Agriculture
Birbals and Aesops in Mumbai!
THE great emperor Akbar was well aware of the now famous adage, ``Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'' After hearing a particularly nasty story about a corrupt courtier, the emperor made an observation to t
his effect to his celebrated counsel, Birbal. Birbal disagreed. ``Corrupt officials do not need any power to be corrupt'', he maintained, ``They can invent power.'' As usual, Birbal was called upon to prove his point. He then went to the bank of t
he Yamuna river with a bunch of bamboo sticks and some lengths of ordinary string. He stuck a couple of sticks into the ground at various points, and made it look as if he was busy taking some critical measurements.
Airlines
Vintage aircraft: Safe for short hauls?
ON July 17, 1996 a TransWorld Airlines Boeing 747-100 crashed just before landing at an airport in the US. Investigations attributed the cause to the explosion of the central fuel tank. In May 1998, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) grounded a vint
age Boeing 737 and simultaneously ordered inspections of younger aircraft after mechanics found evidence of exposed wiring in fuel tanks caused by chafing of the protective Teflon wrapping. An airworthiness directive covering fuel tank wiring insulation
was promulgated.
Editorial
US drives hard
WHAT WAS EXPECTED for some time has come to pass. The US has successfully dragged India to the WTO for its `errant' automobile-industry investment policy despite all the sweet words uttered by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the visitin
g US President, Mr. Bill Clinton, in March, on the importance of a strategic understanding between the two countries.
Miscellaneous
Dark continent needs enlightened measures
GLOBALISATION and the increasing drive for integration of the world economy with the rest of the world would remain incomplete as long as Africa continues to be sidestepped in the quest for economic growth. Yet, Afro-pessimism pervades and the continent
remains a zone of untapped potential. This region is not only lagging behind the rest of the world in improving living standards, there is also Africa's negative image, linked to interminable conflict, pandemics and lacklustre economic and social perform
ance.
Caress!
No need to panic. I am not into something salacious or sinister. Caress is nothing more than the acronym for the image-based computerised Customer Analysis and Retention System installed by British Airways to woo, win, influence and retain customers. Of
course, even in its bland and benign sense, the process is suggestive of caressing a coveted group, which is more than ever the heartthrob of every business in this era of not only combative, but cut-throat, competition.
Politics
Kashmir: A chance for political process
The Hizbul ceasefire reflects the genuine desire of the people in the Valley for peace. They are fed up of militancy and its consequences on their day-to-day lives. Over a period the armed struggle for an independent Kashmir has been taken out of the han
ds of the local people. For the Centre, bringing the militant groups into the political process will be a victory of sorts and would also show up the real worth of the militant leaders.
Just half a loaf for Arafat
THE US President, Mr. Bill Clinton's determination to leave behind a legacy of global peacemaking invested the Camp David process with an optimism that ran away with realism. He would probably be very surprised to be told that the collapse of t
he 14-day conference actually upheld the rule of law, the authority of the United Nations and a world order in which possession alone cannot bestow legitimacy.
Technology
Light devices from Defence lab
DEFENCE scientists have developed self-luminous light devices that provide combat soldiers a fighting edge in pitch darkness and in difficult terrain. Called Beta light devices, these light sources contain no batteries nor do they de
pend on electricity, but draw energy from a radioactive isotope in the form of gaseous tritium.
