Opinions and Editorials

On his way to Shanghai and Beijing this week, US President Barack Obama has declared that America has no desire to contain China and is ready to welcome its efforts to play a larger role in the world.

In a bit of uncharacteristic hyperbole on the eve of his 2005 meeting with President Bush, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that the bilateral relationship was "without limits.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's request for a status report on the railways from Minister Mamata Banerjee — a request more in the nature of a gentle rap — is eerily timely.

The political buzz in Karnataka is that the temporary patch up between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the Bellary brothers was brought about not by the BJP high command in Delhi but thanks to a serpentine intervention.

How fortunate for us that Manu Sharma cannot stay away from bars. And, bar brawls. Were it not for this inexplicable lure of Delhi's nightlife, this murderer would have probably used his undeserved parole to disappear, with the help of Daddy's money, to some sunny spot for shady people and live happily ever after.

NO Phyan (in Mumbai), but still so much gyaan, and, guys, guys, give a little dhyaan, no? Mumbai may have been looking at the possibility of a cyclone visit after six decades, but cyclones in November are not exactly an eerie, breaking-news event.

CHARMY HARIKRISHNAN: In your series Continents of Exile, you turned memories—yours and others—into memoirs.

November in London is the month of remembering the millions who died in the two world wars and the many since.

To look alike is a major crisis, especially when people have money. For industry, differentiation in deliverables is essential to increase net worth. The culprit in making all the world's bricks look alike is digital technology. That's when a sense of aesthetics can make a difference.

Democracy lovers, wake up. What you and I value highly is being increasingly devalued. What you and I cherish and pride in is endangered. The danger comes from a familiar foe: corruption.

Forty-five years after Jawaharlal Nehru's death, has history done him justice? Regrettably not. In surveys that rank India's best prime minister, he is placed below his daughter, and on some occasions he figures third. This is preposterous. Only three worthwhile books on him have appeared after his death: Hiren Mukherjee's, The Gentle Colossus, S. Gopal's three-volume biography and M.J.

A week might be a long time in politics, but not for a high court chief justice. The new chief justice of the Orissa high court, Bilal Nazki, will in fact serve for even less in this capacity — he will attend court for just three days before retiring. The appointment has surprised even the judge himself, who, reports suggest, was looking forward to an active retirement.

American journalist Seymour Hersh has destroyed his own chances of ever getting a visa to Pakistan. His recent New Yorker article about the US securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal has sent Pakistan's journalistic circles into overdrive.

The Left Front government in West Bengal has not exactly been the Kremlin whose imposing edifice would collapse if only someone hammered down the door.

The Union Public Service Commission has proposed significant reform in examinations to recruit civil servants.

There might appear reason for relief. The numbers might, at first sight, appear good. The index of industrial production (IIP) is up 9.1 per cent; that can be calculated as 6 per cent year-on-year.

In a move heavy with symbolism, Columbia University has announced three fellowships in Sanskrit studies meant exclusively for Dalit scholars.

German goalkeeper Robert Enke's death after being struck by a train is being investigated for suicide.

The World Economic Forum's India meeting in New Delhi featured some thoughtful panels, speeches and ideas.

Of the 10 West Bengal assembly seats that were up for by-election, seven have returned the Trinamool Congress, underlining the swift diminishment of the Left's vote share even since the Lok Sabha elections this summer.