China’s capacity to manage its economic transition has implications the world over The Chinese growth juggernaut is slowing down. The world’s second-largest economy has reported that its exports for December fell by 4.4%, the sharpest fall in two years amidst rising trade tensions with the United States and fears of …
Read More »Daily Archives: January 19, 2019
Nudged into action
It should have never come to this on the Lokpal. That it requires a Supreme Court order to nudge the government to make any progress towards establishing the anti-graft institution is a poor commentary on its functioning. The court has asked the eight-member Search Committee under the Lokpal Act to …
Read More »The danger of reciprocity
Independence, impartiality and fearlessness of judges are not private rights of judges but citizen’s rights. Ultimately judicial legitimacy/ power rests on people’s confidence in courts. We have yet another controversy surrounding the Supreme Court, with the collegium revisiting decisions made at an earlier meeting and recommending the elevation of two …
Read More »Some call it democracy
Sedition and conspiracy charges have been filed against three former students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and seven others. If these charges are established, 10 young Indians could be sentenced to life-term imprisonment. A great deal has been said and written about the need to banish a 19th century law, …
Read More »Grave secrets from a troubled past
The recent discovery of a mass grave in Mannar town in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province has raised fresh questions about the island nation’s history of violence. It has also re-opened old wounds and triggered traumatic memories among the survivors of the deadly conflict that ended barely 10 years ago. Meera …
Read More »Japan satellite blasts into space to deliver artificial meteors
A rocket carrying a satellite on a mission to deliver the world’s first artificial meteor shower blasted into space on Friday, Japanese scientists said. A start-up based in Tokyo developed the micro-satellite for the celestial show over Hiroshima early next year as the initial experiment for what it calls a …
Read More »India ranks third in research papers on artificial intelligence
India ranks third in the world in terms of high quality research publications in artificial intelligence (AI) but is at a significant distance from world leader China, according to an analysis by research agency Itihaasa, which was founded by Kris Gopalakrishnan, former CEO and co-founder of Infosys. The agency computed …
Read More »Saturn’s rings are younger than thought
They developed in roughly the final 2% of the planet’s current age, say scientists Saturn’s rings are one of our solar system’s magnificent sights, but may be a relatively recent addition, according to data obtained from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft before the robotic explorer’s 2017 death plunge into the giant gas …
Read More »Inflation volatility is a challenge, says RBI Governor
Policy action is required on corporate governance in banks, cyber risk a major challenge: Das Amid a growing demand for a reduction in interest rate in the upcoming monetary policy review scheduled for February 7, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said wide divergences and volatility in inflation …
Read More »‘Let Indians have control of their data’
Flagging concerns about increasing data colonisation by global corporations, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps against the way some global corporations were ‘colonising data’ of Indian users in the rapidly growing digital economy in the country. He also insisted that Indian …
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