As summer approaches and temperatures peak, El Niño becomes the buzzword across a wide spectrum of society, with discussions of its ill effects on the Indian monsoon. Newspapers publish novel headlines linking El Niño to current world events. One recent sample is the headline in Business News of NDTV that reads, Fuel, Extreme Heat, El…
Dr. R K Chadha Besides energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Netherlands via Abu Dhabi during his 5-nation tour in May 2026 underscores India’s push for the semiconductor and water management sectors. The Netherlands visit is of particular interest with regard to its uniqueness and advancement in these sectors. First, about semiconductors. The…
Today, scientists working, particularly in basic research, are facing significant struggles as scientific publishing has decisively shifted from a community-driven academic exercise to a highly lucrative, multi-billion-dollar corporate business model. In a traditional academic ecosystem, universities, research institutes, and in some cases, patrons cover the subscription cost of the majority of scientific journals required by…
Today, we hear a lot of news about 3-D printers and the recent commissioning of the Russian 3-D printer at ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, shows its importance in rapid prototyping and producing complex components for future missions like Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan and Bharatiya Antariksh Space Station. 3-D Printing is a marvel of modern…
The New York Times headlines screamed, Modi’s Hindu Nationalists Conquer a Bastion of India’s opposition after the historic win of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal last week, ending 15 years of political violence, tyranny, and fear under TMC (Trinamool Congress) rule. The western media like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The…
In his second term in office, President Donald Trump’s name has become synonymous with “U-turns”. His instant U-turn, calling India a great country within an hour of reposting a racist remark, India – a hellhole, shows the desperation and the frustration of the most powerful man in the world, who is consistently inconsistent in his…
A pivotal moment on 6 April 2026, when Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam achieved criticality, was drowned in the cacophony of threats and counter-threats between the US and Iran in the ongoing Middle East war. With this milestone, India moved a step closer to achieving its goal of energy self-sufficiency, akin to the…
The two-week US-Iran ceasefire reveals much more than it hides. Just imagine a Boxing championship with the world’s heavyweight champion in one corner of the ring and on the other side is a much lesser-known boxer from a local club in a so-called third-world nation. But this lesser-known guy is someone who is reasonably well-trained…
Dr. R K Chadha The time was 14:56 (UTC) on 20 July 1969 when the first human, US astronaut Neil Armstrong, stepped onto the Moon’s surface and uttered the famous phrase, That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. He was joined by Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, and both of them…
The escalating US-Israel and Iran war that began on 28 February 2026 is becoming an unpalatable broth as more and more cooks are being sucked into, voluntarily or otherwise, disrupting global peace and economy. This war has dealt a systemic shock that transcended regional borders to impact the entire world through multiple, interconnected channels. While…
