Monthly Archives: August 2018

The sedition debate

Rulers everywhere tend to treat trenchant criticism as attempts to excite disaffection and disloyalty. That is perhaps the only reason that Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, enacted under colonial rule, remains on the statute book. There have been repeated instances of its misuse. Regimes at the Centre and …

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Submerging markets

Emerging market economies continue to be in the spotlight for the wrong reasons as their currencies resume their prolonged slide against the U.S. dollar. The Indian rupee weakened past the 71 mark for the first time ever on Friday, registering a loss of about 10% of its value against the …

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Story of a leaking ship

In what can only be considered a prophetic coincidence, the online version of the Port Blair-based newspaper Andaman Chronicle , carried, on August 2, two very interesting and instructive news reports related to the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands. A big meet One of the reports was about a development …

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Nowhere to hide

Once renowned as an export powerhouse, Kanpur’s tanneries are perceived to be the primary source of industrial pollution in the Ganga. Jacob Koshy reports on the embattled industry’s struggle to stay afloat in the face of rising compliance costs and an increasingly hostile business environment A year into her marriage, …

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India and the U.S. — it’s complicated

The first round of the India-U.S. 2+2 talks at the level of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and their counterparts Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis is scheduled for September 6 in Delhi. It is a significant development but one that …

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Alipore zoo gets a baby kangaroo

In October 2017, when four kangaroos arrived at the Alipore Zoological Gardens from the Kanazawa Zoo of Japan, officials at the Alipore facility had not thought that the marsupials would start breeding in less than a year. On Friday, a baby kangaroo emerged from its mother’s pouch. This appearance prompted …

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Robot to help reef

A robot submarine able to hunt and kill the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish devastating the Great Barrier Reef was unveiled by Australian researchers on Friday. Scientists at Queensland University of Technology said the robot, named the RangerBot and developed with a grant from Google, would serve as a “robo reef protector” …

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‘Asia’s Nobel’ celebrates social heroes

Two Indians, Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk, on Friday received the Ramon Magsaysay award, popularly known as Asia’s Nobel Prize. Cambodian activist Youk Chhang, Filipino Howard Dee, Vietnam’s Vo Thi Hoang Yen and East Timor’s Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz were also honoured for their work at a ceremony in …

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Court refuses to extend motor insurance deadline

Longer duration motor third party insurance cover is all set to become mandatory for new cars and two-wheelers as scheduled from September 1, with the Supreme Court on Friday refusing to extend the deadline. A bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and S. Abdul Nazeer dismissed an application filed by …

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Vodafone, Idea merge; overtake Bharti

Idea Cellular has merged Vodafone India with itself to create the country’s largest telco with a subscriber base of 408 million, overtaking Bharti Airtel. The merged entity, Vodafone Idea Ltd., will have Kumar Mangalam Birla as the chairman. However, both Vodafone and Idea that have a strong consumer base across …

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At 8.2%, GDP growth touches two-year high

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, however, pointed out in a tweet, “Happy that the rate of growth has quickened, but…Q1 growth rate is based on the lowest base (5.6) in the last 8 quarters.” “Going forward, the base effect will not be so favourable. And when we reach Q3 and …

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