The initial pullout of 25,000 American troops from Viet Nam began to-day [July 8] with the departure of a battalion of 814 infantrymen. Garlanded with plastic flowers thrown round their necks by pretty Viet Namese girls, most of the young troops laughed and smiled as they boarded nine giant transport …

BJP must not stake claim to form a Ministryin Karnataka without an absolute majority The political crisis in Karnataka that has been brewing for months has boiled over, threatening the Congress-Janata Dal(S) coalition government. With 13 of its MLAs resigning from the Assembly in phases, and one independent withdrawing his …

Mr. Vaiko being found guilty of sedition strengthens the case to scrap Section 124A The conviction of prominent pro-LTTE politician Vaiko on the charge of sedition, based on a typically impassioned speech he had made in Chennai a decade ago, is a worrying development. Even though Section 124A, the IPC …

India and the U.S. should aim to progressively eliminate trade and investment barriers Trade turmoil has been putting at risk the U.S.’s strategic partnership with India. In the last two months, the U.S. has withdrawn from India preferential tariff benefits under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme, and India …

India needs to anticipate the promising impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area The 12th Extra-Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) which concluded on July 8 at Niamey, the capital of the Niger Republic, saw 54 of 55 of its member states signing the African Continental Free Trade …

The U.S. is using the Ranbaxy experience to create a bogey Allegations of widespread fraud concerning generic drugs manufactured overseas, especially in India, were recently highlighted in the U.S. Much focus was on the contamination found in one drug made by Ranbaxy. I do not wish to support Ranbaxy’s deplorable …

Without it, we will continue to allow unhealthy scepticism about democracy to grow A persistent concern exists about democracy’s failure to fulfil our expectations. While our votes are forceful ‘paper stones’, effective in getting rid of governments we dislike, they are powerless to give us effective, efficient, good governments. Why …

The Maratha quota is a case in point of what a progressive Indian polity should not be doing The description “backward” to define communities is yet another colonial relic which we, as a collective, embrace with such enthusiasm, that we almost forget what it is supposed to mean. Nowhere is …

Looted ancient artefacts from Iraq and Afghanistan seized in Britain will be returned to their country of origin after appraisal by the British Museum, the institution said on Monday. Among the artefacts to be sent back to Afghanistan are Gandharan sculptures illegally exported to Britain in 2002. Another important haul …

Asia, which accounts for 60% of the global population, recorded the lowest rate of homicide in 2017 with only 2.3 killings per 1,00,000 people while the Americas had the highest homicide rate, according to a UN report. The Global Study on Homicide 2019 published on Monday by the UN Office …