Editorials

As Tamil Nadu struggles to restore normalcy in the districts affected by Cyclone Gaja, Jayant Sriram and B. Kolappan report on the devastation visited upon the region’s coconut cultivators, and how farming in this predominantly agrarian belt could be made more disaster-proof.Standing under a cloudy sky that now casts a …

A new beginning While the Kartarpur corridor is a welcome move, the ceremony was marred by the raking up of the Kashmir issue (“Kashmir the single issue, says Imran,” Nov. 29). It is unfortunate that the Pakistan Prime Minister talks about dialogue for peace on the one hand, but is …

The police are planning to use helicopters to locate the hide-outs of the extremists in inaccessible places amidst the dense Wynaad forests. This is intended to save the time and labour involved in tracking the lawless elements over widely dispersed areas. Official sources here [Trivandrum] said that the Navy was …

H.E. the Governor presided this evening [November 29] at a huge meeting held in the Town Hall [in Bombay] to draw attention to the need for co-operation in the measures for the relief of distress through famine conditions in the presidency and made an important speech on the subject. He …

How a religious incantation has been transformed by the BJP into apolitical slogan in Kerala A new political slogan has come up since mobs took to the streets of Kerala opposing the Supreme Court verdict that allows women of all ages to offer prayers at the Sabarimala temple: “Swamiye Saranam …

Backcasting, or reworking past national accounts statistics based on the latest base year, is a regular exercise that governments carry out. Mainly done to enable precise comparison and analysis, it is a difficult exercise prone to contestation as it involves the inclusion of newer data sources, exclusion of outdated ones …

The staggering loss of an estimated 153 billion hours of labour during 2017 due to rising temperatures around the globe is a reminder to governments that they are not doing enough to dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Lancet countdown on health and climate has reported that India was particularly …

The six-month waiver on sanctions granted by the U.S. to India and seven other countries importing oil from Iran highlights the importance of economic factors in the India-U.S. strategic partnership. The exemption also puts the spotlight on the link between economics and strategy. No special treatment The waiver gives India …

Only a global alliance can reshape the regulatory regime to make it more democratic Earlier this year, it was revealed that India is facing legal claims from international investors in as many as 23 arbitration cases, before various tribunals. These claims, worth billions of dollars, arise out of bilateral investment …

Whether Ayodhya matters to the electorate or not, it will be made to matter by the BJP-RSS combine and the Vishva Hindu Parishad in the run-up to the 2019 general election. The question is this: what will be the modality of foregrounding the Ayodhya issue in a context that is …

The Polish government’s decision to rescind the forced retirement of several Supreme Court judges is a welcome sign of its willingness to improve compliance with the rule of law. This could begin a process to resolve the stand-off between Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS) government and the European Union. …

The announcement by India and Pakistan of plans to operationalise a visa-free corridor between Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab and Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab heeds a longstanding plea of Sikh pilgrims. That demand had gathered pace in 1995, when Pakistan renovated the Kartarpur gurdwara, situated on the site …

President Ram Nath Kovind’s choice of Vietnam as the first Southeast Asian country to visit in his capacity as the President is not surprising. A close ‘ally’ of India for over 70 years, and not limited to official diplomatic ties, Vietnam is critical for India’s foreign policy at the regional …

There is a clamour by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Sangh Parivar for an ordinance and later a statute (i.e. Act) for building a Ram temple over the ruins of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya immediately. No more waiting, they say. The supposedly neutral Justice J. Chelameswar, who retired …

Maya Madan, 22, lives in a brick hut in Hamid Khedi village. A few feet from her home, which is in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, is a narrow street, criss-crossed by ditches full of dirty water. The buzz of mosquitoes breeding in these pools fills the air. It does …

The King’s speech at the prorogation of Parliament [in London] was as follows: “My Lords and Gentlemen”. The occasion on which I address you marks the close of a period which will be forever memorable in the history of our country. The war upon which all the energies of my …

The Lok Sabha to-day [November 23, New Delhi] passed the Bill to rename Madras State as “Tamil Nadu”. The Bill will now go to Rajya Sabha for approval. There were cheers from all sides when the Chair announced that the Bill was passed. The Bill was welcomed by all sections, …

In reality, Gandhi opposed Partition until the very end. However, the Congress leadership had increasingly sidelined him by the end of 1946. By that time, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel had come to accept the idea of Partition without even the courtesy of consulting Gandhi. Eventually, the Congress Working Committee …

Cricketing reputations are sometimes made or shattered based on how a player performs against Australia. That’s been something of a trend ever since the West Indies began its free fall after losing to Australia in the mid-1990s. And Australia, in its own backyard, is considered the ultimate opposition. Sachin Tendulkar …

In dissolving the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly without giving any claimant an opportunity to form the government, Governor Satya Pal Malik has violated constitutional law and convention. Mr. Malik’s stated reasons for his action — “extensive horse trading” and the possibility that a government formed by parties with “opposing political …