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.Upa-II Has To Initiate Course Correction
By Harihar Swarup The UPA government must perform, show tangible results in the remaining two years in office or perish. The three years record of the Congress-led UPA-II has not been satisfactory compared to UPA-I which saw implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the passing of Forest...
Mamata Makes Some Breakthrough In First Year
From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: With the constraints of governance catching up with it, the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has been trying to shed its known rigidity over land acquisition and other issues, during the first year of its tenure. Otherwise, there is really not much to report about...
Crucial Neyyattinkara Byelection: Chandrashekharan Murder Haunts The CPI(M)
From P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Will BJP candidate O Rajagopal upset the calculations of both the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidates in the crucial Neyyattinkara by-election? That is the question resonating through the Nadar-dominated constituency, which is going to the polls on June 2....
Centre Has Landed In A Debt Trap
By Nantoo Banerjee Believe it or not, India’s next national government may face a similar situation as Mamata Banerjee’s in the state ofWest Bengal, forcing moratorium on debt repayment to pay salaries to some 40 lakh central government employees and almost a similar number of pensioners and aided staff...
Big Row Over Electoral Rolls In Meghalaya
By Barun Das Gupta KOLKATA: State Assembly elections in Meghalaya are slated to be held early next year – in February or March. As the final electoral rolls are being prepared, there is a strong demand that the names of ‘doubtful’ voters should be deleted. A number of NGOs...
Bangladesh Navy Gets A Boost
From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: Even a couple of years ago, Bangladesh had nothing but a few patrol boats by way of its navy. Not any more. Now that Bangladesh is set to join India and Myanmar to explore and make commercial use of its gas and hydrocarbon resources in...
UPA-2 Has Nothing Much To Show
By Kalyani Shankar When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh completed his first year in office in 2005, he gave himself six out of ten marks for his performance. In the successive years he refused to grade himself. For completing the third year of UPA 2, will he be able to...
Roadblocks In Mamata’s Political Path
By Nora Chopra Red alert for Mamata Banerjee: Mulayam Singh Yadav was not only the most sought after guest of Sonia Gandhi at the Prime Minister’s dinner on Tuesday, his presence on the dias with the UPA allies is a warning bell for Mamata-Di all the way. While his...
Congress Fighting BJP Over Wheat Policy
From L.S. Herdenia BHOPAL: Both the ruling BJP as well as the main opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh, for more than a month now, are bitterly bickering over what may well be described as the ‘politics of Wheat’. And why not? After all, it is an issue that involves...
Myanmar Democracy Helps India
From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: It seems that in the conduct of effective regional diplomacy, a delicate blend of patience and moderation counts for a great deal. Recent tensions between different sections of people in Myanmar and ethnic Chinese settlers clearly illustrate this. For decades,India, which never really supported the...
Curbing Dissent Nothing New In Bengal
By Garga Chatterjee The hurricane that had started from Singur and Nandigram made landfall in May last year when the 34-year old rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front came to a sordid end. The storm in village, victory in city- indeed, the surrounding of cities with the villages thing...
“Special Children” Need Special Care
By Rashmi Saksena Kudos to members of the Rajya Sabha. Bouquets for them this time round instead of the usual the brickbats reserved for politicians. On May 21, the leaders decided to put aside chaos and a war of words in the House of Elders all for the sake...
Centre Cites Modi To Push For Retail FDI
NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail could turn into a reality at least in a clutch of Indian cities soon, with the UPA government set to revive last November’s Cabinet decision to permit up to 51% FDI in the sector. It will, however, be optional for...
RBI Slashes Arbitrage Opportunity As Rupee Breaches 55 A Dollar
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stepped in yet again to curb volatility arising out of the arbitrage opportunity in the currency futures market even as the rupee fell to a new low on Monday. The Indian currency closed at an all-time low of 55.03 a dollar, as...
DoT To Press For 17% Increase In 2G Base Price Above TRAI's Proposed Rate
NEW DELHI: The telecom department (DoT) will press for a 17% increase in the base price for 2G spectrum bids over the rate proposed by Trai, further adding to the woes of mobile phone companies that were hoping the government would dilute the recommendations of the regulator. A DoT...
White Paper Blank On Black Money Size, Moots Immunity
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited White Paper on black money tabled in Parliament on Monday mooted an immunity scheme as a one-time option to encourage Indians to bring back money stashed abroad. The paper also suggested examining a demand on tax immunity for a gold deposit scheme. The White Paper,...
Taking Bigger Hit, Bankers Want CDR To Be Tightened
MUMBAI: Convinced that they are taking bigger hits than promoters, bankers want the terms of loan recasts to be tightened. While they believe promoters should write down their equity in companies as part of a restructuring package, lenders also want promoters to bring in a higher contribution of the...
Toronto-Based Fairbridge Capital To Buy Thomas Cook India
MUMBAI: UK-based Thomas Cook Group will sell its entire 77.1% stake in its Indian arm, Thomas Cook India, to Toronto-based Fairbridge Capital, owned by India-born billionaire Prem Watsa of the Fairfax group. The deal is estimated to be worth Rs 1,000 crore, inclusive of the open offer, and at...
