All Famous news Paper columns,editorials and Blogs

Topic:  Pakistan, a rising power Writter:   Sunil Sharan Publish Date:  23  December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India Pakistan, a rising power Visit the two countries. There is hardly any difference. The same bustling bazaars. The same chockablock traffic, screeching until one’s ears go mad. The same apparent, abysmal poverty. The same top five percent lording over everyone else. The same corruption. Over the same things, be it bribing traffic cops or receiving cuts on imported fighter jets. The same contempt for politicians, militaries held in the same high esteem. The same looks, the same stuff being watched and listened to, the same flanneled fool’s sport being obsessed over, in which none of the countries is the world champion, nor will ever be, at least in the foreseeable future (World champion means you gotta win in Australia and South Africa.) The only differences between the two nations seem that one’s currency is p...

Topic:  The soul-stirring nature of true love Writter:   Aruna Jethwani Publish Date:  21  December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India The soul-stirring nature of true love By Aruna Jethwani Recently, a seminar held in south India threw up many surprises. A young IT professional began his talk by showing a video, depicting a couple engrossed in sending messages on their mobile phones over a dinner date in a restaurant. He went on to say that technology-dependence was relegating face-to-face conversations to the back burner, to a large extent. A girl in the audience argued that e-interfaces did give the option of a face-to-face conversation. “Yes. But it has an intermediary in between,” pointed out the presenter. He said, “Could your e-device provide a touch of comfort, a hug of acknowledgement or convey the feeling of love of Oneness? It may convey a part of these emotions or a part of your love and concern, but it cannot rep...

Topic:  Serena Williams: Tennis waits on its queen to make a decision on her return Writter:   Gaurav Kalra Publish Date:  20  December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India Serena Williams: Tennis waits on its queen to make a decision on her return One night last week Serena Williams was in distress. In desperation, she turned to her 10 million plus Twitter followers. Her daughter Alexis, born in September, wouldn’t stop crying. She was teething and the agonised mum equated it with the devil. Serena tried amber beds, cold towels, letting Alexis chew on her fingers, even homeopathic water, but nothing would work. “It’s breaking my heart,” Serena wrote in a follow-up tweet. “I almost need my mom to come and hold me to sleep cause I’m so stressed. Help? Anyone?” In an instant, a flood of counsel flooded Serena’s timeline. She hasn’t revealed yet if any of the remedies suggested worked and if little Alexis is indeed feeling bet...

Topic:  Trump’s new national security strategy: The good, the bad and the complicated for New Delhi Writter:   Abhijnan Rej Publish Date:  21  December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India Trump’s new national security strategy: The good, the bad and the complicated for New Delhi The Trump administration released its first national security strategy (NSS) on December 18. In principle, the congressionally-mandated document charts out Donald Trump’s strategic objectives and ways to meet them. Trump’s worldview is distinctly un-strategic, with a marked preference for tactical “deals”. As a White House official admitted, it is unclear whether Trump even read the document that bears his signature. Given this disposition of the disruptor-in-chief, the extent to which a national security strategy of the Trump White House can – or should – be taken seriously can be questioned. However, the broad thrust of the document transcends Trump and,...

Topic:  A murky referendum Writter:   Sunil Sharan Publish Date: 20  December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India A murky referendum Ninety nine. The most unlucky figure in cricket. Especially when the batsman is aiming for a daddy hundred. Will Gujarat 2017 define India 2019? Has the sheen worn off? On his own turf, the prime minister has been wrestled to a draw, almost. If Radio Mani hadn’t been there, who knows what could have happened? Three and a half years into power, a year and half from general elections is an awkward time to hold office. Previous PMs had at least one visible achievement by this time. Manmohan had the nuke deal, Atal had roads, Rao reforms, Rajiv computers. They could coast on this one single achievement. But Mr Modi has nothing. Zilch. Nada. It’s not been for a lack of trying; it’s been for a lack of personnel. Mr Modi was a provincial who came to Delhi with a reputation for administration. Amit Shah cam...

Topic:  Fault-finding and complaining can be disastrous Writter:    Dada JP Vaswani Publish Date:  20 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India Fault-finding and complaining can be disastrous By Dada JP Vaswani We cannot have ‘theories’ for everything – especially for getting along with people. No blueprint can give us a pre-planned design to organise our lives with other people. Human beings are unique, perhaps somewhat illogical, and definitely unprogrammable. Each one of us is sensitive; and each one of us is constantly variable – our mood and temperament change from day to day, may be even from hour to hour. Yet we have evolved into a society and community; a global habitat with families, institutions and corporations. This has been possible with time, a growing sense of awareness, and a great deal of understanding, tolerance, sympathy and mutual respect. Every relationship is unique and special and needs to be nurtured wi...

