The metamorphosis of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed into a political leader of considerable significance makes a mockery of the global war on terror. Here is a terrorist, carrying a $10million bounty on his head and openly making inflammatory speeches calling for jihad against India and other perceived enemies, who gets a smooth makeov

The warning signals in the Indian economy are too ominous to ignore. Plummeting growth rate, stagnating exports, slowdown in the manufacturing sector, dwindling private sector investments and widening current account deficit are the sources of worry. The outlook appears generally bleak, notwithstanding the government’s attempt to explain it away

Delayed justice not only results in justice being denied but, more dangerously, creates incentives to break the law. Massive pendency of cases in courts across India has not only hampered administration of justice over decades but also become a source of friction between judiciary and executive in the past. According to National Judicial Data Grid,

The prophets of doom have been proved wrong. The sceptics who made alarmist predictions that carving out a separate Telangana State would spell economic disaster will now have to eat their own words. The trailblazing growth figures of the country’s newest State should silence the critics. Apart from topping the charts in terms of ease of doing bu

Dream projects, involving high technology and massive investments, are not necessarily in conflict with the fundamental tasks of development. In fact, they are often proved to be great investments for future generations. The countries that made massive investments in road and rail infrastructure, after the end of the Second World War, reaped tremen

As a responsible and accommodative democracy, India has never shied away from its moral responsibility to provide shelter to refugees from anywhere in the world. However, the raging row over Rohingya immigrants from the trouble-torn Myanmar has a context that is vastly different from those in the past. There are genuine concerns of national securit

A new season of the Game of Thrones in Chennai has opened with the dramatic expulsion of VK Sasikala, the jailed general secretary of AIADMK, and elevation of late Jayalalithaa as ‘eternal general secretary’ of the party, a post that is unheard of in any democratic system. The Tamil Nadu politics, known for its bizarre loyalties and melodrama,

Over 11 lakh people die prematurely every year due to air pollution in India. The World Health Organisation (WHO) figures suggest that the country accounts for nearly 26% of the pollution-related deaths worldwide. India has registered an alarming increase of 50% in premature deaths from particulate matter between 1990 and 2015. Four of the world’

There is a growing perception that cow vigilantism in the country has been receiving velvet-glove treatment despite a series of lynching and murderous attacks perpetrated in the name of cow protection. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, on several occasions, unequivocally condemned the violence by the self-proclaimed cow rakshaks, precious li

After 24 long years, justice has finally been delivered in the Bombay blasts case. The Tada (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) special court’s verdict might bring in a sense of closure for those involved in investigation and judicial process concerning one of the most sensational terror cases in the country. However, the famil

It’s a nightmare time for a generation of dreamers in the Land of Opportunities. United States President Donald Trump’s move to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), popularly called ‘Dreamers programme’, will deal a devastating blow to the young immigrants who have integrated into the American society and contributed to

The murder of senior journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru is yet another grim reminder of a growing trend of silencing the voices of dissent with bullets. The editor of popular Kannada weekly ‘Lankesh Patrike’ and an intrepid campaigner against Hindutva politics was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at her home. The modus operandi of t

After the resolution of the Doklam military standoff, here comes another instance of a climbdown by China: acknowledging Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as terrorist organisations. It reflects a major diplomatic victory for India and raises hopes of stepping up global fight against terror. The declaration at the just

A new sense of urgency has arisen for the global community to rein in North Korea, a reclusive Communist nation, and stop its outrageous nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. The isolated yet defiant regime in Pyongyang has just tested a hydrogen bomb, which could be five times bigger than the one used in Hiroshima and triggered tremors of 6.3

The elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman, a political lightweight, to the cabinet rank to become India’s first full-time woman Defence Minister is the biggest message from the cabinet reshuffle undertaken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Four Ministers of State were promoted to the cabinet rank while nine new faces, including a few former bureaucr

For the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), success has been a byword for decades. After notching up a series of perfect, textbook launches and earning a place at the high table of the space-faring nations, Isro suffered a rare failure when its mission to put a navigation satellite in the orbit was declared unsuccessful. This was the first s

The latest RBI figures, suggesting that 98.6% of the banned notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination has come back to the banks, have raised questions over the rationale and efficacy of demonetisation. Critics argue that the economic objectives of the most disruptive move of the NDA government have not been achieved. The jury is still out on the l

The Mumbai deluge has once again exposed BMC's ill-preparedness and shoddy drainage works in the city.

The end of a two-month long military standoff at Doklam plateau and restoration of status quo ante is a major diplomatic victory for India in the face of a consistently provocative posturing by China. All through the crisis that threatened to spin out of control, New Delhi has shown maturity, restraint and perseverance despite belligerent utterance