Editorials

A greater transformation

In reading down Section 377, the Supreme Court has showed the way to deepen democracy In its decision in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India last week, the Supreme Court has finally struck down the colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality and the lives of LGBTQ persons. In a 493-page verdict, …

Read More »

Why not Dalit?

The government advisory on the use of the word shows its intent to further marginalise the community In pre-Independence India and after 1947, during the several unyielding movements for justice for Dalits, multiple terms have been used to convey the idea of the caste system which B.R. Ambedkar described “as …

Read More »

Too close for comfort?

Dialogue with the U.S. should not define India’s strategic future or its other bilateral relationships The India-U.S. 2+2 meeting on September 6 between the Defence and Foreign Ministers of the two countries appeared to be a singularly one-sided affair. Washington was calling the shots, and New Delhi was trying to …

Read More »

Nepal to skip BIMSTEC military drill in India

The Nepal Army has withdrawn from the first BIMSTEC military exercise to be held in India following a political row in the country over the participation in the event, a media report said on Saturday. Prime Minister K.P. Oli asked the national defence force not to participate in the drill, …

Read More »

2+2 = ?

India must watch its side of the ledgerwhile deepening defence ties with the U.S. The India-U.S. defence relationship has been given a significant boost with the three agreements signed on Thursday after the inaugural 2+2 Dialogue in Delhi: the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), “hotlines” between the Defence and …

Read More »

Post office solutions

The new India Post Payments Bank canhasten financial inclusion, but detailing is key Amidst some fanfare, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a financial service provider that will operate under the country’s age-old postal department. The government-owned payments bank will be able to accept deposits …

Read More »

A strange new world

American footballer Colin Kaepernick’s protests have underlined the power of sport and endorsement It is a strange world when a brash young man, a multinational corporation with a reputation for running sweatshops and a Twitter-happy American President combine to convince you that American football is more than a bunch of …

Read More »

The sadness of silence

What has become of the Indian intellectual as storyteller? Is he only an annexe of the state or can he be critical? A few months ago, I was at a screening of a documentary on the Bengal Famine.Bengal Shadows , while well-intentioned, was more a pretext for the text that …

Read More »

Punjab’s new addicts

The State’s drug crisis has acquired another dimension following a steady increase in the number of female addicts. Vikas Vasudeva reports on the toll substance abuse has taken on the lives and families of these women and the infrastructural support needed to help them Jasmeet works as a domestic help …

Read More »

The sedition debate

Rulers everywhere tend to treat trenchant criticism as attempts to excite disaffection and disloyalty. That is perhaps the only reason that Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, enacted under colonial rule, remains on the statute book. There have been repeated instances of its misuse. Regimes at the Centre and …

Read More »
Get Free Updates to Crack the Exam!
Subscribe to our Newsletter for free daily updates