IPA Special
The Abandoned Vision Of A National Floor Level Wage For India
Dr K R Shyam Sundar THE TRIPARTITE COMMITTEE ON WAGES appointed in 1948 recommended a framework of three-layered wages — minimum wage at the bottom, living wages at the top and fair wages in between. “Living wage” was defined as the highest wage level that enables workers to provide...
US Cannot Be Allowed To Push The World To The Nuclear Precipice
By Dr. Arun Mitra On October 29, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that ‘Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately. This statement is not only disturbing...
Russia, China Trying To Push Dollar Out Of Mutual Trade Settlement
By Anjan Roy Much to the chagrin of US president, Donald Trump, China and Russia are expelling the use of US dollars in their trade. The Russian prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, dramatically observed that the share of dollar denominated trade between the two countries has already reached levels of...
Adoption Of Doha Political Declaration Instills Hope, Needs Actions
By Dr. Gyan Pathak By adopting the Doha Political Declaration, the Second World Summit for Social Development (November 4-6) on the very first day instilled hope for millions of people across the world. Nevertheless, accelerated actions hold the key to its successful implementation, because poverty and inequality, decent jobs,...
Trump-Xi Summit At Busan Was Mostly Optics Designed To De-Escalate
By Asad Mirza The much-awaited meeting between the US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, finally took place last week in Busan, South Korea. Reportedly, the two adversaries reached a wide-ranging trade and economic agreement at the meeting. The deal addresses fentanyl precursors, rare earth export controls,...
Nuclear Shadow Returns: Unverified Claims And Seismic Truths
By TN Ashok NEW YORK: President Donald Trump’s recent directive to resume nuclear weapons testing after 33 years has reignited anxieties about a new nuclear arms race. His justification—that Russia, China, Pakistan, and North Korea are conducting covert nuclear tests—demands scrutiny through the lens of scientific verification systems designed...
US Economy Defies Predictions As Trade War Enters New Phase
By Ashok N Ayers NEW YORK: When President Donald Trump unveiled his most aggressive tariff regime in nearly a century last April, targeting more than 150 countries with levies that hit major trading partners particularly hard, Wall Street braced for economic catastrophe. Economists scrambled to revise their forecasts upward...
Price Of Digital Progress: India’s Growing E-Waste Crisis
By Raju Kumar BHOPAL: E-waste — or electronic waste — has emerged as one of the fastest-growing environmental threats of our time. The increasing number of electronic devices in modern life has undoubtedly made daily living more convenient, but once these gadgets become obsolete or fall out of...
In Netherlands Elections, Far-Right Lost, But Left Performed Worse
By Enzo Rossi AMSTERDAM: The Dutch elections were a victory for liberal centrists and a defeat for the anti-immigration Geert Wilders. Yet with the overall right-wing vote stronger than ever, there’s little reason for celebration. Read most liberal papers’ coverage of the October 29 elections in the Netherlands and...
Adani Group’s Striking Rise Since 2014 Sparks Global Speculation
By Nantoo Banerjee The majority government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India’s detailed rebuttal to The Washington Post report claiming that the government directed LIC to invest $3.9 billion in the Adani group seems to lack the punch. A comparison of the lately sprouted Adani Group with some of...
Shah Rukh Khan At 60: The Eternal King Of Hearts, The Last Superstar
By TN Ashok In a world where stardom flickers and fades with every Friday release, one man continues to shine with undimmed brilliance. Shah Rukh Khan—known to millions as SRK, Bollywood’s “King Khan,” and India’s most charismatic export—turned 60 on November 2, and the celebrations were every bit...
Eve Of First Phase In Bihar Polls: INDIA Bloc Has An Edge Over NDA
By Kalyani Shankar The upcoming 2025 Bihar Assembly election is expected to be fiercely competitive, with significant implications for all parties involved. While opinion polls favour the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance), they also see strong anti-incumbency sentiments against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. BJP leaders are already claiming...
New ILO Assessment Warns Widening Inequality And Job Insecurity
By Dr. Gyan Pathak The world of work is at a crossroads. Global economic, social, technological and environmental transformations are rapidly reshaping the world of work deepening inequalities and job insecurity with destabilizing change that is leaving millions without stable livelihoods or basic protection. The new assessment by...
India’s Javelin-Class MPATGM Set For Induction By Army In 2026
By Girish Linganna The Indian Army is set to receive a major upgrade in its tank-destroying capability as the indigenously developed Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile system moves closer to operational approval by 2026. After years of intensive testing and successful trials, this advanced weapon system represents a giant...
Farmers Of Northern States Are Agitating Against Centre, State Govts
By Jag Mohan Thaken CHANDIGARH: Why are the farmers of Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts staging an indefinite dharna at Loharu Sub-Divisional Magistrate Office since July 16, 2025? More than 100 days of sit-in is still continuing, so why is the government not heeding to their demands? What...
Cracks In BJP-Nitish Kumar Alliance Weaken NDA Before Bihar Polls
By Arun Srivastava Nothing is well with the NDA in Bihar, right before the two-phase polls on November 6 and 11. The political development inside the NDA has strayed away from the path as envisioned by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Their plan to condense Nitish Kumar to...
Ex-POTUS Obama Joins Poll Campaign To Pep Up Democrat Candidates
By Ashok Nilakantan Ayers WASHINGTON: In the fading autumn light of Newark and Norfolk, Barack Obama delivered what may prove to be the opening salvo in a protracted Democratic campaign to reclaim political ground lost to Donald Trump’s resurgent Republican coalition. Speaking to enthusiastic crowds Saturday, the former...
For India’s Disabled Litigants, Justice Is An Insurmountable Challenge
By Vikas Gupta The Indian judicial system is famous for its slow pace. The crawling of cases – with it the lives of millions involved – has been the subject matter of numerous films, caricatures in media and commentary in the runaway world of social media. There are over...
