Editorials

The Kerala model can be implemented across India with the same secular and gender-sensitive spirit Kumari died on September 1. She had contracted leptospirosis while doing relief work in Kerala after the floods, away from her own home which had not been affected. She was a health volunteer and prominent …

There are several moderate but effective instruments available to the government to help the rupee find an equilibrium The travails of the rupee have dominated newspaper headlines over the last fortnight. Its value has fallen precipitously against the dollar, and is now hovering around the 72 level; it was just …

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity. — George Bernard Shaw I’m no chef. But I’m passionate about food — the tradition of it, cooking it, and sharing it. I cook whenever I’m excited, …

Sustainable development will be an impossibility without the potential contributions from women The very notion of gender equality entails the belief that injustice is associated with the very definition of the concept. It is imperative that we reflect on this association. Injustice arises out of society’s inability to accept the …

Whenever we have guests at home, hardly do they leave without asking why we don’t have a television set at home. Not able to afford one will not be taken for an answer with two decently earning software engineers at home. I tell them, instead, that the best way to …

I crept into the kitchen slyly to check the amount of money available in the mustard box. I was looking through all the tiny boxes neatly arrayed on the kitchen cupboard. My mom’s mustard box was a favourite of all the family members. At month-end, whenever we were in need …

Looking at the weighing scale tilting to the extreme right is undoubtedly a ghastly sight. You straight away get transported into the world of depression, sensing the gravity of the situation. You tend to search various websites for sure-shot and miraculous remedies that would bring you back in shape as …

In the course of a letter to Princess Sophia Duleep in connection with the forthcoming India Day, Lord French expresses his high appreciation of the services of Indian fighters on the west front in 1914-1915. “When”, says Lord French, “the Indian troops first arrived the situation was so drastic that …

Sir Alexander Cardew and Hon’ble Mr. Rajagopalachariyar are coming to Madras to examine the position with regard to foodstuffs prices and concert measures with the Chamber of Commerce and the public bodies for dealing with the situation. On Saturday last [September 14] there were persistent rumours in the city that …

In 1981, the founder of CNN, Ted Turner, predicted that newspapers in print would be “gone in 10 years”. The publisher of a little-known American newspaper, Yakima Herald-Republic , Jim Barnhill, was so incensed that he promised to remind Turner of his words in 1991 in print, so that their …

India is signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity. As four of the 35 biodiversity hotspots are located in India, it is biodiversity-rich. However, climate change and development without consideration for biodiversity are leading to loss of biodiversity. India’s National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) recognises the importance of biodiversity for …

The rupee, which is currently the worst-performing currency in Asia, is finally receiving some help from the authorities. The Union government, after a meeting with Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel, on Friday announced a list of measures to arrest the sharp decline in the currency, which has lost …

The death of five young men who were employed to clean a septic tank in an upmarket residential community in New Delhi is a shocking reminder that India’s high-profile sanitation campaign has done little to alter some basic ground realities. Around the same time as the Delhi incident, five workers …

A reader wrote to us wondering whether discussions on technological disruptions and their impact on the news ecology are a ploy to deflect attention from the failings of the news media. He listed a set of “non-stories” — speculations at best and motivated plants at worst — that appeared in …

Excess rains and floods in Kerala, deficit rainfall in eastern and north-eastern India, and associated large-scale crop losses have again highlighted the need for providing social protection to poor farmers. A highly subsidised Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was launched in 2016 to provide insurance to farmers from all …

Kumari died on September 1. She had contracted leptospirosis while doing relief work in Kerala after the floods, away from her own home which had not been affected. She was a health volunteer and prominent member of the Kudumbashree Mission in her panchayat in Ernakulum district. Kumari’s work and life …

The travails of the rupee have dominated newspaper headlines over the last fortnight. Its value has fallen precipitously against the dollar, and is now hovering around the 72 level; it was just under 64 at the beginning of the year. There is now intense debate in the media on whether …

The one who reached out to China In the evolution of India-China ties, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s contribution was seminal India-China relations have come a long way from the period of enmity and bitterness that followed the 1962 war. True, they have not returned to the cheery days of Hindi Chini …

Each puja committee willbe given Rs. 10,000 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a grant of Rs. 10,000 to every community Durga Puja held in the State. At a co-ordination committee meeting, Ms. Banerjee said that the Kolkata police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation will pay Rs. …

Developed countries, especially the U.S.,need to commit funds to limit climate change The conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bangkok last week, that was to draft a rulebook for the Paris Agreement ahead of a crucial international conference in Poland in December, ran into predictable difficulties …