Opinion
Appeal
The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.Where Does Indian CBDC’s 50K-User Milestone Fit In Global Innovations?
By Arun Kumar Shrivastav The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that the retail e-rupee has accomplished the first milestone set for it – 50,000 users. Launched on December 1, 2022, the e-rupee is India’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot which was launched within a closed group...
Battle To Control Microchip Supplies Will Define Twenty-First Century
By Ben Wray If energy resources are the heart of global capitalism, pumping fuel around its body to keep it accumulating, its brain is made up of trillions of semiconductors. Cars, bombs, phones, refrigerators, even energy systems — today, they all rely on the computer processing power of chips....
India’s Crony Capitalism Thriving With Tacit Support Of State Power
By Arun Srivastava It is for the first time in the history of the RSS, the proponent of politics and philosophy of Hindutva, that it has come out in the favour of a capitalist. The reason is simple: to protect the interest of its political front, the BJP, and...
Can BJP Afford To Depend On Hindutva Campaign For Assembly Elections?
By Sushil Kutty ‘Hindu-versus-Hindutva’, and the ‘casteism’ that plagues Hindu society are the issues for the 2023 9-states’ assembly elections, as well as for the 2024 general elections. Ask people from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and they will agree. Especially after the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi....
Survey Finds Iran To Be Ripest Country In Middle East For A Revolution
By James M Dorsey A recent survey of Iranian public opinion suggests that the lack of confidence in a Middle Eastern regime is starkest in Iran, although crisis-wracked Lebanon, Egypt, or Syria may compete. Surveyed in late December by the Netherlands-based Gamaan Institute, an overwhelming majority of the 158,000...
Reversal Of Fortunes For Steel Industry As Price Increase Picks Up Momentum
By K Raveendran Further hikes in steel prices are in the offing as upside risks in the global markets have strengthened in recent weeks. Faced with a decline in global production, manufacturers across the world are raising their prices. Indian steel mills have already effected a 3-5 percent increase...
BJP Leadership Playing Dubious Role In Dealing With Separate State In Bengal
By Tirthankar Mitra Doublespeak is now a part and parcel of politics. Though it has come to stay it is yet find the nod of the common man whose vote brings about regime change. But it turned up like a bad penny in the shape of carving out more...
Budget 2023-24 Proposals Fail To Give A Boost Manufacturing Sector
By Subrata Majumder India’s fiscal budget is not merely a statement of account, but also a short term economic policy. Media hailed, domestic investors were exhilarated with greater tax exemptions to middle income groups and bagful fiscal gifts to agriculture sector. Both are the major contributors to vote bank....
Nationalist Education To Tibetan Children Upsets Rights Experts
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Children too have basic human rights, but their violation in the name of educating them for their bright future is commonplace. Sufferings of the children are worse if they happen to be from minority community, and worst if they are subjected to the Oso called...
At 90, Apollo Hospital Group Founder Dr. Pratap Reddy Is Still Dreaming
By Harihar Swarup Forty years ago, when India was still a closed economy, Dr Pratap Reddy set up country’s first private corporate hospital on Greams Road, Chennai in 1983. It was a gleaming, multi-specialty space built for comfort and state-of-the-art health care— very different from the functional trust –...
After Yatra’s Success, Rahul Gandhi’s Main Task Should Be To Energise The Congress
By Kalyani Shankar How does one assess the impact of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s just completed Bharat Jodo yatra? Has he achieved his goal vis-a-vis himself, his party and the Opposition? The answer is yes; he has partially succeeded in his image makeover. But about the Party and the...
Hate Crimes Have No Place In Any Country, Secular Or Religious
By Sushil Kutty The courts of the land should watch their words. The Supreme Court, especially. The top court cannot utter words that put a question mark on its integrity and its motives. More than any entity, the topmost court must be responsible. Observations such as “there is no...
India Needs Fundamental Changes In Agricultural Policies
By Dr. Gyan Pathak While policies and institutional arrangements aimed at intensification and growth of the Indian agriculture sector are inevitable for the livelihoods and food security of the country’s vast population, the inclusion of land-constrained farmers especially women, therein requires certain fundamental changes in the approaches. This observation...
Non-Implementation Of Pending Government Assurances In Parliament Is Now Normal
By Chinmay Bendre The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 31 and will continue till April 6. While taxation policies continue to be a top concern for the aam aadmi in the Union budget, this article examines the Union government’s track record of upholding assurances given in the...
Strong Kerala Economic Recovery Despite Odds
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is no mean achievement. Despite the heavy odds against it, Kerala’s economy has registered a strong recovery in 2021-22 with the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) posting a 12.01 per cent. What is remarkable about the feat is that the recovery has come after...
Starting As An Ambitious Army Officer, Pervez Musharraf Died A Lonely Man
By Tirthankar Mitra Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf died far away from the land of his birth-India and the country he journeyed to there from-Pakistan. Not mincing words, one has to accept that he will not be mourned in either of the two countries. Musharraf along with Ayub Khan...
West Unlikely To Stop Fuelling Russia-Ukraine War Soon
By Nantoo Banerjee The Russia-Ukraine war will complete a full year on February 23, this year. And, there is no sign of the war coming to an end any time soon. In fact, the armed conflict between the two East European neighbours is becoming deadlier by day. As of...
BJP’s Reverses In Legislative Council Elections In Nagpur Is A Bad Omen For Ruling Alliance
By Sushil Kutty After the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government was forced out by the breakaway Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena in June 2022, revenge has been exacted. The BJP has been defeated in the Nagpur legislative elections. But while some are calling it a “major electoral setback for...
