A new beginning While the Kartarpur corridor is a welcome move, the ceremony was marred by the raking up of the Kashmir issue (“Kashmir the single issue, says Imran,” Nov. 29). It is unfortunate that the Pakistan Prime Minister talks about dialogue for peace on the one hand, but is …

The police are planning to use helicopters to locate the hide-outs of the extremists in inaccessible places amidst the dense Wynaad forests. This is intended to save the time and labour involved in tracking the lawless elements over widely dispersed areas. Official sources here [Trivandrum] said that the Navy was …

H.E. the Governor presided this evening [November 29] at a huge meeting held in the Town Hall [in Bombay] to draw attention to the need for co-operation in the measures for the relief of distress through famine conditions in the presidency and made an important speech on the subject. He …

How a religious incantation has been transformed by the BJP into apolitical slogan in Kerala A new political slogan has come up since mobs took to the streets of Kerala opposing the Supreme Court verdict that allows women of all ages to offer prayers at the Sabarimala temple: “Swamiye Saranam …

Backcasting, or reworking past national accounts statistics based on the latest base year, is a regular exercise that governments carry out. Mainly done to enable precise comparison and analysis, it is a difficult exercise prone to contestation as it involves the inclusion of newer data sources, exclusion of outdated ones …

The staggering loss of an estimated 153 billion hours of labour during 2017 due to rising temperatures around the globe is a reminder to governments that they are not doing enough to dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Lancet countdown on health and climate has reported that India was particularly …

The six-month waiver on sanctions granted by the U.S. to India and seven other countries importing oil from Iran highlights the importance of economic factors in the India-U.S. strategic partnership. The exemption also puts the spotlight on the link between economics and strategy. No special treatment The waiver gives India …

Only a global alliance can reshape the regulatory regime to make it more democratic Earlier this year, it was revealed that India is facing legal claims from international investors in as many as 23 arbitration cases, before various tribunals. These claims, worth billions of dollars, arise out of bilateral investment …

Whether Ayodhya matters to the electorate or not, it will be made to matter by the BJP-RSS combine and the Vishva Hindu Parishad in the run-up to the 2019 general election. The question is this: what will be the modality of foregrounding the Ayodhya issue in a context that is …

Scientists have successfully created ‘mini-placentas’ that can provide a window into early pregnancy and help transform our understanding of reproductive disorders such as still-birth and miscarriage. The placenta supplies all the oxygen and nutrients essential for growth of the foetus. It may also be used for screening the safety of …

A Chinese scientist who stoked criticism over his claim that he had created the world’s first genetically-edited babies faced mounting pressure Thursday as China ordered a halt to his scientific activities and warned he may have broken the law. China’s National Health Commission has ordered an investigation into He Jiankui’s …

When Shan Junhua bought his white Tesla Model X, he knew it was a fast, beautiful car. What he didn’t know is that Tesla constantly sends information about the precise location of his car to the Chinese government. Tesla is not alone. China has called upon all electric vehicle manufacturers …

Reggae music, whose chill, lilting grooves won international fame thanks to artists like Bob Marley, on Thursday secured a coveted spot on the United Nations’ list of global cultural treasures. UNESCO, the world body’s cultural and scientific agency, added the genre that originated in Jamaica to its collection of “intangible …

The government has decided to transfer more than half of Air India’s nearly Rs. 55,000-crore debt into a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to help the airline cut expenditure on servicing the huge loan, R.N. Chaubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said. “More than Rs. 29,000 crore will be moved from …

Attempts to reason why it was popular and did not affect economic growth more It’s not convincing to argue that the poor were willing to ignore their own hardship during demonetisation, since the rich and the corrupt were undergoing greater hardship, former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian writes in his …

Relaxes holding period for securitisation of loans to six months from one year In a move to make more liquidity available to non-banking finance firms, the Reserve Bank of India has relaxed the securitisation norms by relaxing the minimum holding period requirement. The move follows a demand from the government …

In a blow to the Trump administration, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly (63-37) to move forward a bipartisan resolution ending U.S. support to the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen. The resolution, which essentially directs President Donald Trump to remove U.S. troops from Yemen, will be discussed on the full Senate …

The Indian Space Research Organisation wants to make the ambitious manned mission Gaganyaan “more and more” indigenous by utilising the facilities available in the country, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said here on Thursday. “In order to meet the Prime Minister’s (Narendra Modi) vision (of sending humans to space) by 2022, …

The Forest and Wildlife Department on Thursday conducted a State-wide census to enumerate the State’s captive elephant population. Over 520 elephants were counted. The final figures were yet to be ascertained. The survey was necessitated by an order issued by the Supreme Court that directed Chief Wildlife Wardens to identify …

“I tried to reach out to India from the very first day of my term. But I got a bad response when the meeting at the UN was cancelled. We decided that we could wait for a response until elections in India,” Mr. Khan said, maintaining that the resolution of …