Reading newspapers early in the morning is a favorite pastime of all of us. Subjects of interest may vary and differ from person to person, but the intention is the same, that is, to know the latest position of any matter or subject that has been in the news for some time.
The content and the details with which a subject is covered in an English daily, Hindi, or vernacular paper differ a lot. A subject that makes the headline in a Hindi daily may not even find a mention in the English version of the day.
Since the morning time is the busiest in everyone’s lives, the general tendency is to glance over the newspaper to get an idea of the contents. Later, when one has time, they go through news of the subjects of their interest and absorb the whole impact of the news.
In Ahmedabad on 12th June 2025 a young enthusiast, standing at a vantage point and video recording the prestigious Dreamliner aircraft of Air India taking off, was horrified when he saw the aircraft burst into flames and disintegrate. That happens to be the only eyewitness account of the air crash and investigators must have replayed the 35 second recording a few hundred times just in case they have missed out on any vital part that could perhaps give a clue to the cause of the air crash.
Of the 142 passengers that were travelling, all except one perished in the accident. “Jakorakhe Saiyan mar sake na koi.” The famous proverb appears to be true for the passenger travelling on seat number 11A. He simply unbuckled his seat belt and walked away to safety, avoiding the smoldering debris around him. His brother, who was seated in a different location, was not as fortunate and lost his life. Among those killed were also 12 members of the aircraft crew and around 25 students of the medical college hostel into which the aircraft had crashed.
While the inquiry is still in process, a news item appears of an interlay report published by the Wall Street Journal giving the voice recording of a short conversation between the two pilots.
“Did you switch off the fuel?”
“No, I didn’t” was the answer.
This little piece has created an uproar in the entire media, as it hints at a human failure that caused the accident. “Between man and machine,” the man appears to be at fault, with a machine getting a clean chit and getting away without blemish.
The Indian pilot’s guild has come out strongly against this totally unwarranted report published in the media, as it hints possibly at a suicidal bid on the part of one of the pilots that caused the air crash to happen. The hapless pilots, both with thousands of hours of flying experience, are no longer there to defend themselves.
The mischievous purpose of the interlay report was to show that between man and the machine, the machine was without a blemish and the man was the guilty one. The purpose of the report was to push up the stagnating position of the Boeing company in the stock market. They did manage to achieve this, as the stock value of their shares did go up a few notches in the market.
I find reading a Hindi newspaper more interesting for the language and the catchy phrases full of idioms that create interest in the reader’s mind.
For the past few years, since the law and order problem in our country has increased manyfold, reading a Hindi newspaper looks like reading the script of a popular Hindi Serial, ‘Crime Patrol.’ A young boy kills his mother with a woodcutter when she refuses to give him 20 rupees to buy drugs.
A man shoots his grown-up daughter with his pistol, firing three rounds, whereas the post-mortem report shows that it was the fourth round that was truly fatal and pierced her heart. An element of mystery has just been created, which might suggest the presence of a third person as well, who may have fired the fourth round, which proved to be fatal. The truth, of course, will come out, but the fact of the matter is that a man has killed his own daughter, in whose upbringing he had spared no effort and who had now become a known sports personality.
“Ladies First” is a general practice that we follow in any matter, and in the crime field too there is no exception. You read about women actively engaged in shoplifting in popular stores in a mall or in an upmarket place, hiding an expensive item in their bag. The CCTV camera is quietly doing its job recording every movement, and she cleverly changes her mode of travel from a bus to a metro or to an auto. This does not help, as the investigating police thus succeed in ultimately tracing her, and she is promptly apprehended and booked under the relevant law.
Murder is the last crime one would associate with a woman, but here too they are not far behind the men. A common news item that we read is of an estranged woman murdering her husband with the active connivance of her lover. A woman drugs and murders her husband in cold blood and cleverly creates evidence to show that the man has committed suicide.
The truth, however, comes out in the post-mortem report, which suggests that the nature of the injury does not point to a suicide, and on sustained interrogation by the police, she breaks down and admits that she had committed the murder.
Morality seems to be at its lowest ebb with ‘Live In relationships.’ Being the accepted norm and having gotten the legal sanction, the situation has only worsened. Everything goes fine till the breakup starts, and it is not always a happy parting. That is where crime enters the scene, and we hear cases of someone being eliminated. Greedy landlords rent out their premises to the live-in couple, which, to my mind, is very incorrect. Something needs to be done on this matter, and “Live In” should never be permitted to keep our society clean and vibrant.
