Point Blank 7 – Get Involved, Stay Informed

Lessons For India From Sri Lankan Crises

Col NN Bhatia (Retd) Sri Lanka, the island nation is our immediate southeastern neighbour, nicknamed as Pearl of the Indian Ocean and teardrop of India, beyond its ancient ruins, beautiful beaches, is a home of a large variety of animals, dwindling t...
India and Pakistan fought 3 wars over Kashmir – here’s why international law and US help can’t solve this territorial dispute

The scene in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, after an Aug. 10, 2021, grenade attack by militants that wounded at least nine civilians. Kashmir has experienced sporadic violence for more than seven decades, including three wars. Yawar Nazir/...
How Mumbai’s poorest neighbourhood is battling to keep coronavirus at bay

Ishita Chatterjee, University of Melbourne | The Conversation Informal settlements are experiencing a greater surge in COVID-19 cases than other urban neighbourhoods in Mumbai, India. Their high density, narrow streets, tight internal spaces, poor ac...
How much more longer?

[By Riti Sinha] Nearly seven years ago, on February 9 2012, a 19-year-old, young teenage girl was returning home with her colleagues after work. All was well, except that she never made it home. She was abducted by three men in a car just a few metre...
She Is The Ideal Role Model ‘Veer Nari’ – Bimla Devi

Riti S, Team PB7 Dwarhat though a non-descript small town along the serpentine road, amidst cedar and pine trees, is a heart-captivating destination in the Kumaon hills with numerous ancient temples and mind blowing sightseeing tourist destinations t...
Two Iconic Five Star Marshals of The Indian Armed Forces

|By Col NN Bhatia (Retd)| We have had three five star Marshals- late Field Marshal KM Cariappa known as an Officer and a Gentleman, late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw famous for soldiering with dignity and Arjan Singh the first and the only officer...
I interviewed convicted rapists in New Delhi – and then found one of their young victims

[By Madhumita Pandey] A ten-year-old girl was recently denied an abortion by the Supreme Court of India. She was a victim of rape, which she alleges was perpetrated by her uncle several times over a period of seven months. Her pregnancy was discovere...
Live: Elections 2017

Most exit polls forecast a saffron Holi in Uttar Pradesh and a close fight between the Congress seeking to return to power in Punjab and AAP, a debutant in Punjab elections. Stay with us for LIVE updates on Assembly Elections 2017. ...
Fan of Rudyard Kipling? Then you should read the hundreds of other stories he wrote

[By Sarah Lonsdale] Sixteen-year-old Rudyard Kipling returned to India after a miserable childhood, and slightly less miserable adolescence in England, to take up the perfect job for a precociously gifted but possibly unemployable son of empire. He w...

Citizens Report

Bengaluru’s Tree Doctor : saving the “Garden City” one tree at a time

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Urban conservationist Vijay Nishanth, a man who is determined to preserve what is left of the “Garden City”. Commonly referred to as the “tree doctor of Bangalore” he is the founder of ...
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Citizen Journalist report: State of Areca nut labourers in Malnad region

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Citizen Journalist report: Air pollution levels in Bengaluru at an all time high

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Investigations

Why land acquisition has become a tricky issue

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|Narendra Kaushik| New Delhi: Despite repeated pleas from officials of Greater Noida Authority(GNA), Mahesh Pandit has not vacated a piece of land in Sector XU-2 he was compensated for about ...
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Mica mining: Cosmetic giants riding on children’s backs In India

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Demystifying Delhi’s Water Crisis

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Tea gardens of Dooars transforming into gardens of death

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A voice from the hearts of brothels..

Brothels are not only homes to sex workers, brothels are graves of several dreams and aspirations, they are the cremation grounds where several hope, desires, futures are cremated every day. ...

No action as mercury still poisons fish in West Bengal

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Going to buy fish today? If you are living in India’s West Bengal state, where fish is a daily staple for millions of people whether rich or poor, beware! More ...

Support And Sisterhood At India’s First One Stop Crisis Centre

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[By Sakuntala Narasimhan] Bengaluru (WFS) – * “Beta, keep an eye on her while I go to the clinic,” said Mona’s mother to the young man, who had rented a room ...

Building A Life Beyond Manual Scavenging

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[By Elsa Mathews] Alwar – Sunita Nanda, 30, still remembers the day she was thrown out of the ‘jajman’s’ (patron) house. She recounts the painful encounter, “As a newly married ...

Pink pistols to see off rapists? Don’t make me laugh

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Silent protests were part of India’s response to 2012’s gang rape. Is a gun a fitting tribute to the woman who died? Ramesh Lalwani under a Creative Commons Licence By Mari Marcel Thekaekara ...

Veteran Voices: Detailing Indian Women’s Struggles

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[By Deepti Priya Mehrotra] Delhi (WFS) – Primla Loomba, 91, of the National Foundation of Indian Women (NFIW), reminisced, “When various women’s groups came together in the 1980s anti-dowry movement, ...

Overcoming India’s Official Homophobia

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[By Shashi Tharoor] NEW DELHI – Sixty-six years after adopting one of the world’s most liberal constitutions, India is being convulsed by a searing debate over a colonial-era provision in ...

To kiss or not to kiss? A very Indian question

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|By Mari Marcel Thekaekara|New Internationalist| ‘To kiss or not to kiss’ appears to be the almost existential question being discussed on the front pages of Indian newspapers recently. If this ...

Doongar Singh – A Pakistani Brigadier Looks Back to an Indian JCO

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|By Brigadier Mehboob Qadir (R)| It was mid 1972. We had just arrived in Ranchi from Agra, badly shaken and bruised, after a fateful train journey, during which we lost ...

The philosophy of the Soldier Mountaineer Colonel Narinder Kumar ‘Bull’!

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[By Col NN Bhatia | A Preface] The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of the man. – Anonymous The Regimental Centre Officers’ Mess ...

Malharis’ Battle Of Gadra City In 1971 War

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|By Col NN Bhatia (Retd)| The Battle of Gadra City fought on the night of 4/5 December 1971 was one of the important battles in the Western Theatre. 15 KUMAON (Indore) ...

Eternal Vigil – POW Joe’s Story

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There is a Prisoner Of War (POW) story of my course mate Joe I would like to tell. He passed away in 2011 in Pune of brain haemorrhage. My story below ...

Dealing with social issues in a manner akin to a mother’s care

The art of being a good Indian woman

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Yamuna Matheswaran ‘listens in’ to what her country is saying about women’s place in society. Hello there, self-declared modern Indian woman. Will you survive the beast that is Indian society? ...

She Is The Ideal Role Model ‘Veer Nari’ – Bimla Devi

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Riti S, Team PB7 Dwarhat though a non-descript small town along the serpentine road, amidst cedar and pine trees, is a heart-captivating destination in the Kumaon hills with numerous ancient ...