Editorials

Shedding light:A study by the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has shown that an extensive amount of sunscreen chemicals in seawater that could pose a risk to human health. The study, a world-first in identifying the harm that can be caused by a combination of polluting chemicals in sunscreen, has …

October is ‘World Dyslexia Awareness’ month. Dyslexia is broadly described as difficulty in acquiring age-appropriate reading skills in spite of opportunity and instruction. Neuroscience has firmly established that dyslexia is due to neurobiological differences in brain wiring and structure; it also has a strong genetic basis. Individuals with dyslexia might …

A decline in running speeds may be less steep than many of us fear Most of us who are older competitive runners are not able to race at anywhere near the same speed as we did when we were 30. But we can perhaps aim to slow down at the …

ding Like a Writer , says reviewers must be emphatic when they write a favourable review: “‘You’ve got to read this’ should be the first line of every positive book review.” What to Read and Why is made up in great part with Prose’s introductions to reissued classics but also …

Or, why the Sensex doesn’t indicate voting patterns I must confess to feeling a little sorry for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The poor man had barely returned after a grievous illness when he was hit with the double whammy of a plunging rupee and soaring fuel prices. There was little …

For listeners of music, analytical perspectives are one way to assert our association to a song over a fellow listener In a podcast released last year, the Canadian writer, Malcolm Gladwell, explored the history of the legendary pop song called ‘Hallelujah’ which was written and composed by the great Canadian …

We are stocking up for winter, pulling out woollens, keeping one eye on the football while stirring the first thick soup of the season Normally, I’m not a big fan of the autumn in England. Most years the summer that’s just ended leaves me with a feeling of having been …

Consumption of poor quality medicines could be accelerating drug resistance. India has to share some of the blame It is common for patients to stop taking medicines as soon as they start feeling better. Doctors have blamed this particular habit — of not completing the entire dose of antibiotics — …

The attacks on girls and women every day are symptomatic of a deep malaise Where curriculum designers fear to tread, film directors take relaxed, bold strides. Few will consider ghosts and witchcraft as suitable topics for a textbook. Killing of women on the suspicion that they are practising witchcraft occasionally …

The EC also put off an announcement on the schedule of bypolls to two Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. Since an election petition pertaining to one of the constituencies was still pending in the Madras High Court, technically the vacancy had not arisen yet, the CEC said. Besides, around 10.30 …

This year’s science Nobels compel us to relook at evolution, and also at gender parity The Nobel Prize for Chemistry this year is a tribute to the power of evolution. The laureates harnessed evolution and used it in the laboratory with amazing results. Frances H. Arnold, an American who was …

The RBI chooses to stick to its core mandate, ignoring other pressures such as on the rupee The Reserve Bank of India pulled a surprise on the markets on Friday by keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.5%. The decision to stand pat comes even as the central bank …

Internationalisation of the rupee will serve India well The Indian rupee was once a multilateral currency, its usage prevalent across the Indian Ocean in places as varied as Java, Borneo, Macau, Muscat, Basra and Zanzibar. The historic dhow trade ensured that the Gulf had a familiarity with the rupee for …

A trend of splintering of political and social alliances has picked up in Uttar Pradesh The State of Uttar Pradesh is fascinatingly diverse and a story in contrasts. It has a history of both intense political and religious contestation and of syncretic accomplishments. The State did not witness a social …

Last month in Rewari, a student on her way to class was abducted, drugged, and gang-raped by three young men. Ashok Kumar reports on how the growing crimes against women in Haryana are stifling their freedom and aspirations Rewari’s Civil Hospital is a drab, double-storey structure that caters to roughly …

In view of the desire expressed in certain quarters [in Bombay] that the All-India Conference of the moderate party ought to be postponed for about a week or so owing to the prevalence of the epidemic of fever in Bombay, a representative of the Associated Press interviewed Mr. N.M. Samarth, …

Reuter learns that some delay may be expected in carrying out completely the terms of the Bulgarian armistice, owing to congestion of railways and roadways due to the presence of a demoralised Bulgar army. There is no confirmation from any quarter of the enemy reports regarding Austro-German military movements in …

Four new National Institutes of Design are to be set up The Union Cabinet in September approved amendments to the National Institute of Design (NID) Act of 2014 for the setting up of four new institutes in Amaravati, Bhopal, Jorhat and Kurukshetra. The proposal is a calibrated move to produce …

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia have unveiled strategies to forge closer economic ties with India Asia is in a state of flux. China’s Belt and Road Initiative is reshaping the region’s geography, with roads and railways traversing Eurasia and new ports dotting the Indian Ocean basin. Beijing’s militarisation of …

Higher minimum support prices oftendo not translate into better returns for farmers Within months of announcing generous hikes in the minimum support price (MSP) for several crops in the kharif summer season, the NDA government on Wednesday approved an increase in the MSP offered for rabi crops. These increases mark …