Opinion

By Richard Blakemore A dispute between Britain and France about fishing territories has escalated rapidly. French authorities detained a British trawler on October 28, and Britain promptly summoned the French ambassador for talks. The wider issue here is the licences now required under the new Brexit arrangements. French fishermen complain that many of their applications […]

By Arnab Sen Sarma The Central Committee (CC), the apex decision-making body of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), recently released its review report of the 2021 Assembly elections in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam. The 26-page document is the reverberation of the CC’s deliberations between August 6-8, 2021. Among all these […]

By Pramod K Nayar In the fact-free, post-truth world, the entrenchment of subjective truth as the only one that counts has become prominent. Relativism of the type ‘you can’t know my pain’, the insistence that only the personal is political — in an inversion of the feminist slogan — lays the foundation for discussing what counts […]

By Vijay Kumar Shh!!! Be Quiet. Do not share this.How you know such personal information? Oh, Not Again!!Whilst you were amidst your deepest slumber or that engaging conversation, have you ever been hounded by calls offering you unsolicited loans, overdraft or balance transfer facilities? Did it stop after you subscribed for DND (Do Not Disturb) […]

By Samudrala VK As the political dust in war-torn Afghanistan is settling down, multiple questions are cropping up in the minds of dovish political analysts. Will powerful countries let smaller or weak nations act according to their own fate or wishes? Will global powers shed their helicopter parenting role? Will they allow peace to prevail […]

By Fergus Green Fresh emissions targets from Saudi Arabia and Australia – two of the world’s largest fossil-fuel producers – would commit the two countries to reducing domestic emissions to net zero by around mid-century – though both are expected to continue exporting fossil fuels for decades to come. For the leaders of countries and […]

By Ratna Geetika, Madhu Viswanathan, DVR Seshadri ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is a well-known adage and nowhere is this more true than in primary health. Primary healthcare is a proactive approach to healthcare that emphasises preventive measures, management of chronic conditions and promoting self-care. This approach also ensures timely notification of serious illness and […]

By Rory Horner The Indian embassy in Iran recently celebrated the arrival of 1 million doses of Covaxin, a Covid vaccine developed in India by the pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech. Bangladesh, Myanmar and Iran also recently received a million doses each of Covishield, the version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of […]

Close to 90% of world’s refugees come from countries that are the most affected by climate change – and the least able to adapt

By Stavros Karamperidis Several months ago, I warned that the crisis in container ships could jeopardise Christmas by leaving retailers without enough goods on their shelves. Since then, there have been similar fears all over the media, not only due to shipping problems but also shortages of lorry drivers and unavailable products. As we approach […]

Remaking cities is a chance to make them more equitable for the 21st century and beyond

By T Muralidharan On 29 September, for the first time, five FICCI southern State councils — Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, AP and Telangana — came together and organised a GST Southern State Finance Minister’s conclave. The industry Minister of Karnataka, and Finance Ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu shared their views. It was a very […]

By Nayakara Veeresha The coronavirus pandemic has triggered an economic crisis pushing people into the vicious cycle of poverty and indebtedness. At this critical juncture, economists and political analysts believe that the Congress’ electoral promise of Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY = Minimum Income Plan) in 2019 has relevance to the common man’s economic problems. NYAY […]

By Prof N Laxman Rao While campaigning for power, political parties make jobs a key issue. But when they come to power, the very same parties do not notify jobs in the States where they are in power. Jobs are many but the governments prefer recruiting through outsourcing, where middlemen/agencies make a lot of money, […]

By Fernanda G Nicola The World Bank, a behemoth of an organisation that provides tens of billions of dollars in aid to mostly developing countries, is in the middle of one of its biggest scandals since being founded in 1944. The crux of the crisis relates to its Doing Business Index, which ranks the ease […]

By J R Janumpalli The Economist Intelligence Unit published the 13th edition of the Democracy Index in February 2021. The index began in 2006, and records how global democracy fared year after year. It provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and two territories. This covers almost the entire […]

By Mansi Goyal, Dr Moitrayee Das The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified the already dwindling scenario of workplace mental health challenges, forcing employers to take a sharp look towards a holistic and methodical approach to workplace mental health. The discussion and debates around the need for conversations, resources, and policies around mental health are stronger than […]

The ending of poems, especially in the 20th century and after, has almost always delivered a sense that humanity seeks: a return to order

By Deepthi Ravula Everywhere is a potential opportunity for entrepreneurs. A big decision a startup entrepreneur makes is to finalise the location for the startup that adds value to the business. For many entrepreneurs, the list of essentials for an ideal location includes capital, customers, access to talent, industry expertise and markets. A cluster of […]

By Dr K Srinivasa Rao With the Reserve Bank of India granting licence to National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), October 4 marks a historic development in the financial sector. NARCL is set up to declutter banks from part of the burden of non-performing assets (NPAs). Unlike the other existing private sector asset reconstruction companies […]

By E Revathi, Venkatanarayana Motkuri The Telangana State Council for Higher Education (TSCHE) has initiated necessary steps to implement the National Educational Policy-2020, beginning with the cluster system in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the State. To begin with, nine autonomous degree colleges in Hyderabad have formed a cluster. Cluster approach as a strategy enhances […]

By Pramod K Nayar For a few hours, the global audience did not know what was going on. Literally. With Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram crashing, people discovered a lot of time on their hands. Ironically, the principal sources of disinformation – online and social media platforms – were themselves subjected to disinformation. In an era […]

By JR Janumpalli There is a wide variation in the key economic indicators of the Indian States. GDP, GDP per capita, GINI(ce) and percentage of poverty differ greatly, underlining the very uneven economic performance, in the country’s 33 States and UTs. (See infographics). The configuration is as spiked as in the case of the countries […]

By B Yerram Raju The Centre recently passed the Account Aggregators’ Bill in Parliament and claimed that the subjects of the Bill, viz, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, would get easy access to the credit window through Open Credit Enablement Networks. Last June, the MSME Development Act, 2006, was amended to give credence to the […]