OPINION

The problem of crop stubble burning is hurting our society in multiple ways. It virtually buries Delhi under a cloud of haze every year, as well as destroys beneficial soil bacteria. Thousands of tons of paddy straw, convertible to green fuels or manure, simply go up in smoke.

The manner in which the British public and politicians have responded to the government's safety measures, have dented their image. Britishers who are usually considered to be a stickler for rules have emerged in this episode as the one who consider gaiety and merriment more paramount than their own safety.

Indian bowlers were taken to task by the Australian batters, who being in home conditions, had a definite advantage on the placid conditions that were prevalent in Sydney. The dreaded Indian pace bowling pair in Jasprit Bumrah and Md. Shami without any swing, movement and deviation off the wicket to assist them looked helpless and docile.

China-Pakistan relations have been described by many political leaders of both countries with platitudes like 'all weather', 'iron brother' or 'higher than the mountain and sweeter than honey' at various stages of their relationship.

When Union Home Minister Amit Shah dubbed the Gupkar Alliance as a gang and said "either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it," it was clear that the BJP was trying to set an agenda for the polls. It sought to bracket the Kashmir dominated Gupkar Alliance as an anti-national platform and has tried to put the Congress also in the same bracket.

For the new team being announced by the Biden administration any innovation can only follow repair work of the considerable wreckage that is being left behind by the outgoing team.

The central government has also set up a task force on the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) which has identified 7000 social and economic infrastructure projects and intends to spend more than $1.4 trillion over the period of the next five years.

India would keenly watch President Joe Biden unfolding his foreign policy agenda. So far he has not spoken on Pakistan or on the rise of Islamic militancy on the latter's soil. Also, his approach to China may be firm without replicating the hard line of Trump while in respect of Putin's Russia- with whom Trump seemed to have an even tie - Biden's view is that the former superpower is an adversary that should be made to pay for its alleged interference in the last US election.

The difference between feature filmmakers and OTT content makers is that, while filmmakers are usually pedigreed, the other kind is, in most cases, Fly by Night kind or, the small-time filmmakers. The idea is to make money and, since the OTT platforms need to create content suitable for India, these makers are cashing in.

A recent 2019-2020 Arab Opinion survey conducted by Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies has bought out some revealing perceptions of the Arab citizens. The survey in its seventh year collated responses from 28,288 individual respondents based on 95 questions in 13 Arab countries.