Editorials

India cannot claim the moral high ground any more that it has kept the State’s integrity intact Without going into the moral and legal arguments for or against the scrapping of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and the decision to reorganise the State into two Union Territories (UTs), …

The Lok Sabha to-night [August 4, New Delhi] passed the Banks Nationalisation Bill sitting three extra hours in the day to vote the remaining 21 of its 27 clauses and the three schedules and to give a final third reading to a measure that has been described as a personal …

Pakistan’s delay in giving full consular access reveals a non-serious attitude to ICJ order Two weeks after the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled in favour of India in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan has yet to take the first step towards implementing the order: providing him …

More judges are welcome, but SC must focus on its role as interpreter of the Constitution Any move to increase the strength of the judiciary ought to be welcomed, given the perennial complaint that availability of judges is not increasing in proportion to the institution of cases. In this perspective, …

The Bill goes beyond just codifying SC directives In furtherance of the recommendations made by the apex court in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India , the Rajasthan government has introduced the Rajasthan Protection From Lynching Bill, 2019. If it gets passed, Rajasthan will be the second State after …

High-quality journalism does not come free of cost Following The Hindu ’s Open House in Kochi, many wrote to us seeking more details about the increased space for contributions from readers. Some raised a few questions about the idea of an interactive readers’ mail, which will deal with local and …

Mired in Afghanistan, America’s retreat strategy mirrors its Vietnam war campaign By the late 1960s, it became evident to American leaders that they could not win the Vietnam war. Richard Nixon, who was elected President in 1968, assigned Henry Kissinger, the National Security Adviser, to hold talks with the communist …

India needs a national party to provide substantive opposition to the government — all is not lost for the Congress Today, we, the people of India, are trapped between a rock and a hard place. On one side is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which continues to bulldoze legislation, controversial …

In India, it is the quintessential form of political privilege and social authority As the young woman from Unnao, victim of multiple outrages, battles for her life, we, who are often reduced to being hapless chroniclers, have once again to wonder at the everyday workings of India’s criminal justice system. …

The United States plans to put a space workshop into orbit in 1972, the Space Agency announced here [Houston] yesterday [July 22]. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said the third stage of the giant Saturn 5 rocket used to send Apollo spaceships to the moon would be used …

The U.S. President violated diplomatic protocols in talking of mediation on Kashmir Facing a furore in Parliament over the issue, the government has clarified in no uncertain terms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not request U.S. President Donald Trump to “mediate or arbitrate” on the Kashmir issue, as Mr. …

India goes to the West Indies sensingmore cricketing opportunities than threats In the past, a tour of the West Indies was deemed the toughest endeavour for any cricketer. Reputations were either enhanced or lost and fractures seemed imminent in the battles against the fiery fast bowlers, while the crowds requested …

India-South Korea relations are yet to reach their full potential despite making significant strides Prime Minister Narendra Modi met South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the G20 summit last month in Osaka. Both agreed to find common ground between Seoul’s ‘New Southern Policy’ and New Delhi’s ‘Act …

An improved monitoring mechanism can play a key role The advancing monsoon has brought relief to many parts of India, but its progress has been slower than average and the country is still in the midst of a rainfall deficit, with millions facing an acute water shortage. Water is essential …

The commitment to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030 needs strong and fearless leadership The Joint UN programme on AIDS, commonly known as UNAIDS, is facing one of the worst challenges afflicting the global AIDS response — this time an existential threat questioning its very relevance. The UN Secretary-General, António …

The Nagaland govt. will face many hurdles in its quest to compile a list of indigenous inhabitants The Nagaland government’s move to compile a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) opens up possibilities in the context of the decision to link the register to the Inner Line Permit (ILP) …

It would be a travesty to waste the opportunities made possible by the Kartarpur corridor plan Ties between India and Pakistan are at an ebb — their lowest in two decades. The thread from this phase, as a series of events — the Kargil war (1999), the Agra Summit (2001), …

The Home Minister, Mr. Y.B. Chavan, has asked the Kerala Chief Minister, Mr. E.M.S. Nambudiripad, to come to Delhi to discuss the reported statement issued by the latter jointly with Mr. A.K. Gopalan, Marxist Communist leader, declaring their intention to “break the Constitution from within.” This was disclosed by Mr. …

Chandrayaan-2 will help India testthe technologies for deep-space missions A decade after the first successful mission to the moon with Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched its sequel, Chandrayaan-2, to further explore the earth’s natural satellite. Earlier this year, China landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side …

National Exit Test should overcome legal and political opposition and avoid the NEET way In its second iteration, the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill seems to have gained from its time in the bottle, like ageing wine. The new version has some sharp divergences from the original. Presented in Parliament …