Some years back, a juvenile being associated with a heinous crime was a rarity, but these days a large number of incidents are reported every day where a ‘nabaligh’ is not alone but in a group that had waylaid a person and murdered him with a knife, which all of them seemed to be carrying on their person. Not being a hardened criminal, the police have no difficulty in apprehending him.
Rise in the crime rate among juveniles points only to one reason, and that is lack of proper care and upbringing on the part of their parents. There is a good old saying that ‘Child is the father of the man.’ In a sense, what it means is that the care and attention that a parent gives in bringing up their children when they are of impressionable age during their growing years is a reflection of what they would become as grown-up adults.
With the joint family system fast becoming a rarity, parents who are both engaged in doing a job to supplement their income to afford a better quality of life do not have enough time to spare in meeting the demands of young minds.
In families who have grandparents living with them, it is a blessing, apart from being a boon. They are much better off, for it is the grandparents who have enough time to spare to take on the task of grooming their grandchildren. Keeping the families intact and together ensures that the grandchildren are corrected at every step, which further ensures that they are on the right track.
General practice among most parents is to hand over a mobile phone to their children to keep them busy and occupied so that they are able to do whatever task they are engaged in without being disturbed. If this is done under proper care and monitoring, the children would look at those programs that are of educational or entertainment value and that they can watch during their spare time. Regrettably, parents often fail to enforce this, allowing their children to watch any programs they choose or those their friends recommend. It is a common sight to see children glued to their mobile phones all the time. Apart from being a health hazard, constant exposure to bright light and fine print does affect the eyesight. The result is that even at the young age of 6 or 7, a child has to start wearing eyeglasses, as sitting in a classroom, he is unable to read what is written on the blackboard by the teacher.
Use of mobile phones by children, therefore, must remain for a limited period only in a day. Excessive screen time can negatively affect a child’s physical health, mental well-being, and academic performance. While mobile phones can be useful tools, it is important for parents to supervise and limit their children’s use through parental controls. By setting screen time limits, blocking harmful content, and tracking app usage, parents can ensure a safer digital environment. This way, children can focus on studies and physical activities while also being protected from online dangers such as cyberbullying and inappropriate content. Parental involvement is key to helping children grow up as responsible and well-balanced digital citizens.
Speaking to a principal of a popular boarding school, we found quite a few children studying there who belonged to broken families where the husband and wife had separated, either living alone or with a new spouse. Being monetarily well-off, they found it convenient to bring up the children in a boarding school. Both parents would visit their children separately to keep in touch and show their concern for their well-being, pampering them with gifts to show how much they loved them.
We asked the principal how he found the general attitude of these children, and we were not surprised by his response. He felt that such children feel insecure and often keep to themselves and do not mingle easily with others. They tend to be selfish and are generally not very popular with their friends.
Looking at the Indo-American relationship, one is reminded of the year 2020 when our PM Modi visited the US. With the US presidential election in the offing, he was given a rousy welcome not only by the Indian Diaspora but by the entire US itself. With Trump and Modi sharing a common platform and walking hand in hand in public view, it demonstrated a visible camaraderie between the two countries. This did help Donald Trump in the election, as the majority of the Indian residents voted for him.
Later, when Trump visited India, very elaborate arrangements were made to show the brighter side of the country. On the long drive during his visit to Gujarat, the large areas along the route that were underdeveloped were hidden from view by erecting long walls along the route that Trump’s motorcade had taken. Tall walls along the highway in the US are a common sight where the highway passes through a residential complex. This is done to protect the residents from noise pollution. There is, however, no such wall along the route where the highway passes through an industrial or commercial complex.
That was also the time when the ‘Kisaan Andolan’ was at its peak. A convoy of tractors and other vehicles broke through the police barricades spread along the road to reach the Red Fort, and we saw the Khalistani flag being hoisted after bringing down the national flag. Almost at the same time, riots also broke out in some parts of West Delhi. Trump’s public address downplayed these issues, referring to them solely as domestic matters within the country.
Now, after taking over as president again of the USA, his first public address was very encouraging. One had very high expectations after his address, and some solution was expected to be found for the Israelis and Hamas and for Ukraine and Russia. Unfortunately, neither of the two happened. We had the amusing sight of the Ukraine president Zelenskyy being publicly admonished by Trump in the White House, during which Trump used words like “You damned well will” three times. Zelenskyy was literally kicked out from the White House.
On the home front, Trump announced a series of measures that adversely affected the general public. Some government departments were abolished, rendering thousands of employees jobless. Some of them were Indians. Most of these were on work visas, and loss of job meant that they had to leave the country.
