Editorials

‘Please read my story’

Contrary to many of the stories that appeared about him after his brutal death in 2011, Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad had always played it safe. A journalist at the Asia Times , Shahzad wrote about jihadi groups, and was among the few who had met Osama bin Laden, Mullah …

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Death by design

In situations involving humans and animals, Murphy’s law takes a strong hold: if things can go wrong, they most likely will. Jallikattu may have drawn the attention of animal rights activists for the innumerable accounts of cruelty to bulls, but the deaths fall mostly on the human side of the …

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Summit 2.0

Even though there was little progress in achieving the goals set in the historic meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea in June 2018, the announcement of a second summit next month is a step in the right direction. The fact that Pyongyang has …

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Justice delayed is markets stymied

Since the 1991 economic reforms, India has improved tremendously in almost all economic indicators, and is now one of the fastest growing nations in the world. Various economic policies of the current government have enabled the economy to move faster than ever before. These include tax reforms leading to the …

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The fault lines of diplomatic recrimination

One of the world’s largest telecom companies, Huawei, is at war with a few powerful western nations led by the United States. This is not a new spat. The conflict, which has been simmering for quite a few years, reached its crescendo on December 1, 2018 with the detention and …

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Why EVMs must go

The recent Assembly elections — the last major polling exercise before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — were not devoid of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctions. Though the discourse at present makes no distinction between a ‘malfunction’ (which suggests a technical defect) and ‘tampering’ (manipulation aimed at fraud), there were …

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The ambiguity of reservations for the poor

The 103rd Constitution Amendment Act introducing special measures and reservations for ‘economically weaker sections’ (EWS) has been perceived as being obviously unconstitutional. This article is sceptical of such a reading and takes the view that a constitutional challenge to the amendment will take us into unclear constitutional territories. The strongest …

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Nixon installed President

Mr. Richard Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States to-day [Jan. 20] and the inaugural ceremony held on the cold, damp steps of the Capitol marked the return of the Republicans to Washington after waiting in the wings for the last eight years. Unlike the …

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Unity and strength

It is always easier to agree on the ends than on the means. Opposition parties that came together at the Kolkata rally hosted by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee had a commonality of purpose — defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party. But little else. To share a dais and hold hands …

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Clear the air

That troubling questions about the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets will persist despite a clean chit of sorts from the Supreme Court, was demonstrated compellingly last week following The Hindu ’s detailed investigation into the deal. It showed that in comparison to the bid under the UPA there was …

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The story behind a story

In 2008, when journalist Aidan White wrote To Tell You the Truth: The Ethical Journalism Initiative , there was no social media. At the time, the first step towards building public trust in journalism was by developing and implementing ethical standards. “When media act ethically and have systems in place …

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Fabrication and falsification

Chunni Devi (name changed), an Adivasi woman in her late 20s, lives with her three under-nourished children in Mahuadand, Jharkhand. Her husband died more than a year ago due to the cold conditions in the area. She is yet to get a widow’s pension and ration under the Antyodaya category. …

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This is not the future we want

In what appears to be draft zero of the BJP’s election manifesto, NITI Aayog released the ‘Strategy for New India @ 75’ document in 2018. This high-sounding and aspirational strategy aims to achieve a ‘New India’ by 2022, when the country celebrates its 75th year of Independence.The strategy has many …

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Steel frame or steel cage?

In his letter of resignation from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in early January, Shah Faesal cites a number of reasons. He became an icon and a celebrity when he topped the IAS examination, in 2010. He was the first Kashmiri to do so. Now, after his resignation, he is …

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HEALTHLINE RITESH KUMAR

“People with higher incomes and more education tend to have greater access to urban green spaces than those less privileged.” — University of British Columbia Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/healthline-ritesh-kumar/article26040447.ece

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Cause and effect?

Something is changing:Health officials in the U.S. are looking into a possible link between prescription opioids and a birth defect called gastroschisis — a condition when a baby is born with its intestines hanging outside the stomach, due to a hole in the abdominal wall. Most are repaired through surgery. …

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Think incremental innovatio

India’s position as far as many health-care metrics is disappointing. By 2020, non-communicable diseases will be the cause of 73% of deaths. With diabetes emerging as the fastest growing disease, India will have 49% of the global burden of diabetes. Not far behind will be cancer as the second most …

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Loading up on fibre

There is more evidence now that a diet high on roughage cuts health risks A study commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has provided “convincing evidence” that consuming fibre and whole grains can reduce health risks from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease. In a series of systematic …

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You’ll be fine without privacy

As a true patriot, you should donate it to the cause of national security The problem with people like Rahul Gandhi is that they keep making completely false allegations against our Prime Minister. For instance, take his pet grouse that the Prime Minister doesn’t listen to the heartbeat of the …

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In one of India’s oldest port cities

A walk through Lothal takes you back 4,500 years to the Harappan Civilisation No child growing up in India fails to study the Indus Valley Civilisation, which is now more popularly referred to as the Harappan Civilisation after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s …

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