The latest trade figures published by the Reserve Bank of India confirm the damage caused by high global oil prices in the last few months. India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to 2.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the July-September quarter, a four-year high, under increasing pressure from the …

As an environmental scourge that killed an estimated 1.24 million people in India in 2017, air pollution should be among the highest policy priorities. But the Centre and State governments have tended to treat it as a chronic malaise that defies a solution. The deadly results of official apathy are …

Attempts to understand the intangible actually end up delivering something tangible. Trust is the driving factor for The Hindu Open House, where readers are invited to interact with the senior editorial and management teams of this newspaper. Trust is a qualitative attribute; no mathematical formula can capture its power. In …

The BSP faces a situation in which it either emerges stronger nationally or loses significance beyond Uttar Pradesh The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) finds itself at a unique juncture that is important for the party and for democratic and contemporary politics. As a party, it has faced trials in the …

Stirring reminders of the distance travelled and challenges ahead in securing human rights Paris flared — Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and where in glory waved the great future harvest of Truth and of Justice. Émile Zola, Paris I asked my soul: What is Delhi? She …

India is bombarded with electoral rhetoric that is shorn of care for citizens who inhabit desolate worlds Every person who aspires to political power ought to read the book, Considerations on Representative Government, by John Stuart Mill. Ideally, democracy is not the best form of government, wrote Mill, unless it …

Self-guided, internet-based platforms can help people cope with depression Scientists have found that a series of self-guided, internet-based therapy platforms effectively reduce depression. Researchers from Indiana University (IU) in the U.S. reviewed 21 pre-existing studies with a total of 4,781 participants. In the past several years, many internet-based apps and …

It may trigger cropland expansion, which will further increase greenhouse gas emissions Bioplastics — often promoted as a climate-friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastics — may lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study. According to the study by researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany, …

At the press conference post the fifth monetary policy review on December 5, Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel brushed aside a question on reduction in cash reserve ratio (CRR) saying that it is not in the ambit of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). On the face of it, …

Amendments to key laws needed before the suggestion can become reality The world is flat is an international best-seller by three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman. The title of the 2005 book was a smart take on the concept that the world should be a level-playing field, with all companies …