RajivBuzz

Ajay Tiwari  I have always wondered why certain elite sections are so fascinated by Sanskrit, to the extent of even practicing speaking a language that, for all practical purposes, isn’t alive. During my Times of India stint in Gandhinagar, the Gujarat state capital, I personally witnessed an IAS bureaucrat, Bhagyesh Jha, trying to converse with a friend in Sanskrit.

  A new draft notification from the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), meant to address conflict of interest in regulatory decision-making on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), has come under fire from activists, scientists, and concerned citizens. Critics argue that the proposed amendments fail to meaningfully address the Supreme Court's directive to prevent conflicts of interest in India's GMO regulatory system.

As the Mahakumbh drew to a close, during my daily walk, I met a veteran BJP supporter—a neighbor with whom we would often share dinner in a group. An amicable person, the first thing he asked me, as he was about to take the lift to his flat, was, "How many people do you think must have participated in the holy dip?" He then stopped by to talk—which we did for a full half-hour, cutting into my walk time.

I felt a little uneasy when I received an invitation from well-known Gujarati writer Urvish Kothari, issued in the name of Navajeevan News and Prashant Dayal—a distinguished name among Gujarat’s crime reporters. The invitation was for the initiation of the Shiva Journalism Award in memory of Shivani Dayal, Prashant’s wife, who had passed away a few weeks earlier. The invitation suggested that the award, instituted in Shivani’s name, was established against the backdrop of the "challenges and risks" journalists face. It emphasized that journalists would not acquire their "distinct identity" without the support of those standing by their side—"mother, spouse, sister, or daughter."

  In a significant victory for environmental activists and local communities, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank, has decided not to invest in the proposed $40 million funding for waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plants in Gujarat, India. The decision comes after strong opposition from civil society organizations, which highlighted concerns over pollution, health risks, and violations of sustainable waste management practices.

I was pleasantly surprised—or should I say flattered, even at the risk of being called presumptuous—to find my former Times of India editor, Kingshuk Nag, refer to me as a "prominent journalist from Gujarat"! Nag had called me to ask whether, following the BJP’s electoral victory in Delhi, the party would want Gujarat’s identity to take root in the National Capital.

In an email alert, I recently received an explanation regarding a major reason said to have led to the defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi—the alleged failure of its government, which ruled the state for three terms, to clean up the heavily polluted Yamuna.