The New York Times: First Impressions

After having been a steady reader of the online version for the past few years, I purchased the paper edition of the New York Times for the first time on Friday. I scanned through the pages and was impressed with what I saw and read. Excluding advertisements and supplements, the Friday edition had more than fourteen pages of core news, including a two page Op-Ed, and (hallelujah!) around five pages of International news. The presentation is remarkably understated and the content is concise. I noticed no garish fonts, no bold red headlines and no gimmicks. My fears of being overwhelmed with too much contect were evidently misplaced. Indian newspapers (especially The Times of India) have a lot to learn from the design of this paper.

Though its name is strongly associated wth a U.S. city, The New York Times came across, from my perspective, as an international newspaper, which can give its American and (through its online edition) global readers, a worldwide perspective on the happenings in today’s world. No wonder then, that the grey lady is the most highly respected newspaper in the world.

Chandrayaan-1 Launch: A day of pride

Hartford, Connecticut

My heart fills with pride on learning that India’s first mission to the moon has successfully lifted off into space with the perfect launch of the PSLV C11 rocket carrying the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter. The most important endeavor of this mission – the task of creating a three-dimensional map of the moon – combines the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) tried and tested strengths in cartography, remote sensing, and satellite building, with its thus far untested ability to undertake expeditions outside the earth’s atmosphere.

The mission justifies the estimated US$80 million spent, because it seeks to achieve something of great value, and something that has never been done before – the creation of a reliable three-dimensional map of the moon. The international acceptance that ISRO has gained for its achievements is evidenced by the participation by other, more scientifically advanced nations in this mission, through the inclusion of their own experiments in the payload. ISRO has also nobly offered to share the knowledge gathered during this mission with other nations, thereby signalling a spirit of harmonious collaboration, instead of selfish competition.

By launching the mission at a substantially lesser cost than comparable missions by other countries, ISRO is also declaring to the world that in these days of global economic recession, space missions of great complexity can be executed efficiently and at a much lower cost, by collaborating with India.

Here’s wishing the Chandrayaan-1 mission continued success. Jai Hind!