Author: admin

Caste-based Job Reservations in 21st Century

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With over seven decades passed after independence, the caste-based reservation system in the country is only going the same way, unchecked and with greater momentum. In fact job reservations were evident even before independence under the reign of maharajas and the British raj. Although these were once reasonable initiatives and actions, these have not moved with the times and nothing much has changed. On the contrary, the prospect of a job based purely on caste has only been increasing with politics and elections. For any family, a government job and…

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Silent film era – when films made no noise

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The art of filmmaking has experienced tremendous growth and innovation in the 120 years since the first minute-long silent clips that involved little technique, no camera movement, and a big, wooden contraption that resembled a camera obscura. The silent movie era spread across thirty years from the 1890s to the 1920s, during which time it emerged from being an obscure novelty to a main form of entertainment. The origins of film making may be attributed to the remarkable developments with regard to the ‘Moving Pictures’ that involved the patenting of…

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Tamil translation of PM Modi’s poems released by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday said that she was proud to have a leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stature. “Modi ji is a person with qualities like discipline and sympathy for the poor, who came to public life and is now a great leader. I am proud to have a leader of such stature,” she said. She was speaking at an event here after releasing “Sindhanai Kalanjiyam”, the Tamil translation of poems written originally in Gujarati by Modi. Speaking in Tamil, Sitharaman said she was happy to see Modi…

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TN’s state transport takes easy route for tough problems

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The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation has started a new route that no one expected or at least wanted. All the eight state-owned transport corporations in the state with most of their property including their fleet, office buildings, bus depots, besides retirement benefit funds of all employees has been mortgaged in banks for about Rs 15,000 crore. The total accumulated losses for the Corporation at the end of 2015-16 stood at Rs 16,145 crore, which is 19% percent more than that in previous year. The eight transport corporations made 11%…

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Credit rater Moody’s raises India rating after 14 years

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Moody’s Investors Service upgraded India’s sovereign credit rating for the first time in nearly 14 years on Friday, saying continued progress on economic and institutional reforms would boost the country’s growth potential. The agency said it was lifting India’s rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed its rating outlook to stable from positive as risks to India’s credit profile were broadly balanced. The upgrade, Moody’s first of India since January 2004, moves the rating to the second-lowest investment grade, one notch higher than Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, which have…

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Lets unload the sugar off our food and beverages

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Almost all of us love sweet foods and sweetened drinks and several of our foods and beverages (F&B) are sweet. But after we consume that short burst of sweetness, we may worry about how sweets affect our waistline and our overall health. Our bodies need one type of sugar, called glucose, to survive. “Glucose is the number one food for the brain, and it’s an extremely important source of fuel throughout the body,” says Dr. Kristina Rother, an NIH pediatrician and expert on sweeteners. But there’s no need to add…

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GST: 178 items moved to 18%, Only 50 products now have 28% tax

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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said 178 items have been put into lower tax category of 18% out of 228 items in 28% tax bracket previously. He held a brief press conference after the 23rd GST Council meeting in Guwahati, Assam. The GST Council slashed tax rate on a wide range of mass use items– ranging from chewing gums to detergents–to 18% cent from existing 28%. On 13 items, the tax rates have been reduced from 18% to 12%, while tax rates have been slashed to 5% on five items from…

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive in Chennai today

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in the city on Monday to participate in two private functions, including the platinum jubilee celebrations of the leading Tamil daily ‘Daily Thanthi’ to be held at the Centenary Hall of the University of Madras. Police have made elaborate security arrangements ahead of his visit. Official sources said he would land at the Chennai airport at 9.15 am and address a meeting of BJP cadre at the airport premises after being received by dignitaries, including Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.…

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UPSC and India’s civil services

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The recent arrest of an IPS officer on charges of cheating in a UPSC civil services examination, throws up serious questions on the kind of police officers we recruit.  The arrested officer was a probationary IPS officer serving as an assistant superintendent of police in Nanguneri, Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. He is also the proprietor of a civil services training institute in Kochi and Trivandrum, according to the Times of India. In 2015, he had ranked 112 in his second attempt. His arrest brings up larger questions of the role…

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Why do TN’s film stars want to shine in politics?

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The Tamil film industry is one of the top regional film industries in the country. It has some of the most passionate and talented film making people in India. However, what has become extremely unique is the intricacy of this industry with politics. The industry personalities today seem to be in news considerably for non-film reasons. There is hardly any protest in the state in which they take a neutral stand. In a democratic country anyone can take to politics, but the question now is the incompatibility of their films…

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