The new wealth of nations is education by John Cheeran Topic:  The new wealth of nations is education Writter:   John Cheeran Publish Date:  19 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India The new wealth of nations is education If there is a freakonomist in India it is none other than Surjit S Bhalla. Bhalla is a purveyor of uncommon wisdom that provokes you, especially if you are a bleeding heart liberal. And to say that Bhalla is a confident and ambitious man would be an understatement. He does not hold back his punches and the title of his new book in itself is enough to irk many of his peers—The New Wealth of Nations (Published by Simon & Schuster India, Pages 207, Price Rs 599)—as if he is the Adam Smith of our times. But times, they are changing, that is what Bhalla is singing. In The New Wealth of Nations, Bhalla takes on Thomas Piketty and his ilk and points out that contrary to the popular notion, inequality is dec...

5 principles of designing experiences by Abhijit Bhaduri Topic:  5 principles of designing experiences Writter:   Abhijit Bhaduri Publish Date:  19 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India 5 principles of designing experiences Brands in the digital world are owned by employees and customers. They now look for experiences, not processes. When you go to the bank to open an account, the ease and simplicity with which it happens to create the experience. The processes that support the creation of the experience are invisible to the customer/ consumer. That is for the bank to manage. The seamless manner in which experiences are designed depends on the seamless manner in which processes can flow seamlessly between departments. Processes are cognitive. They are logical workflows and are often designed to ease the burden of the organisation or the employer. Experiences are designed with the employee or customer/consumer at the center...

‘Regulations in artificial intelligence have not caught up with speed of development … make sure we don’t lose core humanity’ by Sethu Vijayakumar Topic:  ‘Regulations in artificial intelligence have not caught up with speed of development … make sure we don’t lose core humanity’ Writter:   Sethu Vijayakumar Publish Date:  Wednesday,  20 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India ‘Regulations in artificial intelligence have not caught up with speed of development … make sure we don’t lose core humanity’ What is the role being played by robots today? Robots have been playing a role in traditional manufacturing sector. What’s changing now is that robots are becoming more ubiquitous in everyday life. They are playing a role in things that are much closer to home like surgery on the human body. What’s your role in NASA’s ‘Valkyrie’ project? The project is a small part of NASA’s bigger vision of making us a two-planetary sp...

Future plan: Be prepared with Option B  Topic:  Future plan: Be prepared with Option B Writter:  Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Publish Date:  Monday, 18 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India Future plan: Be prepared with Option B In her book titled, ‘Option B’, Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook, relates her personal experience about developing resilience amid life-shattering experiences. She says that two weeks after losing her husband in 2015, as she was preparing for a father-child activity, she cried to her friend saying, “I want Dave (her husband).” Her friend replied, “Option A is not available.” Life gives us two options, one temporary, the other eternal. The eternal option means doing something that continues to benefit you, even after you have ceased to exist. That is, your end in the physical sense, you continue to live in the ideological sense. The Creator has given to all in this world, albeit for a short period, an opportu...

Nothing so exhausting as indecision by Barsha Nag Bhowmick Topic:  Nothing so exhausting as indecision Writter:   Barsha Nag Bhowmick Publish Date:  Monday, 18 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India Nothing so exhausting as indecision I’m plagued with indecision in my life. I can’t figure out what to order in a restaurant. ~Chuck Close Decisions are required in almost all aspects of our lives, however simple it may be, like deciding what to wear for work or deciding whether to invest in stock market or even extreme situations about life and death. Decisions are about options and choosing from among the options wisely, so as to optimize the results. It is a complex thinking process, which requires synchronization of other cognitive functions such as memory, assessment of risk, motivation and reasoning. And the lack of it, that is indecisiveness — is one of the most debilitating causes of unhappiness in life. Nothing is so exhausting...

BJP wins Gujarat, Rahul sheds loser tag by T K Arun Topic:  BJP wins Gujarat, Rahul sheds loser tag Writter:  T K Arun Publish Date:  Monday, 18 December 2017 Published on :  The Times of India BJP wins Gujarat, Rahul sheds loser tag The Bharatiya Janata Party has retained Gujarat, winning fewer seats than in 2012, and wrested Himachal Pradesh from the Congress. Yet, despite these losses, the Congress and its new president, Rahul Gandhi, having started the race on leaden feet and hobbled, have emerged running, if not quite on twinkle toes. The 2019 general elections are no longer a foregone conclusion and the BJP and the Congress will both have to innovate their election platforms. In about one-third of the total assembly constituencies in Gujarat, the BJP has lost the lead it had registered in 2014. Clearly, a similar pattern cannot be ruled out in other states that had embraced Narendra Modi wholesale in 2014. Even after the sweeping victory i...