India’s spectacular victory in ‘Op. Sindoor’ was widely acclaimed by the country. Trump announced that this truce between the two countries happened at the US intervention. India vehemently denied any mediation by the US in the matter. This, however, did not go down well with Trump, and now we have the tariff of 25% being imposed on the export to the US. This, no doubt, will hurt India’s export to the US, as price is a competitive matter, and we will not be able to compete with other countries to export the same commodity to the US.
Frankly speaking, Trump is afraid of India’s fast progress in AI (Artificial Intelligence), where the programs designed by Indians are available for universal application. The days when the US was known as the ‘Land of Opportunities’ are long gone. While most American presidents had been busy keeping trouble spots well away from the US by engineering regime changes and coups in African and other Far East countries, a slight migration was taking place. The geopolitical shift from the American mainland had begun.
Super giants like Google, Microsoft, and some other leading American companies had started opening their offices in other parts of the world. Thousands of Americans had lost their jobs due to outsourcing, automation, and restructuring. Brilliant ideas that were coming from institutions like MIT, Harvard, Cornell, and a few other American universities had started stagnating. In their place, a steady inflow of highly skilled and professional Indians into the US system continued. They not only rose upwards in the system by their dedication, steadfastness, and resilience, but in some cases took over the ownership of the organization as well. The knowledge of AI they had received back home stood them in good stead.
Back home, major universities in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune, which had excelled in designing eco programs that were available in 22 different languages, contributed to India’s becoming the Global Intellectual Superpower. It is thus not surprising when Trump, in his address to the super corporate giants of the US some years back, asked them not to hire Indians. It was not because they were not good enough for the job but an acknowledgement of the fact that they were indeed too good.
The power center is already drifting to other regions, and India is one of them. Although he was not the president anymore, his words did carry weight and could not be ignored. This may have affected some Indians who may have been denied visas. Those who were already on H1B visas in various US companies would not have been affected. Their academic brilliance and technological expertise are what set them apart from others and make them indispensable to their employers.
Trump’s imposition of tariffs on imports from India appears to have become counterproductive, as it hurts his own people. Medical treatment in the US is not free, unlike in India, where free medical facilities are provided by the Government. In the US, Americans have to pay heavily to the insurance company for medical coverage.
The US imports 60% of its requirement of medicine from India, and India has now stopped exporting medicine to the US. Indian businesses have not suffered, as they have started supplying medicine to Australia. A trade delegation from the US is likely to visit India shortly to find a workable solution to the impasse created due to the US sanctions being imposed on Indian exports.
If India does resume its supply of medicine, one thing is certain: it will strictly be on their own terms, the leverage clearly remaining in favor of India. India has already cancelled its order to import 35 fighter jets from the US.
India imports crude oil from Russia at a cheap price and, for the first time ever, exports petrol and diesel to the neighboring countries, thus giving a steep rise to its foreign exchange reserves. Trump wants India to stop buying crude oil from Russia and instead buy it from the US. This matter was also discussed in the recent meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States. It is unlikely that Putin will oblige Trump in the matter, as India has a long-term lasting trade relationship with Russia.
Let us leave the geopolitical matter aside and move to the geothermal find in the remote and obscure area of Puga Valley in Ladakh. Here, the tireless efforts of the scientists and engineers of ONGC have resulted in India finding a perennial source of hot water, superheated steam, and gas in unlimited quantity. With this, India becomes the fourth country in the world to have harnessed geothermal energy. We will soon hear of the power plant based on steam turbines being set up in the area.
In steam turbines, the superheated steam available directly from the geothermal well hits the impeller in the steam turbine, which starts spinning. Mounted coaxially is the electric generator, which also spins, and this is how the electrical power from the geothermal plant is produced. There is perhaps no upper limit to the amount of electricity that can be generated from the geothermal plant.
So far, for the production of power, steam turbines were being used in thermal power plants that were set up in a coal belt, where coal from the mines was supplied directly as a fuel, which fired giant steam boilers. The superheated steam from the boilers was fed into the steam turbines for the production of steam energy. The process, however, is quite messy and produces an enormous amount of air pollution, which is difficult to control. Such plants are therefore located only in remote areas that have very sparse habitation.
Here in Ladakh, we have the cleanest form of energy available in unlimited quantities. We will soon hear of the power plant being connected to the nearest national grid, which will allow the power produced from Ladakh to be distributed to any region of the country. While this may take time, the immediate beneficiary of the geothermal power could be the region of Ladakh itself. This will no doubt help in the fast development of the region as a whole, as power is the basic requirement to set up an industry.