Pushing the boundaries of magnetic storage

"Researchers at IBM have stored and retrieved digital 1s and 0s from an array of just 12 atoms, pushing the boundaries of the magnetic storage of information to the edge of what is possible."
The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Pushing the boundaries of magnetic storage

Until now, the most advanced magnetic storage systems have needed about 1 million atoms to store a digital 1 or 0. The new achievement is the product of a heated international race between two elite physics laboratories to explore the properties of magnetic materials at a far smaller scale.

"The information storage side of this is fantastic, but this truly changes our ideas of the behaviour of materials at molecular levels."

Over the top

Can there be the slightest doubt that the EC's order to cover up all statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and those of the elephant, her Bahujan Samaj Party's election symbol, in election-bound Uttar Pradesh with the politically neutral pink-coloured cloth or plastic sheets falls in the over the top category?

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Over the top

The Election Commission of India has just given new meaning to that phrase ‘pink elephants'. The order is supposed to “ensure that these statues do not influence the minds of the electors, disturbing the level playing field” during the election.

What the Election Commission must learn to do is understand the limits of its power, even in election season, keep off the grass, and leave the matter to the people's court.

Saving people, and tigers

"The answer to this human-tiger conflict lies in good conservation science and in mitigation measures that help people co-exist with the carnivores at the landscape level."
The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Saving people, and tigers

Relocation of people from tiger territory with handsome compensatory packages is a superior alternative to crisis management techniques that invariably follow attacks. It may still be necessary to use lethal methods to remove some problem tigers in order to avoid widespread retaliatory actions by villagers. Creating wider undisturbed habitat will benefit

India for Security Council representation from Africa

"Strongly pitching for the expansion of permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council, India has said the powerful body should have representation from developing countries, including Africa."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : India for Security Council representation from Africa

[Since] as much as two-third of the active items on the Council's agenda concerned Africa and about three-fourth of the Council's time was spent on African issues, [this] demands expansion of the permanent membership to make the Council reflective of contemporary realities and increased representation from developing countries, including Africa.

Pakistan is in a state of flux...

Pakistan is in a state of flux...

Anyone who has missed the untenable situation that the Pakistan government has subjected itself into, may read this editorial and understand the haplessness of the present scenario...

The very confusion in the writing is the reflection of the Pakistan Government's apathy...

Rana Banerjee has expressed the situation beautifully in his editorial titled

"Pakistan is in a state of flux..."

'It's one full year since the last polio case in India was recorded'

Q&A


with Karin Hulshof, Unicef representative, about the tragedy of children paralysed by the disease, the triumph of how India tackled it - and what we need to do now to protect future generations for polio

Q&A

-The Times of India, January 13, 2012

The Risks Of Conflict

US intervention in Syria would have have too many policy challenges and political pitfalls


The Risks Of Conflict

-The Times of India, January 13, 2012

Dirty picture

The smoking-scene ban in films likely to boost the porn industry


Dirty picture

-The Times of India, January 13, 2012

Rattle The Frame

A coddled bureaucracy is more rust than steel 


Rattle The Frame

-The Times of India, January 13, 2012

Signs Of Strain

Much rides on how Pakistan's political crisis is resolved


Signs Of Strain


-The Times of India, January 13, 2012

The year the global economy refused to get well

"As the U.S. and eurozone crises prevented a global recovery in 2011, countries such as India now need to focus on domestic demand."

The year the global economy refused to get well

A major milestone in polio eradication

"While one year has passed without polio caused by natural poliovirus, we can claim complete eradication only after we ensure the absence of wild and vaccine polioviruses in the population."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : A major milestone in polio eradication

Many experts believed that India posed the greatest challenge to polio eradication for epidemiological reasons; our success proves it can be achieved in other countries where the obstacles are more programmatic than biological. For the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), this is a shot in the arm.

Vartanyan, legendary Soviet spy, dead

"He was only 19 when he foiled an attempt by Nazi Germany to assassinate the Big Three allied leaders."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Vartanyan, legendary Soviet spy, dead

"The legendary Soviet spy, Gevork Vartanyan, who foiled Nazi Germany's plot to assassinate Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Tehran in 1943, died"

He once said he spoke eight foreign languages and in five of them was “as fluent as in my native tongue,” but he would not name any of the languages because this would disclose “the geography of my undercover operations.” It was only several years ago that the Russian government revealed Mr.Vartanyan's role in the Tehran operation, but his lengthy track record remains classified.

A Short Walk to Freedom

"Former Malaysian deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted recently. After meeting him, you realise that it was his strong sense of humour and conviction that he was never in the wrong that helped him survive six years in solitary confinement. It was during that period that he suffered so much police assault that he was once mistaken for dead. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Interview : A Short Walk to Freedom

"While he needs surgery, he plans to postpone it since it would affect his travel and preparation for the next general elections in Malaysia. He heads the Opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat or People’s Justice Party and is confident of winning on a progressive multiethnic platform with emphasis on an independent judiciary and a free media."

Kim Jong-il to be embalmed

"Kim Jong-il's body would be embalmed and laid in state next to his father — North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung — in Pyongyang, the capital."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Kim Jong-il to be embalmed

In addition, the regime is reportedly in the process of erecting “smiling portraits” of Kim and “towers to his immortality” across the country. The party's central committee has named his birthday on February 16 the Day of the Shining Star.