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.Bridging Digital Divide To Accelerate India’s Development
By M.Y. Siddiqui Gulf between those who have ready access to computing devices and Internet and those who do not have is generally known as digital divide. There is a digital divide between rich and poor in terms of use of computers. Digital divide denies half the world’s citizens...
Deadly Coronavirus Is Back With A Bang
By Sushil Kutty And while we looked the other way…the coronavirus returned. But when did it ever go away? It didn’t go into hiding. It only changed faces. Now it’s the Omicron BA.2 variant. The original Omicron was BA.1. China and Hong Kong have a case of the worst...
Commonalities Between Gulf Crisis And Russia’s Ukraine War
By James M Dorsey The Ukraine crisis may constitute a more impactful, historic watershed than the 1989 fall of the Berlin wall in the mind of Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “perhaps even a bigger moment than the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Balakrishnan...
Regional Parties Have To Play A Bigger Role In Mobilising Anti-BJP Forces
By Prakash Karat There are three major takeaways from the recent assembly elections in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. First, the decisive victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh for the second successive term and its success in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa to...
Coal Prices Set To Double Under Impact Of Russia’s Ukraine War
By K Raveendran The impact of Russia’s Ukraine war on the energy sector, particularly oil and gas, as well as commodities, has been too dramatic to be missed by anyone, including consumers in the remotest part of the world. But what is causing new concern is how the war...
Love, Deaths And Stormy Sessions At 28 Dean Street
By Nitya Chakraborty Karl Marx died in London on March 14, 1883. Three days later on March 17, Friedrich Engels in his speech at the grave of his best friend and partner in their bid to change the world, said: ‘On March 14, at a quarter to three in...
Bangladesh Defies U.S. Pressure, Russian-Aided Nuclear Plant Work On
By Ashis Biswas Bangladesh will not halt the construction of the Russia-aided $12 billion Ruppur nuclear power plant regardless of recent anti-Moscow Western sanctions announced in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The long awaited unit, considered an absolutely essential project in Bangladesh’s plans to address its...
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Has To Function As A Serious Politician
By Sushil Kutty AAP’s Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann chose to launch himself from Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s maternal village Khatkar Kalan, 80 km from Chandigarh. Does that make Mann a revolutionary? Mann is a comedian-turned-CM, but Mann is serious about preempting people from cracking jokes on his comedian status....
Prime Minister Is Unhappy At Declining BJP Relationship With Nitish Kumar
By Arun Srivastava Once Yogi Adityanath formally takes over the charge of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the prime minister Narendra Modi will intervene in Bihar. Modi has already been disgusted with the functioning of Bihar chief minister and for quite some time he has been maintaining a...
Feminist Lawyering: The Other Side Of The Independence Movement
By Indira Jaising Feminism is a political approach, perhaps one of the most difficult isms to live by. But then the Constitution of India is itself primarily a political document, in addition to being a legal one. Courts present a space where law can be used as an instrument...
Padma Bhushan Victor Banerjee Is An Actor With Global Recognition
By Harihar Swarup Three-time National Award winning versatile actor, Victor Banerjee, was decorated with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian Award this year. He is renowned for his work in Hindi, English and Bangla cinema. He worked with directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Mrinal...
Congress Leadership Needs Course Corrections Before 2024 Polls
By Kalyani Shankar Odds appear to favour the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The party is gung ho about its rosy prospects, as barring a few losses, the BJP’s winning streak doesn’t appear to be reversing. The party has retained four of the five states that went...
For Congress High Command, Assembly Poll Results Leave No Escape Route
By Arun Srivastava Sonia Gandhi offering to step back along with his son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi has been a strategic move of Sonia to shield the Gandhi family from being accused of liability of Congress and to ensure that her son continues to call the shots...
Hijab Row Gets National Dimension After Ruling By Karnataka High Court
By Sushil Kutty The Karnataka hijab row now goes to the Supreme Court after the Karnataka High Court ruled that the hijab is not essential religious practice in Islam, and there’s clear and present danger that the row will escalate to the “national stage”, which was what the high...
Extension Of Credit Facility To MSME Sector Is Just An Eyewash
By Dr. Gyan Pathak The Union Government of India has just extended the validity of a key scheme bolstering equity support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for one year by facilitating Rs20,000 crore as subordinated debt which will now remain in force until March 31, 2023. The...
AFSPA In North East Is A Never Ending Trauma For Activists And Citizens
By Ravi Nair The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was passed by the Indian Parliament on September 11, 1958. The Parliament was told it would last no longer than a year. In 2022, we are still waiting for that year to end. The Act contains immunity clauses for...
A New Anti-War Movement Is Gaining Traction In Russia And Ukraine
By Symon Hill There is a new joke going round Russia: “What’s the easiest way to clear the snow from your street? Write No To War in the snow — and the police will clear it for you.” Footage on social media shows police obliterating anti-war messages written in...
Several Countries Plan To Step Up Military Spending
By Nantoo Banerjee The Russian attack on Ukraine seems to have given a wakeup call to countries in Europe and Asia to substantially step up their annual defence expenditure to protect themselves from possible external assault. Given the ominous security situation in Europe, a number of countries, including Germany,...
