In a letter to the ‘Times’ Sir A.H. Fraser says: He and other members of theIndo-British Association  do not agree wholly with the unfavourable views on the reform scheme expressed by some speakers at a recent meeting of the Association. He welcomes the general principles and tendencies of the Report …

At a solemn conclave convened on Friday [September 13] of the Mahamandal Council and other prominent orthodox leaders of Benares including pundit authorities presided over by the Maharajah Darbhanga, the general President of the Mahamandal, it was decided, first, to inform the supreme Government that the proposed Bill of Mr. …

How an agitation against price rise cost the protesters Journalists have the best seats in the political theatre. This also means that we have to simply hear whatever is being said, whether spectacularly boring or even vitriolic. But there are good days when, for instance, an ironical drama unfolds in …

The Congress is ceding ideological ground to the BJP by increasingly adopting ‘passive Hindutva’ Discussing the current contest between opposing ideas of India, Malini Parthasarathy hit the nail on the head when she wrote, “Neither the Congress nor other opposition parties acknowledge emphatically that what is really unfolding in the …

We should accept Pluto as a dwarf planet, though an exceptional one After years of arguing over whether Pluto is a planet, in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to remove Pluto’s planetary status. Now some researchers are challenging this decision, citing the manner in which scientific tradition has …

The move to merge banks is understandable, but shareholders should have been consulted Asking healthy banks to take over weak banks appears to be the strategy to handle the bad loans crisis. On Monday the Union government proposed the merger of three public sector banks — Bank of Baroda, Dena …

Twitter wars over the label ‘urban Naxal’ do nothing to address the deprivation of marginalised groups One of the main things that the 21st century will be known for is the formation of what Bruns and Burgess call “ad hoc issue publics” or the formation of selective channels centred on …

The Apollo Hospitals chairman on the growth of private health care, Jayalalithaa’s illness, and expectations from the Modi government As Apollo Hospitals celebrates the 35th anniversary of its founding, the group’s chairman, Prathap C. Reddy, is looking ahead to make the most of the global advances in medical technology rather …

The crises in emerging economies show how vulnerable they remain to the vagaries of U.S. economic policy Economists thrive on crises. The East Asian crisis of 1997 caused a rethink on full capital account convertibility and fixed exchange rates. The Internet bubble and bust of the early 2000s led many …

Yusaku Maezawa is a fashion tycoon A Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first man to fly on a monster SpaceX rocket around the moon as early as 2023, and he plans to bring six to eight artists along. Mr. Maezawa, 42, will be the …

Fed-up with a growing mountain of stinking disposable nappies, a Dutch firm on Tuesday started building the country’s first recycling plant to turn poo into profit. Plastic from the nappies extracted by the facility in the central Dutch town of Weurt near Nijmegen will have a second life as household …

To prevent technology from infringing on people’s rights German business software giant SAP published on Tuesday an ethics code to govern its research into artificial intelligence (AI), aiming to prevent the technology infringing on people’s rights, displacing workers or inheriting biases from its human designers. “SAP designed these guiding principles …

The Marvelous Mrs Maiseltook home eight awards overall, including one for best comedy HBO’s record-breaking fantasy epic Game of Thrones stormed back onto the Emmys stage on Monday, winning the coveted best drama series prize on a night full of surprises, including an on-air marriage proposal that stunned the audience. …

The rupee closed at a record low against the dollar on Tuesday, declining 47 paise to close the day at 72.98 a dollar due to rising global crude oil prices. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose $1.14 a barrel to $79.19 during the day, after hitting a high of $79.37 in …

Staff have to be informed of benefits of the merger, says Vijaya Bank MD & CEO A day after the mega merger announcement, R.A. Sankara Narayanan , MD & CEO of Vijaya Bank, speaks on the immediate challenges on hand . Excerpts : What benefits do you see from this …