Editorials

Better infrastructure for water managementto break the droughts, floods cycle is needed If Bihar is struggling to stay afloat in the ongoing monsoon, its distress can be traced to poor infrastructure and a lack of administrative preparedness. Even large parts of the capital, Patna, have been paralysed without power and …

Tanzania, which has long enjoyed a reputation for democratic stability, is taking an authoritarian turn As Tanzania nears the 2020 election, its anti-corruption crusade seems headed to a one-man dictatorship. President John Magufuli, leader of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), or Party of the Revolution, made waves when he …

India needs to have a non-coercive sanitation policy forthose who continue to use the outdoors October 2 was not only Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, but also the fifth, and perhaps final, anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Speaking in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared India “open defecation-free”. But …

There is scope for India-Bangladesh ties to move to the next level, based on cooperation, coordination and consolidation Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will make her first official visit to India from October 3-6, post the general elections in Bangladesh (December 2018) and India (May 2019). She will address the …

It is time to rethink the power of arrest and the concept of cognisable offences Let us say we were creating the law on criminal process from scratch, for a just utopia. The law would need to empower police to arrest persons who are probable, not merely possible, suspects. Inbuilt …

It spells double danger — threatening India’s secular and democratic standing and miring the economy deeper in crisis Hindutva “nationalism” unlike anti-colonial nationalism does not comprehend economics. The reason is simple. Central to anti-colonial nationalism was an understanding of colonial exploitation. This is why it distinguished between all previous rulers …

Putting more money in the hands of rural households will stir up the economy The government’s statistical machinery has begun work on revising the indices that capture the trends in consumer prices experienced in rural India. This opens up the prospect for an upward revision in the wages paid out …

Tax cuts have enthused Corporate India, but there is the fiscal problem to deal with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ushered in Deepavali early for Corporate India and the markets on Friday with her announcement of deep cuts in corporate taxes and roll-back of some market-unfriendly proposals in the Budget she …

A Parliament Budget Office can help drive smarter, more focused debate in the media and with the electorate When most people arrive at the ballot box, they vote with their gut. But getting there requires absorbing and shaping months and years of conversations, long-held opinions and ideally, hard facts and …

The Indian American gathering in Houston will be an unlikely reminder of the futility of the claims of ultra-nationalism Around 50,000 Indian Americans are expected to attend a rally in Houston, Texas on September 22 to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump, current leaders …