Tax havens, which help rich corporations and businessmen avoid paying high taxes on their income, have been vilified for supporting the illegal accumulation of wealth. Organisations like Oxfam have often characterised tax havens as “anti-poor” since they help the rich avoid paying taxes to governments. Several governments have also come …

Political parties must stop feasting onthe complexities of Assam’s demography In the week since the final draft of the National Register of Citizens in Assam was completed, the political rhetoric has got irresponsibly away from the issue at hand. Those associated with the preparation of the NRC, including its Supreme …

Myanmar’s stability and development depend on how the issues of equality and federalism are addressed August 8 marks the 30th anniversary of the people’s uprising in Myanmar. The ‘8888’ uprising (or the eighth day of August 1988) is one of Myanmar’s most important historic days in the context of the …

A response to some criticism of the Srikrishna Committee report In “A fundamental error” ( The Hindu , August 1), Apar Gupta and Ujwala Uppaluri allege that the Srikrishna Committee has undermined and reinterpreted the legal principles in the right to privacy judgment. Neither the report nor the Bill does …

Why the Supreme Court needs to reconsider the Ismail Faruqui verdict The importance of mosques in Islam has come into focus again. During the hearing of the Babri Masjid case, advocate Rajeev Dhavan asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its judgment in Ismail Faruqui v. Union Of India (1994). The …

There needs to be a road map to rescue private Industrial Training Institutes from their weak state Small shops, basements, tin sheds and godowns. These are not random workplaces but places where private Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are running in the country. Disturbing facts such as these come from the …

Syria’s government is to set up a committee to coordinate repatriating millions of its nationals who fled the country’s seven-year conflict, state media has said. The Cabinet on Sunday “agreed to create a coordination body for the return of those displaced abroad to their cities and villages,” state news agency …

Ottawa had called for release of activists Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it was expelling the Canadian Ambassador and recalling its own envoy while freezing all new trade, in retaliation for Ottawa’s vigorous calls for the release of jailed activists. The kingdom gave the envoy Dennis Horak 24 hours …

Ruling Progressive Party rejects Opposition claims that poll might be postponed Dismissing Opposition claims that the Maldivian presidential election might be postponed, the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has assured that the poll will be held in September as scheduled. The Elections Commission of the Maldives in June …

More than 2,000 tourists evacuated from islands near Lombok, which bore the brunt of the quake Indonesia on Monday sent rescuers fanning out across the holiday island of Lombok and evacuated more than 2,000 tourists after a powerful earthquake killed at least 98 people and damaged thousands of buildings. The …