Dear Reader,
As the countdown begins for Chandrayaan 2 - India's second lunar mission - to launch July 15, to explore the dark side of the moon and expand the horizons of human knowledge, many Indians will hope, in that exploration, that water is found on the moon. Humanity has ensured that water, one of the global commons, is becoming a scarce commodity on earth, with analysts predicting that future wars will be fought to gain control over sources of water.
For millions of Indians, too, water has assumed critical proportions, with completely parched metropolises and even rural landscapes on the one side and flooded plains wreaking havoc elsewhere, with precious water flowing away, removing earth and lives.
In this edition of India Review & Analysis, we focus on this life-sustaining resource - causes, extent and manifestation of the crisis in India, possible solutions and how India should conduct its “hydro-diplomacy” to reap maximum benefit. Eminent experts on the issue have written and interviewed with us for our Cover package.
The importance of community involvement in making water bodies and other parts of our environment functional and sustainable is another aspect we explore in this issue.
This July also marks 20 years since the Kargil war ended. In Periscope, Uday Bhaskar analyses whether the Kargil Committee’s crucial recommendations on security preparedness have been acted upon, while Kamal Davar, another senior military officer, explains how India, in Defence, could become a net security provider for the region.
The decades-old Maoist/Naxalite extremist challenge is the gravest internal security threat India faces, as former PM Manmohan Singh had said. A former IAS officer, Sushil Trivedi, explains why, in By Invitation, the problem has persisted and how it can be tackled.
The US standoff against Iran in the Persian Gulf region can have potentially devastating consequences and is already hurting India, forcing it to diplomatically shore up its options to safeguard itself, we see in Foreign Affairs and South Block Watch.
Bilaterally, Australia is fast becoming the destination of choice for students wishing to get a quality education abroad.
In Nation, we look at how people in the crucial state of Jammu & Kashmir have been betrayed by the separatist, self-serving leadership of the Hurriyat Conference and, in States, how cross-border infiltration into J&K appears to have eased this year.
The nuclear energy debate has been ignited with yet another delay in getting the European Pressure Reactor at Flamanville in France functional, forcing India to wonder whether the EPR n-tech on offer in Jaitapur is worth it.
This fortnight also saw the Narendra Modi 2.0 government present its first Budget. Analysing Budget 201920, in our Economy segment, we also look at how the telecom business is bleeding as India looks to enter the 5G phase.
Mindsets are Changing in India and women are not only breaking glass ceilings, they are leading in professions previously rarely imagined.
In Culture we look at how Jaipur city made it to the UNESCO list of world heritage cities while, on the Back Page, we feature a fascinating artistic tribute on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary at the Jerusalem Biennale.
A virtual smorgasbord of interesting material, we hope you agree.
Happy Reading! We hope to hear from you with your comments and suggestions, which we greatly value. Warmly,