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.The Degeneration Of The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification
By Norma Alvares If any Indian state would stand to benefit from a strong coastal law, it is Goa. With its open seafront and numerous tidal rivers that criss-cross the land before draining into the Arabian Sea, Goa and its residents have lived in tune with this intricate and...
Parliament’s Standing Committee Report On Pharma Attracts Global Attention
By T N Ashok In a windowless committee room on Parliament Street, Indian lawmakers have lit a fuse that threatens to detonate the business model of the world’s most profitable industry. The numbers are stark, even obscene. A common allergy pill that costs distributors two cents to procure sells...
US Power Play In The Caribbean: Washington’s New Monroe Doctrine
By Roger McKenzie LONDON: We have grown used over the years to client regimes in the Middle East and parts of Africa doing the bidding of the various colonial rulers. Sadly, these “misleaders” are not restricted to those regions. We are seeing the same spectacle playing out across the...
India’s Push For Self-Reliance In Rare Earth Magnet Making Is Laudable
By Nantoo Banerjee It is encouraging to note that the government has decided to invest large sums of money in support of rare earth magnet manufacturing and substantially improve the country’s rare earth-based metals production to escape China’s global chokehold in this strategic sector. Presently, there are a few...
Trump’s Venezuela Gambit: A Drug War Or A Geopolitical Power Play?
By Ashok Nilakantan Ayers NEW YORK: When President Trump declared Venezuelan airspace “closed in its entirety” last Saturday, threatening imminent land-based military strikes against what he described as drug trafficking operations, the announcement marked a dramatic escalation in a campaign that has increasingly strained credulity among foreign policy experts...
India’s Silent Debt Time Bomb: When Households Borrow Faster Than They Save
By R. Suryamurthy There is a number in the government’s latest disclosures that should unsettle anyone paying attention to India’s economic trajectory. Household financial liabilities — the debt Indian families owe to banks, NBFCs and other lenders — have soared 76% in just four years, rising from ₹77.7 lakh...
Narendra Modi Has To Exercise His Finest Diplomatic Skill In Talks With Putin
By T N Ashok When Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in India’s capital on December 4 for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, he will bring more than proposals for weapons systems and energy contracts. The visit represents a pivotal moment in global realignment, one that could determine whether India...
Congress Dilemma Over Succession In Karnataka Remains Despite A Temporary Truce
By Kalyani Shankar After the recent setback in Bihar, the Congress Party is now grappling with a power struggle in Karnataka between the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy D.K. Shiv Kumar. Within political circles, especially among Congress members, there is rampant speculation about a possible leadership change later...
Traditional Knowledge And Modern Knowledge: Is There A Binary?
By Dr. Ram Puniyani While delivering Ramnath Goenka Lecture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that we should take a ten-year pledge to root out colonial mindset. In ten years, it will be 200 years when Lord Macaulay introduced the pattern of education in English. As per Mr. Modi “…Macaulay...
Anatomy Of A Demolition In Prem Nagar Basti In Gurugram In New India
By Tulip Banerjee Forty-year old Kamlesh sat on a broken charpai by the road in Gurugram’s Prem Nagar II locality, waiting for her mehendi to dry while staring into the wreckage of the only home she has ever known. Two days after their homes were demolished, women huddled together,...
Strengths And Weaknesses On Display At Your Party’s Founding Conference
By Ben Chacko LONDON: Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party’s founding conference brought thousands of people to Liverpool at the weekend. Many more of the party’s 50,000 members participated online. They voted for collective leadership; for dual membership with other parties to be permitted; for the party to be explicitly socialist...
Delhi Summit To See A New Strategic Reset In India-Russia Partnership
By K Raveendran An evolving convergence of political intent and economic pragmatism is giving fresh momentum to the India–Russia relationship, placing the forthcoming summit in New Delhi as a significant moment in a partnership that has already weathered decades of geopolitical shifts. The visit of President Vladimir Putin, framed...
India’s GDP Is Booming — But The Fiscal Math Is Becoming A Fantasy
By R. Suryamurthy India’s second-quarter GDP print has triggered the kind of chest-thumping usually reserved for election night or a cricket victory. Real GDP surged 8.2% in July–September, the strongest among major economies and, predictably, a cause for unrestrained celebration across ministries and television studios. Manufacturing accelerated, construction stayed...
Labour Codes Snatch Numerous Rights And Protections Of Workers
By Dr. Gyan Pathak India has implemented the four controversial Labour Codes on November 21, 2025, with a theoretical promise to the workforce of the country more benefits and greater protection. Nevertheless, it is highly uncertain to what extent the promises made will be realised on the ground, especially...
India At The Crossroads Navigating Global Trade Headwinds In Tariff War
By T N Ashok The World Trade Organization’s latest assessments paint an increasingly sombre picture of global commerce. After an unexpectedly robust first half of 2025—when merchandise trade volumes surged 4.9% year-on-year—the momentum has decisively shifted. The WTO’s November Goods Trade Barometer dropped to 101.8 from 102.2 in June,...
America’s Tariff Shock Is Rewriting Global Trade Making WTO Of Little Relevance
By R. Suryamurthy The global trading system is edging into a colder, more brittle phase, and the numbers emerging from Geneva and New Delhi tell the story with an uncomfortable clarity—one that Washington’s political class has not yet fully owned. The World Trade Organization’s latest Goods Trade Barometer, released...
Despite The Controversies, ‘Your Party’ Of Britain Has Great Potential
By Ben Chacko LONDON: Despite the disputes that have troubled its launch, the founding conference of “Your Party” this weekend is an important moment. Its gestation dates back further than the (itself controversial) announcement it was coming by Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana in July. People have called for...
Judicial Discretion In The Era Of Illiberalism In Independent India
By Rohit Sarma The era of illiberalism in India and beyond has offered many lessons to those studying constitutions, constitutionalism and the nature of the judicial process. It has shown that the demise of constitutionalism does not necessarily take the form of the dramatic dismemberment of existing institutions and...
