Editorials

This year’s Interim Budget is being regarded as a big spread for farmers. The government announced its decision to transfer Rs. 6,000 every year directly to 12 crore farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. While this is a progressive …

A ready supply of safe blood in sufficient quantities is a vital component of modern health care. In 2015-16, India was 1.1 million units short of its blood requirements. Here too, there were considerable regional disparities, with 81 districts in the country not having a blood bank at all. In …

When almost all news about climate change concerns catastrophic events, there are a few shining lights in the U.S. and Europe. One is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, the newly elected member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The other is Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swede whose school strike outside the Swedish …

On February 5, an Additional Sessions Judge in Punjab sentenced three young men to life in prison. Arwinder Singh, Surjit Singh and Ranjit Singh were convicted under a little-known provision of the Indian Penal Code concerning “waging war against the government of India”. In what heinous manner had the three …

Kerala student Manu Prasad bags design award for his ‘Uni-cast’, which he says addresses multiple hygiene issues Innovation has always been the passion of Manu Prasad and his urge for invention has bagged the prestigious Lexus Design Award for him in the student category this year. Mr. Prasad, 26, an …

New research shows that ‘microbes stranded in the International Space Station (ISS) have different genes from the equivalent bacteria on earth. While there have been many concerns about these microbes forming a new generation of ‘superbugs’, it now appears that the differences are making the bacteria more able to withstand …

Last year, the World Health Organisation said approximately 1.5 billion people globally were at risk of contracting soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections — or roundworms. That is, 270 million pre-school children and 600 million children of school-age live in areas where these parasites are intensively transmitted. India accounts for a quarter …

A study based in the U.S. looks at what the heart tells us Many middle-aged marathon runners and other endurance athletes are familiar with concerns from their loved ones — and occasionally their physicians — that they might be exercising too much and straining or harming their hearts. For all …

India’s power woes have shifted from generation to distribution What happens if you don’t pay your electricity bill? The power company cuts you off (unless you happen to be a politician, slumlord or goon), right? Now what happens if you happen to be the power company, and haven’t been paying …

Around the world with a bagful of books Ruskin Bond never tires of describing Landour, a little settlement high in the hills above Mussoorie in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal where he’s made his home for many decades; and his readers never fail to find something new in his descriptions as they fill …

Among the gimmicky installations and concept artworks at the India Art Fair, some pictures take you towards your north pole Every year, Delhi’s art season throws up all sorts of odd things. Nowadays there are art events in the NCR all across the year but the so-called season is in …

As the sins of the creator are foisted upon their work, writers craft a public persona superior to their own artistic creations A few days ago, I translated a verse by a mighty Indian poet — a sprawling banyan tree of literary consciousness — from his mother tongue to English. …

Medical leaders and associations must take the lead in issuing effective and clear messages countering fake information Along with the Hippocratic oath, the MBBS curriculum has a mantra: bar God, all must provide data. A good physician treats patients based on scientific principles derived from solid evidence. The physician’s personal …

Friedrich Nietzsche prophesised with remarkable accuracy that the 20th century would be marked by great wars fought in the name of philosophical ideas. But what Nietzsche could not have anticipated was that towards the end of the 20th century there would be a revolution in the name of god, establishing …

India’s labour participation rate, very low by world standards, fell sharply after demonetisation. Women bore the brunt Monthly measurement of the unemployment rate is one of the requirements of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The SDDS — India was one of the early …

Survivors of sex trafficking in Nepal were shocked when a local politician convicted of selling young Nepali girls to brothels in India was released by the Supreme Court of Nepal last year. Rajneesh Bhandari reports on the victims’ fight for justice On a cloudy day in October 2018, Nirmala Tamang, …

It put all the responsibility for all aspects of the 36 Rafale deal squarely on the shoulders of the Indian Negotiating Team The government note in the Supreme Court does not contain a word about the “parallel parleys” conducted by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with the Diplomatic Advisor to …

At the International Socialist Conference, Eisener, head of the Bavarian Government speaking in the debate on the responsibility for the war, pleaded guilty on behalf of German Socialists, but argued that Germany could expiate her guilt by advancing on the path of Socialism [according to a Feb. 5 report from …

A proposal to abolish the age limit for admission to colleges for degree courses is under the consideration of the University Grants Commission. This step is being taken to simplify procedures for admissions. The U.G.C. has already recommended the scrapping of the cumbersome requirement regarding migration certificates. In regard to …

By walking out of the INF treaty, the U.S. may have dragged China and Russia into a new arms race China has predictably criticised the U.S.’s decision to walk out of the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which was signed in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet …