Editorials

One of the low points in Parliament’s history is that when 2,733 Sikhs were massacred in three days in Delhi in November 1984, it did not pass any resolution condemning the killings or even condoling those deaths. This was despite the resolutions sponsored by the Rajiv Gandhi government in January …

In a democracy, citizens have the freedom to criticise laws that violate their idea of dignity “It has become a fashion of the day to make a hue and cry about personal liberty,” the Maharashtra government lamented before the Supreme Court in early December. The government said this in response …

Delhi in the cooler months, between early October and late March, once a six-month stretch of mild sunshine, blue skies, crisp air, festivals of every major religious community, associated with agricultural cycles, equinoxes and other natural and cultural punctuations of the annual solar calendar braided with the monthly lunar calendar, …

Two more Kerala “Naxalites” were arrested by the City Police last night [December 17, Madras], following the arrest of K.P. Narayanan on Monday night [December 16]. They are A. P. Balan (30), an agricultural worker, and N. P. Viswanathan (18), a beedi worker, both hailing from Pallur, a village near …

The devastating fire at the Andheri hospital of the Employees State Insurance Corporation in Mumbai that killed at least eight people is a shocking reminder of the low priority fire safety gets in India. That a blaze could break out in a relatively new building with such deadly consequences calls …

The UN Climate Conference held in Katowice, Poland, has moved ahead with the implementation of the Paris Agreement through a rule book, reflecting strong support among citizens of all countries for urgent action to avert dangerous climate change. Public pressure has prevailed over scepticism, although the outcome does not adequately …

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s three-day visit to India this week seems to have brought a tumultuous phase in India-Maldives ties to a close. This is Mr. Solih’s first overseas visit after becoming the President of the Indian Ocean nation of 400,000 people. He defeated Abdulla Yameen in a surprise …

The former Chief Election Commissioner on the EVM controversy, why the Supreme Court verdict on criminals in politics is a missed opportunity, and electoral bonds The debate on the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) refuses to settle, with political parties continuing to voice their concerns about malfunctioning machines. Former …

Sajjan Kumar is likely to spend New Year’s Day, in 2019, in prison. Thirty-four years after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the killings of Sikhs that followed, a political leader who may have electorally benefitted from communal violence has been sentenced to imprisonment for life. The wheel …

The Home Minister, Mr. Y.B. Chavan said in the Lok Sabha to-day [December 16, New Delhi] that they had the greatest respect for the decisions of the Speakers’ Conference, that when a Chief Minister’s majority was in doubt the Assembly must be convened within a week to decide the fate …