Editorials

The choice is between existence and extinction. It’s a ‘now or never’ situation as humanity faces the unprecedented impact of climate change. Climate action can no longer be put off nor can the world afford to continue bickering over funding and technology transfers. As the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres summed up during his speech […]

Exactly six years ago, an out-of-the-blue announcement on demonetisation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the nation by surprise. It was packaged as a bold move to unearth black money, reduce counterfeit currency and choke terror funding. But it turned out to be India’s greatest economic disaster. As far as the merits of the move […]

The intensifying protests in Iran over the hijab issue after Mahsa Amini died in the hands of Iran’s ‘morality police’, are just a manifestation of the simmering discontent in the civil society. Amini’s death leading to the current Iranian turmoil can be seen as a perfect example of the butterfly effect – the possibility of […]

The outcome of the Munugode Assembly by-election reflects the triumph of development mantra over politics of hatred and victory of good deeds over empty words. Despite the devious designs of the BJP, which used every trick in the trade to vitiate the political atmosphere, the voters of Munugode gave a clear mandate for continuity in […]

The assassination bid on former prime minister Imran Khan signals Pakistan’s inexorable descent into chaos; a fall that many fear could result in another bout of martial law. The attack, during a protest rally held by his party — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — near Wazirabad, came in the midst of Imran’s ongoing confrontation with the […]

India has come a long way from the infamous ‘licence-permit raj’ era that stifled entrepreneurship, innovation and growth. However, the much-maligned system is threatening to make a comeback if the provisions of the draft Telecommunications Bill get the go-ahead. Though there are several aspects in the draft legislation that will help in boosting the growth […]

The NDA government’s approach towards sedition law has been tentative and ambiguous and fails to inspire any confidence. Its recent submission before the Supreme Court that ‘some changes’ were being contemplated in the colonial-era law doesn’t meet public expectations. Nothing short of scrapping the draconian law would do. Apart from making some vague statements about […]

India’s digital finance system has taken a big leap forward with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rolling out the first pilot digital currency or e-rupee but concerns over privacy issues remain unaddressed. In the first phase, the wholesale version of the digital currency has been launched with the participation of nine banks while the […]

When the world’s richest person goes shopping and buys the world’s most influential platform for public conversations, the consequences could be quite disruptive. Add to this weak regulatory scrutiny, then things could go awry, raising questions about the future of social media. After closing the $44-billion acquisition deal, Elon Musk, the maverick billionaire who often […]

Ahead of the United Nations climate conference — COP27 —, there are ominous reports suggesting that the nations are far behind the targets set for containing global warming. Despite the grand pledges, greenhouse emissions continue to play havoc with the planet. According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2022, the world […]

Like how a buyer on an e-commerce portal adds items to the cart before checking out, the BJP’s weird idea of shopping involves adding the States to its political cart through a devious game of offering inducements and engineering defections. There is a clear pattern emerging in its game plan across the country. The list […]

The public discourse on genetically modified technologies is often clouded by politics, delusional activism and fear-mongering. Matters that must be decided by evidence-based science are often hijacked by alarmist ideologies that manufacture fear to block the introduction of new technologies. Such misplaced campaigns will deprive farmers of the benefits of modern scientific research. The Genetic […]

Despite the lofty promises, western countries have failed to compensate for the damage they have caused to the environment over decades. Undoubtedly, the issue of climate finance will be the key focus of the deliberations as nations gear up for yet another round of the United Nations climate conference — COP27— slated to be held […]

The rise of Rishi Sunak, the first Asian and a person of colour to become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has understandably generated tremendous excitement in India. He not only has his roots in India — his grandparents migrated from Punjab while his father-in-law is Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys — but […]

India is known all over the world for its centuries-old syncretic culture and ethos of assimilation. They define the essence of the idea of India. However, the recent string of hate speeches, targeting minorities, comes as an affront to these core values. Against this grim backdrop, it is heartening that the Supreme Court has taken […]

The Diwali eve marked a historic moment for India’s space programme as the country’s heaviest rocket soared into the sky from Sriharikota, carrying a record 36 satellites. The successful launch of the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark III) is a testimony to India’s prowess in space technologies and marks a defining moment for the Indian Space […]

China is at it again. There is a clear pattern to how the Beijing-Islamabad nexus is misusing the international forums to protect terrorist elements operating from Pakistani soil. The latest instance happened at the United Nations when China put a hold on a proposal by India and the United States to list Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Shahid […]

Status quoism has won over change. Family loyalty has prevailed over any out-of-the-box experimentation. The election of Mallikarjun Kharge, the octogenarian leader from Karnataka, as the Congress president, the first outside the Gandhi family in over two decades, comes as an unequivocal signal that the grand old party is very much under the grip of […]

The blood-soaked Kashmir Valley is witnessing a fresh bout of killings, targeting migrant workers. A Kashmiri Pandit farmer was gunned down by terrorists while two labourers from Uttar Pradesh were killed when a grenade was thrown inside their rented accommodation. The spurt in violence comes amid demand by political parties to hold early Assembly elections, […]

The signs emanating from China appear ominous for India.

Empty stomachs and malnutrition lead to health and economic fallouts. The latest Global Hunger Index (GHI) has painted India in a poor light. Prepared by European NGOs, the GHI 2022 has shown that the country has slipped further to the 107th position out of 121 countries from last year’s rank of 101. What is more […]

Given the extent of human tinkering with Nature, the situation may soon come to such a pass that we will have to make a choice between existence and extinction. The consequences of the damage caused by human activities like deforestation, pollution, overfishing and development are already being felt. The death of over seven million people […]

Linguistic diversity forms the bedrock of India’s identity. It is the celebration of this pluralism that strengthens the country’s unity. Any attempt to tinker with the diversity will amount to undermining the civilisational idea of India. The Centre’s move to make Hindi a medium of instruction in all technical and non-technical educational institutions, including central […]

Yet another international agency has now lowered India’s economic growth forecast. Contrary to the NDA government’s proud proclamations that the country would witness a high growth trajectory, one international organisation after the other has been downgrading India’s growth estimates. The latest to join the chorus is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has downgraded the […]