Opinion

SPARE THE LECTURE ON INDIA’S DEMOCRACY

18 Mar 2021 03:36 AM IST

It is becoming increasingly apparent that some people have a major problem with India’s greatest badge of honour—its democracy. Or rather, they have such a huge problem with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that according to them India is ceasing to be a democracy just because he is in power. He

The Dragon’s dilemma: Recruiting Tibetans in PLA

18 Mar 2021 03:34 AM IST

China is trying hard to bring reforms in its armed forces and recruit more minorities like the Tibetans. However, at the centre of this process is a dilemma: Can Beijing secure the Tibetans’ loyalty to the Communist Party after its oppressive reign in The Land of Snows?

THE CULT OF THE STAR CAMPAIGNER

17 Mar 2021 02:59 AM IST

After 2014 there have been very few elections where one has seen a clash of strong personalities. For once the BJP came to power, not only did Narendra Modi become the Prime Minister, he also became the party’s star campaigner. In fact, as S. Prasannarajan, editor, Open magazine, wrote, there

Go public instead of privatising

17 Mar 2021 02:56 AM IST

Rather than letting private players overtake PSUs, the government should open them up to the public—but keep their management away from bureaucrats, who are more wedded to procedure than production and profits.

ALL EYES ON THE KEEN CONTEST IN BENGAL

16 Mar 2021 03:06 AM IST

Of all the states going to the polls in the latest round of Assembly elections, West Bengal is grabbing the maximum eyeballs because of the keen contest between the incumbent Trinamool Congress and the main Opposition in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party. Given the landslide victory that Mamata Banerjee

‘Khela Hobe’: An attempt to divert attention from governance failures

16 Mar 2021 03:04 AM IST

TMC’s ‘khela hobe’ slogan might be catchy, but it reveals a tone of inherent violence and the party’s diversionary tactics. Mamata Banerjee must realise that her government cannot garner popular support merely by painting the BJP as an outsider and enemy of Bengal, but has to account for its failures

CONGRESS SNUB TO G-23 SERVES NO PURPOSE

15 Mar 2021 09:01 AM IST

By excluding some of the prominent leaders from the list of star campaigners, who after their suggestions to the leadership for holding elections to various party positions, are considered to be dissidents by the high command, the Congress appears to be pursuing a path that leads nowhere. The non-inclusion can

Multiple accrediting agencies: An indispensable obligation

15 Mar 2021 08:56 AM IST

It is true that different domains of education require differential norms of accreditation. How can that be ensured? Should accreditation agencies be set up discipline-wise, programme-wise or institution-wise?

CHACKO’S RESIGNATION IS A SETBACK FOR CONGRESS IN KERALA

13 Mar 2021 02:49 AM IST

P.C. Chacko, the four-time Lok Sabha MP, who shot into prominence in the seventies while being part of the Indian Youth Congress led by Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, has decided to part company with the grand old party. Considered an important activist of the youth movement, he and Vyalar Ravi, also

Bengal is demanding change after losing a decade to Mamata

13 Mar 2021 02:45 AM IST

Massive discontent against the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the erosion of votes for the Left and the consolidation of Hindu voters are being seen by some political pundits as the major reasons behind the BJP’s unprecedented rise in West Bengal. But more than anything else, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schemes, like

BENGAL POLLS: PM MODI SEEMS TO HAVE MET HIS MATCH IN MAMATA

12 Mar 2021 02:23 AM IST

One thing that can be said about the West Bengal election is that it is not an unequal election. The Prime Minister has clearly met his match in Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister. And more. S. Prasannarajan, editor, Open magazine, wrote that there has been no local election

A resurgent DMK looks set to wrest Tamil Nadu

12 Mar 2021 02:22 AM IST

The X-factor in the Assembly polls is the presence of two political formations in the making—a small grouping led by actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan and rebel AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran and his Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. Then, of course, there is Captain Vijayakanth.