A critical concern is that creating superintelligent AI could be a one-shot attempt with irreversible consequences. | Photo Credit: Getty Images Imagine constructing a robot so intelligent that it surpasses every human mind on earth. A concept lifted straight from the realms of science fiction? Perhaps. But what if this machine evolved beyond our understanding … Read more
No regimented seating in classrooms. | Photo Credit: Getty Images Had you walked into a lecture hall in any medical college in the early 2000s or earlier, you would see male students on one side and women on the other. The gender norms were rarely flouted in the classroom. That generation — my generation — … Read more
(This is the latest edition of the Political Line newsletter curated by Varghese K. George. The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.) Who qualifies as a legal resident or citizen of a country can be contested even in the best of … Read more
“It breaks my heart to see girls dropping out of school due to climate change and migration,” says a didi from Dhanelikanhar village in Kanker, Chhattisgarh. “This generation was supposed to do better.” It has been 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark international agenda outlining an … Read more
The All India Congress Committee (AICC)/Congress Working Committee session in Ahmedabad, on April 8-9, aimed to convey the Congress’s intent to usher in organisational reforms at the grass-roots level and bring ideological clarity. The capital city of Gujarat with a rich history in India’s freedom struggle was a symbolic setting to reflect the crisis that … Read more
Tariff ‘war’ Yes, only China is in a position to ‘fight to the end’ in an American-imposed tariff war. The flip-flop by U.S. President Donald Trump is baffling. Perhaps Mr. Trump should realise that in the modern era, the U.S. cannot dictate terms to the world. It has to adopt a ‘live and let live’ … Read more
‘We are trying to create a higher education structure that broadly resembles the American system at its zenith’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto The National Education Policy proposes to change India’s siloed higher education system by establishing large multidisciplinary educational institutions. The emphasis will be on having a more cross-disciplinary education, a pedagogical shift towards … Read more
Colossal Biosciences is an American company with an unusual marketing line: combining genomics with conservation — not in its traditional form, but through de-extinction, which is resurrecting species extinct for thousands of years. Leading this project is Harvard geneticist George Church, a prominent promoter of the company, who aims to bring back the woolly mammoth, … Read more
Last month, unaccounted cash was reportedly recovered from the official residence of former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma. In response, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna initiated an in-house inquiry into the matter. Justice Varma has since been repatriated to his parent High Court in Allahabad and will not be assigned any judicial … Read more
Opposition MPs protest in the Lok Sabha against the Waqf Amendment Bill during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: ANI The recently concluded Budget session of Parliament found its place in history. Both Houses sat through the night, closing only before sunrise, when parts of Delhi were just beginning to … Read more