Pallab Bhattacharya

Pallab Bhattacharya is a special correspondent for The Daily Star.

India launches AI-based multimodal LLM for Indian languages

India has recently launched an indigenously developed AI-based multimodal large language model (LLM) for Indian languages.

2w ago

Indian startup claims to invent stroke kit to slash paralysis risk

An Indian start-up claims to have come up with a high-end med-tech kit, a life-saving intervention, for patients suffering from for treatment of acute ischemic stroke (brain stroke) which reduces the risk of long-term paralysis and disability.

2w ago

India unveils locally developed weather forecast system

India has recently unveiled the country’s first indigenously developed high-resolution weather forecast system.

3w ago

Indian Navy reconstructs ancient ship inspired by Ajanta Cave paintings

A 1,600-year-old wooden ship, long extinct and no longer in naval service anywhere in the world, has been successfully reconstructed

4w ago

Indian scientists develop a super-fast charging sodium-ion battery

A team of Indian scientists in Bengaluru has developed a super-fast charging sodium-ion battery (SIB) based on a NASICON-type cathode and anode material, that can charge up to 80% in just six minutes and last over 3000 charge cycles.

1m ago

India withdraws export ban on 100% broken rice

The world’s largest rice exporter has revoked the ban to reduce its domestic stockpile

3m ago

Docking, growing vegetables, and manufacturing in space

On January 16, India’s national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), conducted a successful space docking (SpaDeX) operation by bridging two satellites in space, after overcoming hiccups twice.

5m ago

Could the Indian foreign secretary’s visit create positive optics?

Vikram Misri's visit to Dhaka signals efforts to stabilise Bangladesh-India ties.

6m ago
August 31, 2021
August 31, 2021

What are India’s plans regarding Afghanistan?

When Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed floor leaders of 31 parties in Parliament on August 26 on the developments in Afghanistan, he faced some searching questions about New Delhi’s policy, actions and future strategy towards Afghanistan, post-Taliban takeover.

August 31, 2021
August 31, 2021

A magician of words for all ages

Though born in Kolkata and studied at St Xavier’s College there, the foundation of one of Bengal’s most popular writers Buddhadeb Guha’s creative mind was shaped by his extensive journey through the swathes and rivers of Rangpur, Jaipurhat and Barisal districts.

August 22, 2021
August 22, 2021

India’s Taliban challenge and Afghan policy

The joke going around in diplomatic circles in New Delhi is that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was much smoother than the change of guard at the White House after Joe Biden won the presidential elections in the world’s biggest democracy.

August 18, 2021
August 18, 2021

Partition: Looking back to heal and not hurt

On two successive days on August 14 and 15, 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent and its catastrophic fallout on millions of people.

August 14, 2021
August 14, 2021

A stormy parliamentary session and clouds over Indian democracy

It rained protests and disruptions by a united and unrelenting opposition every day during the nearly month-long monsoon session of the Indian parliament, raising serious concerns about Indian democracy.

August 8, 2021
August 8, 2021

Breaking fast and bread: Rahul Gandhi style

On August 2, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi chaired a meeting of leaders of 15 opposition parties for breakfast at New Delhi’s Constitution Club

August 1, 2021
August 1, 2021

India’s opposition unity a work in progress

Politics has a strange way of repeating itself in some ways.

July 28, 2021
July 28, 2021

Pegasus spyware row and Indian democracy

The Pegasus spyware controversy has set off a political storm in India. Sustained anti-government protests by the opposition on the floor of the House paralysed almost the entire first week of the monsoon session of Parliament from July 19.

July 22, 2021
July 22, 2021

India’s Taliban Dilemma

“The future of Afghanistan cannot be its past,” India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had told a meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on July 14. It is precisely the spectre of a rerun of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 that has been firmly raised with its swift military surge across much of that country in the last few months.

July 18, 2021
July 18, 2021

Upcoming challenges in West Bengal’s political landscape

Over two months after the state assembly elections, which saw Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) returning to power with a thumping majority and its principal rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making substantial gains in terms of seats, the political landscape in the state is set to be roiled once again on a range of issues.