Editorials

The biggest risks of the unregulated cryptocurrency market are money laundering and terror financing. It is for this reason that India has made a strong case for regulating cryptocurrencies at a global level. Since the regulation cannot be done by a single country within its terrain, it has to be a global initiative to figure […]

The woes of the middle class and the poor, already reeling under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, are expected to worsen in the days ahead with the soaring inflation. The latest figures released by the Centre show that the wholesale inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), rose to 14.5% in March, […]

India’s expenditure on healthcare accounts for just over 1.17% of the GDP, one of the lowest in the world. It also has one of the lowest health workforce in the world. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the gaps in the country’s healthcare infrastructure and should ideally serve as a wake-up call to revamp the sector […]

One of the key lessons the coronavirus pandemic has taught the policymakers around the world pertains to the importance of reliable and accurate data. The absence of such an ecosystem leads to faulty policy framing with disastrous consequences. India is among the countries that do not have an authentic data ecosystem. The horrific second wave […]

When the world’s richest person goes shopping, one would expect that all the things that are desired would find a place in the shopping cart. But it’s a delicious irony that the world appears to be conspiring against its richest person, Elon Musk, to prevent him from buying Twitter, the popular microblogging site. It only […]

The virtual collapse of the Sri Lankan economy comes as a wake-up call for the south Asian region with many nations battling similar woes and being sucked into the vortex of unmanageable debt. Colombo’s crisis has been in the making for more than a decade, largely due to the country’s excessive dependence on imports and […]

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 incendiary outbursts by Hindutva proponents, targeting minorities, comes as an affront to these core values. The case that has triggered nationwide outrage pertains to the […]

Diplomatic maturity lies in tactfully harmonising divergences with the convergence of mutual interests and seeing that, at the end of the day, the latter prevails over the former. In the midst of ever changing global geopolitics and shifting power dynamics, the challenge for a democratic country like India is to balance the national interests in […]

The newly-elected Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif followed a familiar script, reeking of duplicity and deception, while expressing a desire for better ties with India. By adding a rider that peace was not possible with India until the resolution of ‘Kashmir dispute according to the UN resolutions’, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief has demonstrated […]

Linguistic diversity forms a key component of India’s identity. It is the celebration of this pluralism that strengthens the country’s unity. Any attempt to tinker with diversity will amount to undermining the civilisational idea of India. union Home Minister Amit Shah has once again stirred a hornet’s nest by claiming that Hindi should be accepted […]

The natural instinct of any batsman on strike would be to remain at the crease and protect the wicket at any cost, through a combination of defensive and aggressive strategies. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan sought to employ similar tactics on the political crease but with a difference: he defied the rules of the game and even […]

India is forced to do some tightrope walking on the raging war in Ukraine, seeking to strike a balance between the imperatives of its long and time-tested bilateral ties with Russia and the need to side with the growing chorus of outrage over Moscow’s unjustified invasion of a sovereign country. For the first time since […]

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. The latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change […]

A series of terrorist attacks, targeting migrant workers, Kashmiri Pandits and paramilitary forces, comes as a grim reminder of the audacity with which the Pakistan-sponsored militant outfits have been carrying out their macabre agenda in Jammu & Kashmir. The killing spree exposes the myth about normalcy returning to the Valley following the NDA government’s decision […]

The merger of mortgage firm HDFC Ltd with its progeny HDFC Bank, the biggest merger in India’s corporate history, signals consolidation in the private banking and NBFC space and also demonstrates the success of regulatory changes over the past few years. It is a win-win situation as the combined and bigger balance sheet also means […]

It’s a tumultuous moment in the history of Sri Lanka whose fall from grace — from a reasonably stable economy, despite decades of ethnic war, to being caught in the worst financial crisis since independence — has shocked the world. The en masse resignation of all the 26 federal ministers amidst the raging public protests […]

Authoritarianism is anathema to democracy. For a pluralistic and open society like ours, democracy is the best suited model. Any institution that tends to deviate from the core values of respecting individual freedom, dignity and cultural and social diversity faces the risk of losing public faith. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana’s recent observations on […]

The Centre’s decision to reduce the number of areas under the much-despised Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur is a welcome development as reflects a pragmatic approach to special laws and a willingness to revoke them when the ground situation shows improvement. The improvement in the security situation and the […]

Without reliable data, no welfare programme can be effective, however lofty its objectives may be. While the aim of any affirmative action programme is to reduce the socio-economic inequalities and lift the disadvantaged sections out of poverty and deprivation, the key ingredient in this task is the data that is accurate, reliable and reflective of […]

While modern technology is an effective tool in criminal investigation, one must not lose sight of the dangers of violating the personal space of individuals and undermining their fundamental rights while using these tools in solving crimes. The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, introduced in the Lok Sabha recently, breaches the thin line between inviolable […]

The spirit of federalism that guides the country can be strengthened only if the States are strong and given the flexibility and freedom to take policy decisions in the interests of the people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-hyped invocation of the ‘Team India’ spirit to describe the nature of governance will be meaningful only when […]

After what had happened in the Galwan Valley, the onus of de-escalation of border tensions and normalisation of bilateral ties now lies with China. This unequivocal message was conveyed to Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi during his recently concluded visit to India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar did some tough talking and conveyed New Delhi’s […]

The resumption of regular international flights, after a pandemic-induced hiatus of over two years, is a matter of big relief for both the passengers and the crisis-ridden aviation sector. The last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have been very tough on the aviation industry which suffered unprecedented losses. The international flights, suspended since March […]

The institution of marriage, built on the premise of equality, should not be allowed to be used as a cover for sexual violations. It should not give any special male privilege or a licence for unleashing a brutal beast. The Karnataka High Court’s path-breaking order, refusing to quash rape charges filed by a wife against […]