EDITORIALS
Insights into Editorial: The danger of reciprocity: on the independence of the Supreme Court Context: We have yet another controversy surrounding the Supreme Court, with the collegium revisiting decisions made at an earlier meeting and recommending the elevation of two junior judges to the Supreme Court. No one has any doubts about the competence or […]
Insights into Editorial: Showing the way: on Manipur’s new anti-lynching law Introduction: Pluralism and tolerance are essential virtues and constitute the building blocks of a truly free and democratic society. Intolerance arising out of a dogmatic mindset sows the seeds of upheaval. The groundswell of public disgust at the lynching’s crystallised under the banner […]
Insights into Editorial: Why India’s Sedition Law needs to be buried Context: The Delhi Police filed a charge sheet against 10 people, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case for allegedly raising “anti-national slogans” during an event on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in February […]
Insights into Editorial: Preventing student suicides Introduction: The end of 2018 brought with it some deeply unsettling cases of student suicides. The deaths of 49 students in Navodaya Vidyalaya schools in the last five years, and of three students preparing for the IIT entrance examinations in Kota in a span of four days, brings […]
Insights into Editorial: Why income inequality in India may be fuelling populist politics Introduction: India’s poverty debate and huge increase in billionaires post 1991 economic reforms are well known. However, not much has been known where middle class in this and how it has fared. More than a class between rich and poor, it is […]
Insights into Editorial: Basic income works and works well Introduction: The idea of a universal basic income has gained currency in the West because of the threat of automation-induced job losses. In India, the idea first gained currency as a solution to chronic poverty and government’s failure to effectively target subsidies towards the poor. […]
Insights into Editorial: Let the grassroots breathe Context: One of the first decisions of the newly elected government in Rajasthan has been to scrap the minimum educational qualification criteria for candidates contesting local body elections. This reverses the amendments introduced in 2015 which required candidates contesting the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections to have […]
Insights into Editorial: A solution in search of a problem: on 10% reservations Introduction: Parliament passes Bill to provide 10% quota for poor: President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the constitutional provision to provide 10-per cent reservation in government jobs and education to economically backward section in the general category. Previously, Parliament […]
Insights into Editorial: Why MCQ isn’t an option MCQs in Various modes of Examinations: The growing legitimisation of the MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) pattern of exams for all sorts of entrance tests, particularly in the field of liberal arts and social sciences, indicates the poverty of pedagogic imagination that seems to have inflicted a […]
Insights into Editorial: Lessons for Kashmir from the Kuriles Introduction: The Second World War left behind many problems inherited from history, not least in Asia in respect of multiple disputed territories. One of them concerns four islands in the Kurile chain that are claimed by Japan but occupied by Russia as successor state of the […]
Insights into Editorial: Free for all voters Introduction: An intriguing question in political economy is how politicians get re-elected in spite of the public perception that they are corrupt. The storied culture of feasts and gifts has thrown up the perfect excuse to devour the model code of conduct and splash out on voters […]
Insights into Editorial: It’s time to reimagine social impact in a digital India Introduction: Technology and human life cannot be separated. society has a cyclical co-dependence on technology. We use technology and depend on technology in our daily life and our needs and demands for technology keep on rising. Humans use technology to […]
Insights into Editorial: Hope with concerns in 2019 Introduction: India’s Growth Rate: Globally, the growth rate in 2018 was high, particularly in the United States. But strong signs of a trade war emerged, dimming hopes of faster international trade. Britain is passing through the pangs of separation from the European Union. The Indian rupee […]
Insights into Editorial: Powering South Asian integration Context: The Union Ministry of Power issued a memo that set the rules for the flow of electricity across South Asian borders. Evaluated against the turbulent politics around the issue, the new guidelines are a startling departure from India’s previous stance. In an atmosphere of regional intrigue […]
Insights into Editorial: Dead ends of specialisation Introduction: Among scholars and knowledge makers in history, one can identify a large number of intellectuals whose interests lay in seemingly disparate spheres. A poet and philosopher could also be an astronomer, technical innovator and mathematician. A traveller and writer could be a linguist and painter. Consider […]
Insights into Editorial: Boost to plain packaging Context: This year, Thailand and Saudi Arabia will join a growing club of nations introducing plain packaging of tobacco products. They are the first in the Asian and Arab regions, respectively, to adopt the tough measure in order to curb tobacco consumption from September in Thailand, and […]
Insights into Editorial: Agenda for the fourth term in Bangladesh Context: Sheikh Hasina’s party, which leads the Grand Alliance, has romped back to power for an unprecedented fourth term in office. The general election has given the Grand Alliance, or, more specifically, the Awami League, a huge majority in the Jatiyo Sangshad, the country’s Parliament, […]
Insights into Editorial: The shape of growth matters Introduction: A growth rate of 9% is essential to generate enough jobs and achieve universal prosperity, according to a vision document released by NITI Aayog. Towards this, the ‘Strategy for New India @75’ document recommends a number of steps, including increasing the investment rate, reforming agriculture, and […]
Insights into Editorial: Lifelines beyond farm loan waivers Introduction: Rural agrarian distress is firmly at the centre of the national discourse today, triggered by the recent Assembly election results in the Hindi heartland as well as continuous farmer agitations. Eight state governments have given farm loan waivers worth ₹1.9 trillion since April 2017, amid […]
Insights into Editorial: Levelling the playing field for online vendors Context: The government announced new e-commerce rules: Restricting players from selling the products of companies in which they have a stake. Capping the percentage of inventory that a vendor can sell through a marketplace entity (IT platform of an e-commerce entity) or its […]