Opinion

By Salla Vijaya Kumar Three important Acts, the States Reorganisation Act, the River Boards Act and the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act were enacted in 1956 to resolve inter-State issues. The States Reorganisation Act has reformed the boundaries of Indian States and territories, mainly on a linguistic basis. The Telangana region of erstwhile Hyderabad […]

By Mark Davison When World Trade Organization (WTO) members agreed in June to ease patent rules on Covid-19 vaccines, they stopped short of waiving patent protection. As the vaccines flowed into some parts of the world in late 2020, bringing relief, hope and a ticket out of lockdown, other countries’ vaccination rates lagged far behind. […]

By Dr Moitrayee Das, Saanya Verdia The need for a culturally competent practice of psychology has become an important issue today. Continuous globalisation has led to an increase in the intercultural interactions between different communities. These interactions have led to the exchanging of cultural knowledge, ideas and forms of healing. Different forms of healing are […]

By Nayakara Veeresha The political fallout of the Maharashtra Vikas Agadhi (MVA) regime in Maharashtra has reignited the debate on defections and their role in democracy. Political defections and the subsequent government’s downfall in Maharashtra are nothing but a betrayal of the people’s mandate and democracy. It seems political parties are least bothered about respecting […]

By Kristie Patricia Flannery Footage flashed across television and smartphone screens this week showing rowdy crowds of Sri Lankan protesters mobbing Temple Trees, the official presidential palace in Colombo. Cameras panned across the compound’s lush gardens as jubilant young men jumped into the swimming pool and splashed in its blue waters. Men clad in sandals, […]

By Biswajit Dhar The World Health Organization (WHO) has called it “vaccine apartheid”: developed economies who can pay for Covid-19 vaccines have much higher rates of vaccination than developing economies. Only 21% of people in low-income countries have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, partly because pharmaceutical companies have refused to temporarily waive their […]

By Seela Subba Rao Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have evolved into a vibrant industry exhibiting a variety of business models. In India, they exist as NGOs (registered as societies or trusts), Section 25 companies, NBFC-MFIs and other NBFCs. Commercial banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and other large lenders have played an important role in financing […]

By Peter Brian Wang An opportunity has arisen. For small and middle powers, increasingly uncertain and aggressive geosecurity has provided a chance to influence global developments. For the Pacific Islands, their time in the sun may have just begun, and they could look to other regions of the world for clues on how to play […]

By Arun Sinha Old India has been metamorphosing into a New India (Naya Bharat) under the “visionary and dynamic leadership” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014, so we are told. And Naya Bharat is bringing prosperity to all. Because the spirit that drives the train of New India is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. Nobody is going to […]

By Pramod K Nayar The recent news about 46 migrants found dead inside a tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas, shocked the Americans. Most of the migrants had suffocated to death. All of them were Mexicans, part of the recent surge in migrant crossing from Mexico into the USA. Aylan Kurdi is not so old […]

By Dr K Srinivasa Rao Despite the ongoing twin crisis – lingering Covid-19 and war between Russia and Ukraine, banks have gained strength in the last couple of years. The RBI’s Financial Stability Report-June 2022 reflects improved asset quality and capital adequacy ratio (CAR). The asset quality of banks continued to improve steadily with the […]

By B Yerram Raju I saw the film RRR and wondered how I should title this article on Asset Quality Review (AQR) undertaken by Raghuram Rajan Reforms (RRR) in the banking sector during his regime as Governor. The Economic Survey 2020-21 while criticising the AQR’s inability to prevent the evergreening of loans in the name […]

By Quentin Read The food on our plates has a footprint. Every bite of food we consume represents the environmental impact of all the resources used to produce that food. Land is foremost among those resources. As food is transported from farm to fork, the land used to grow the food is ‘virtually transported’ along […]

By Henryk Szadziewski From small diplomatic measures to a doubling of trade, China’s interests in Pacific Island nations have expanded in the past decade. Now, in a world of growing geopolitical instability and tension over Taiwan, China is in the position of being an enduring partner to the region. China’s former ambassador to the US […]

By Stefan Wolff Against a backdrop of unprecedented turmoil – the first major war in Europe in three decades, the highest inflation rates in decades and a rapidly worsening global food crisis – western leaders have met for two major summits. The G7 met in Germany and Nato leaders gathered in Madrid. The outcomes of […]

By Sanjay Chaturvedi In the world of migration law no one has successfully defined what a ‘climate refugee’ is. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees doesn’t endorse the term. Worse, the term ‘refugee’, as subscribed to by the 1951 Convention with its focus on fear of persecution, is unlikely to be of any value […]

By Huw Thomas In what has been called the “biggest moment for workers’ rights in a quarter of a century”, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a safe and healthy work environment as one of its five fundamental principles and rights at work for all at its June 2022 international conference. This is the first […]

By Dhananjay Tripathi In 2012, the European union (EU) was awarded the Nobel peace prize to acknowledge its contribution “to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe”. Indeed, regionalism played a vital role in the transformation of Europe after the end of World War (WW)-II. The European integration process brought […]

By Shubhranshu Choudhary When violence suddenly escalated in Chhattisgarh due to a government-supported anti-Maoist programme called Salwa Judum in 2005, according to some government figures, around 55,000 tribals had escaped to then Andhra Pradesh leaving their homes behind. Economic migration of Gutti Koyas (known as Muria in Chhattisgarh) to the southern part of Dandakaranya forest […]

By Arun Sinha Thanks to Hindu revivalists, ‘historical wrong’ is never out of the news. We are at the Gyanvapi mosque today but we will surely go to other mosques sooner or later. For, so deeply traumatised is the Hindu heart by the demolition of temples by the Muslim rulers in medieval India — we […]

By Jaya B Phaniharam The National Education Policy (NEP) is widely discussed in view of its recommendations and guidelines. There is apprehension as well as acceptance. Academic institutions are the primary stakeholders constituting college management in the role of policymaking, academic staff in knowledge transfer, training and placement staff in opportunity scouting and coordination staff […]

Care and companionship can now be assigned to Social Robots

By G Nagaraj and T Damodaram India is in a paradoxical situation with respect to edible and vegetable oils. It is one of the largest producers and also one of the largest importers. Naturally, it has become a major consumer of edible oils in the world. The country’s edible oils import bill was around Rs […]

By Markus Wagner, Weihuan Zhou After decades of conflict that has neutered its work, the World Trade Organization looks to be back in business. Its highest decision-making body – a conference of ministers from the organisation’s 164 member nations – has just met for the first time since 2017. None of what the ministerial conference […]