Monthly Archives: January 2014

ASACUSA experiment produces first beam of antihydrogen atoms at CERN

: Science and Technology : Written by NitinMishra : 01-26-2014

The ASACUSA experiment at CERN has succeeded for the first time in producing a beam of antihydrogen atoms. In a paper published in Nature Communications, the ASACUSA collaboration reports the unambiguous detection of 80 antihydrogen atoms 2.7 meters downstream of their production, where the influence of the magnetic fields used initially to produce the antiatoms is small. This result is a significant step towards precise hyperfine spectroscopy of antihydrogen atoms. The feat will help them test whether these atoms differ from their matter counterparts, which could give scientists clues about how our universe formed. Primordial antimatter has so far never …continue reading

Story of a Narendra Modi rally

: Domestic : Written by Hashmi Shams Tabreed : 01-23-2014

Manbela, Gorakhpur: If you’re afraid of crowded places, you should avoid Modi rallies. I’ve covered Modi’s Delhi and U.P rallies. The crowd has consistently been above 3-4 Lakhs. I’m sure congress will be willing to pay a fortune to get such an audience for Rahul’s rally. The overwhelming public participation in a state where BJP was lagging at the fourth place is a testimony enough of a strong Modi wave. Till six months back Mulayam, Mayawati and a host of other UP leaders were dismissing Modi citing the complexities of UP electorate. Their arrogance has given way to panic as ground reports indicate a …continue reading

No more donations ! Stop funding the Anarchists

: Domestic : Written by NitinMishra : 01-20-2014

[This article has been submitted by Manjunath P from Bangalore. He was active in organising meetings in Freedom Park during Anna movement. An early member of AAP and part of AAP’s social media campaign during Delhi elections. Disillusioned with AAP government he now runs an awareness campaign to highlight perils of donating to AAP] The recent interview with Barkha Datt presented a new side of Arvind Kejriwal. The tone and tenor of the so called humble leader of common man had changed. The attitude reeked of arrogance so typical of men in power. Kejriwal’s claims of great achievements in Delhi bore uncanny resemblance …continue reading

I see hope in Narendra Modi

: Domestic : Written by NitinMishra : 01-19-2014

[This article has been submitted by Praveen Koul, a Kashmiri Pandit. Born in Budgam, his family moved to a refugee camp in Jammu, he grew up listening to stories of his home in Budgam and the atrocities that forced his family to flee. He hopes of going back to his ancestral home one day] Today, twenty four years after the day mass exodus of Kashmiri pandits began in valley, a delegation of Pandits met Narendra Modi with memorandum. It said,“Challenge to the idea of Indian Nation state continues in Kashmir in one or the other form. Extirpation of entire Kashmiri …continue reading

The Monk who sold aam aadmi’s ferrari

: Domestic : Written by NitinMishra : 01-11-2014

There is no doubt upcoming 2014 parliamentary election is going to be a historic one. For the first time positive agendas like development and effective governance are dominating the political discourse. Anti corruption agenda has got a major fillip with entry of AAP. Countless elections were fought with corruption as the main electoral plank. Rise of VP Singh post Bofors scandal is still the best example of electoral reversals driven solely by anti corruption agenda. Despite the cynicism prevalent since then, Arvind Kejriwal has successfully managed to rake this issue up once more. There are stark similarities between both situations. The anti corruption campaign led by VP …continue reading

Dear Arvind, I want my money back

: Domestic : Written by NitinMishra : 01-09-2014

[This article has been submitted by Manjunath P from Bangalore. He was active in organising meetings in Freedom Park during Anna movement. An early member of AAP and part of AAP’s social media campaign during Delhi elections.] Frankly, I had never heard of Arvind Kejriwal till Anna’s Janlokpal movement. The movement had touched the simmering anger against corruption and the dishonest politicians. I still remember how we had switched off the lights in our building for an hour to support Anna. Most of the buildings in our locality had done the same. Round the clock media coverage on people’s participation acted as a booster …continue reading

Kerala: BJP’s southern conquest

: Domestic : Written by NitinMishra : 01-08-2014

While the overzealous media is busy propping up AAP in an apparent attempt to pit Kejriwal’s party against BJP in order to contain Modi, BJP is busy not only consolidating it’s strongholds but breaking new grounds. The glee with which congress is willing to endorse Kejriwal betrays the animosity displayed by AAP towards congress and hints towards a tacit understanding between both. If the assumption is that such a plan would succeed against Modi then probably they fail to recognize the genius of Modi. He is not just a master strategist and a skilled orator but a genius in organizational skills. It’s no …continue reading

Behold the mighty INS Vikramaditya arrives

: Defence : Written by NitinMishra : 01-06-2014

As one of the military leaders of the Asia-Pacific Region, India possesses a significant military capability, one of the main components of which is the country’s naval forces. Today, India shows all the signs of being a first- class naval power with a nuclear submarine fleet and carrier battle groups. The Indian Navy surely has been strengthened by the commissioning of its new aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya. Coming close on heels of another significant achievement – commissioning of the nuclear reactor of the Arihant. India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine, going critical and the Vikramaditya is being seen as …continue reading

The last refuge

: Society : Written by NitinMishra :

In 1774, Samuel Johnson made this famous statement, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” He wasn’t talking about patriotism in general but show of false patriotism. He was a proud British patriot and in those glory days of the mighty British empire, Patriotism was the best rallying point to get people behind one’s cause. It still is in most countries. How about India? Is patriotic fervor the best way to get popular support in India? You’d be sorely mistaken if you thought yes. In this age of single agenda parties mushrooming on regional and national scene, except BJP and its affiliates, it’s …continue reading

Beware NETRA is looking

: Science and Technology : Written by NitinMishra : 01-04-2014

Not many know that India’s ambitious National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has discreetly commenced operations. The idea of setting up an integrated cyber warfare command was mulled post 26/11. One of the findings from review commission cited lack of an integrated command which was exploited by David Headley. Work on NATGRID commenced about 2 years back. The effort was being led by Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Bangalore and CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team, India). Several scientists from CERT-In, CAIR and technical consultants from private sector have worked on the project for two years to set up the Indian Cyber …continue reading

Good riddance Dr. Manmohan Singh!

: Domestic : Written by NitinMishra : 01-03-2014

If one had to sum up 10 years of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister, almost every adjective to define bad governance can be exhausted. He can very easily be credited with prompting the debate about worst PM ever. Announcement about today’s press conference had set media circles buzzing about possible important decisions. What turned out was stage used by PM to display his bitterness towards media and his possible nemesis Narendra Modi. A stone faced PM read a script as usual and went on to give unconvincing answers in his occasionally stuttering tone only to flare up when …continue reading

GSLV-D5 – Riding India’s own cryogenic engine

: Science and Technology : Written by NitinMishra : 01-01-2014

GSLV-D5, India’s work horse rocket is set to fly again on January 5th at 16:18 hrs IST. This time using the indigenous cryogenic engine. It took two decades of developmental efforts and 7 launches to reach this stage. GSLV (Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) has a chequered past. Of the 7 launches 2 were successful, 2 were claimed partially successful and 3 were failure. GSLV is a vital technology that India needs to master, in order to attain indigenous heavy lift capacity. With a successful launch India will achieve the capability to launch satellites in 1-5 ton weight range. Most of …continue reading