Plans for a drastic reduction or readjustment of American bases and all other military facilities in Japan were officially announced here [Tokyo] to-day [December 23] at the conclusion of a meeting of the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee. About 50 bases or facilities, big and small, are involved in the readjustment …

With just months to go for the general election, the government looks all set to open the credit taps of the economy. The Centre has sought Parliament’s approval to infuse an additional Rs. 41,000 crore into public sector banks that are starved of precious capital to remain afloat. Along with …

The omnibus acquittal of all the police personnel accused of eliminating Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a ‘fake encounter’ in Gujarat in 2005 represents a substantial failure of justice. It is true that it is not easy to obtain an order of conviction against police personnel accused of killing suspects in a …

Is it possible to talk about the virtues of the independent news media when we cannot talk about shrinking spaces? Being a journalist is a choice and not a compulsion. Fired by the spirit of public engagement, people opt to become journalists. People are in the public sphere because of …

What is an altruistic surrogacy arrangement? According to the new Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, approved by the Lok Sabha last week, it includes contracting a ‘close relative’ as a surrogate by a heterosexual married couple who have been childless for five years of their marriage. This line, in gist, separates altruism …

When the first group of modern humans walked into India, perhaps no more than a few hundred people in groups of twenty or twenty-five, trekking all the way from the Arabian peninsula over hundreds of years or perhaps even a thousand or more years, did they have a cosmology of …

We remember Gandhi’s concern with the liberation of Indians from colonial rule, as well as from the dark underside of our own personalities. We also remember that he failed to engage with the plight of Africans in a colonised South Africa, where he lived for 21 years. We know that …

The GST Council is likely to consider lowering GST on under-construction flats and houses to 5% in its meeting next month, an official said.Currently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied at 12% on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued …

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) has had good impact on the manufacturing industry in India. Starting out a bit rockily, GST implementation has impacted the manufacturing industry favourably by bringing in a unified and consistent tax structure. Businesses that were facing slowdowns in the early days its roll-out, are …

India needs to open up its dredging market to boost trade by its major ports, which currently cannot handle very large vessels in the absence of proper draft depth, government think tank NITI Aayog has said.More competition, mainly from global players, in dredging activities would help increase and maintain draft …