged from the Mizo National Famine Front in 1959 — a formation protesting the widespread famine caused by a regular failure of the bamboo crop due to mautam, and the failure of the Indian state to send adequate relief.

NaMo, A Model Of Ruthlessly Ambitious 'King Aurangzeb'

By Zamir Kamil | Delhi

Who could imagine that Aurangzeb and Narendra Modi would have some things in common? But life surprises. To begin with, both are Gujaratis at least by birth. Aurangzeb was born in the town of Dahod, 200 km from Ahmedabad. Modi's birthplace is Vadnagar, 100-odd km away. Aurangzeb loved the town of his birth and three years before his death, instructed his son, the governor of Gujarat, to take special care of it.

Insight: Gujarat’s Muslims In A Politically Correct Trap?

By Surjit Bhalla (Guest Writer)

Time for all PM candidates to end hostilities and present voters with choices about policies, programmes and performance.

The debate about Narendra Modi's economic record has just gone international (perhaps even viral!). In an October 27 editorial, the prestigious New York Times stated in an editorial: "His rise to power is deeply troubling to many Indians, especially the country's 138 million Muslims and its many other minorities. His economic record in Gujarat is not entirely admirable, either." Candidate Modi has changed the contours, and style, of the (presidential?) debate in India. 

New York Times Edit And The Unfounded 'Modi' Paranoia

By Dhiraj Nayyar (Guest Writer)

The Editorial Board of the venerable New York Times does not want Narendra Modi to become India’s Prime Minister. The paper is, of course, entitled to its view. One only wishes its argument was more sophisticated, and the evidence more compelling. 

The simplistic argument is this: “India is a country with multiple religions, more than a dozen major languages and numerous ethnic groups and tribes. Mr. Modi cannot hope to lead it effectively if he inspires fear and antipathy among many of its people.” The New York Times has a one-dimensional view of Modi. 

Is Regulating Social Media Campaigns Overreach To ECI?

By Saurav Datta (Guest Writer)

Robust scepticism, that indispensable tool for informed, intelligent navigation through a world increasingly embracing polarisation, remains conspicuous by its absence in the current political discourse in India. The tidal wave of unstinted, blind support is emblematic of not only political parties and their ideologies, but also characterises the polity’s susceptibility to fads. This susceptibility gets manifested into gigantic follies when policy prescriptions and elaborate political strategies are drawn up on the basis of supposed trends which are mostly nothing but hot air.

'NaMo Cannot Lead India Effectively': New York Times

By Esha Dhillon / New York

Narendra Modi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, cannot hope to lead India effectively if he inspires “fear” and “antipathy” among many of its people, the New York Times has commented in an unusual move.

“Modi has shown no ability to work with opposition parties or tolerate dissent,” the Editorial Board of the New York Times said in a stinging editorial on the 63-year-old BJP leader.

Medical Innovation: When Do Costs Outweigh Benefits?

By Sarah Williams / New York

When Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical hit the market in 1999 with its surgical robot, da Vinci, the company and many of its early adopters hailed the new technology as a revolution that would benefit patients, surgeons and the health care system as a whole. Da Vinci combines high-definition visual tools with robot-guided medical instruments that allow surgeons to do complicated procedures using a few tiny incisions. The da Vinci system, which is widely used in urologic surgeries such as the removal of prostate tumors, has been shown by Intuitive and outside researchers to reduce post-surgery complications and shorten hospital stays.

Muzaffarnagar Riots: The Start Of 2014 Election Games

By Sumitra Nandan / Lucknow

By various accounts, anywhere between 39 and 100 riots have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since the suave, iPad-carrying Akhilesh Yadav became chief minister of arguably India’s most communally sensitive state. During ten days preceding the violence in Muzaffarnagar and its surrounding areas in the powder keg known as Western UP,  there were incidents of violence, counter-attacks, various groups calling for bandhs and protests and finally a Mahapanchayat on Saturday where over 1 lakh Jats were in attendance. Emotions were running high since 27 August with the killing of a young man accused of molesting a girl, followed by the revenge killing of the two men who had killed apparently to protect their sister’s honour.

The Global Relevance Of India's Pharmaceutical Patents

By Dr.Rashmi Sehgal / INN Bureau

The recent decision in the Novartis Glivec case continues a long-established tradition of India contesting a Northern agenda on patent laws. This key global role, arising from the exceptional combination of a vibrant domestic pharmaceutical industry with civil society awareness of the public health implications of patents, has been accentuated by recent developments and has continued relevance for the global South.

Denied on the grounds of not having met the standard of efficacy required by Section 3(d) of the 2005 Patent Act, the 1 April 2013 Supreme Court dismissal of the Novartis appeal against the earlier rejection of its patent application for Glivec, an anti-cancer medication, has attracted global attention.