Editorials

The Indo-British Association has issued a pamphlet severely criticising the main features of the proposals contained in the Report and suggesting an alternative scheme. It is suggested that the administration in defined areas shall be handed over to Indians, these areas being increased when experience has proved that Indian interests …

What is Zika? Zika, a flavivirus spread mainly by mosquitoes, belongs to the same genus as dengue and chikungunya. Some evidence that Zika has been in India for long comes from a 1954 survey, which found several Indians with Zika antibodies. However, this evidence wasn’t conclusive, because other flaviviruses, like …

Ganesh Chaturthi is an opportunity to see the failure of Swachh Bharat Across India, the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi last month witnessed not only devotional joy but also public consternation at the environmental destruction caused by the immersion of idols in water. Notwithstanding the considerable media attention given to waste, …

With 80 laboratory-confirmed cases of the Zika virus already in Jaipur, including 22 pregnant women, the latest outbreak is India’s most severe so far. In January 2017, three confirmed cases of Zika were reported from Ahmedabad, including a pregnant woman, and in July the same year a single case was …

The poor turnout in the Valley for local pollsis a wake-up call for the Centre In elections held in Jammu and Kashmir, the turnout itself is a kind of verdict. The fact that just over a third of the electorate (35.1% provisionally) turned out to vote in the four-phase urban …

India can emulate innovative solutions from across the worldto tackle the problem of ghost gear In March 2018, fishermen hauled 400 kg of fishing nets out of the sea in a few locations off Kerala’s south coast. There are many such reports of divers regularly making underwater trips just to …

Today, we are under the dangerous influence of a new form of illiteracy. According to the Census, “a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate.” We are now seeing a form of illiteracy creeping on those who …

Anticipation is in the air. Three weeks divide the first round (October 7) of the Brazilian presidential election from the second (October 28). In the first, the far right’s candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, won the most votes, a convincing 46%. His closest challenger, Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party (PT), earned …

Since Myanmar’s latest bout of violence against the Rohingya began in 2012, there has been a slow uptick of outrage in the Muslim world. But it was only recently, once international observers described what was happening there as an ethnic cleansing, that Muslim concern became more vocal than protests in …

A bill to provide for the control of dealings in cotton has been published in the Bombay Government Gazette: The crisis in cotton trade which occurred early in the current year created a general demand for action to be taken by the Government to restrict speculation that took place at …

The scheme of giving small money grants to adolescent convicts on release from the Tanjore Jail to enable them to start in life is reported, all things considered, to be a success. The success of the treatment of adolescent convicts must depend, Mr. A.J. Nicholas, the Superintendent, points out on …

When a request for an interview turned into a tiring walk Not many journalists, I’m sure, have nearly collapsed next to heads of government while speaking to them. I am embarrassed to say that I am among the few or perhaps the only one one to have such a story …

Taking careful note of the quotidian life of politics tells us a great deal Politicians in India have long known that alleging corruption catches attention. The run up to the 2014 general election confirmed this. Verbal spats, allegations of sexual misbehaviour, and outright lies by leading figures create newspaper headlines …

Where in the world is Jamal Khashoggi?The Saudi government must tell us The disappearance of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi has triggered a diplomatic storm. Countries including the U.S. and Turkey as well as international organisations like the UN have turned up the pressure on Riyadh to reveal the truth. …

India’s economic fortunes continue to be tied to the sharply fluctuating price of oil. At a gathering of prominent oil ministers in New Delhi on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged oil-producing countries to reduce the cost of energy in order to aid the global economy in its path towards …

The degree and extent of the revelations over the last fortnight have revealed an ugly, festering side to our society. The long, arduous and often invisible history of women’s struggle needed this spectacular release valve. And it’s historically appropriate that social media became the multiplier and aggregator of voices. For …

In April this year, the Narendra Modi government set up a Defence Planning Committee (DPC) to assist in the creation of “national security strategy, international defence engagement strategy, roadmap to build (a) defence manufacturing ecosystem, strategy to boost defence exports, and priority capability development plans”. Earlier this month, it also …

Influenza is spreading rapidly all over Sind and hundreds of villages are affected as well as Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and other towns. Mortality in Karachi from influenza was 76 and on Sunday 74, which is nearly four times the normal total mortality. All places of amusement are placed out of …

Yesterday evening [October 15] the Hon. Mr. Justice T.V. Seshagiri Aiyar, President of the Madras Social Service League, performed the very pleasant function of opening the new day and night school which the league had started for the benefit of the fishermen residing at Nochikuppam at the southern end of …

Patent regulators are likely to favour companies that further their own personal interests, finds a study Many people today view government officials as benevolent guardians of public interest. “From revolving doors to regulatory capture? Evidence from patent examiners,” a 2018 paper by Haris Tabakovic and Thomas G. Wollmann circulated by …