Opinion

Debate on Bharat Ratna to Nehru, Indira rekindled

07 Feb 2024 06:01 AM IST

When RTI enthusiasts sought records of the recommendations for awarding the Ratna to Nehru, Indira, Prasad, Giri and others, they were told by records and file notings were not available. Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur and Lal Krishna Advani have rekindled the debate and controversy surrounding the time when the

Themes of Modi Era Budgets

06 Feb 2024 06:18 AM IST

If we look at all the budgets presented by the Modi government in the last ten years (including two vote-on-account budgets), the emphasis has been on four themes when it comes to expenditure outlays. The first one is a targeted welfare scheme, whether it is the PM Kissan Samman Yojana

Time to Repair Inter-Community Relations

06 Feb 2024 06:15 AM IST

Voices are rising from within the Muslim community about the need to repair relations with Hindus, by shedding the centuries-old inter-community bitterness that was aggravated by the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The latest such voice of sanity belongs to the chief of Kerala’s Indian Union Muslim League, Panakkad Syed

Budget: Consolidated with Political Confidence

06 Feb 2024 06:11 AM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains popular among India’s poor owing to direct social benefit transfers that also include a pre-pandemic scheme ensuring free food grains to more than 800 million poor people. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to transform India into a developed economy by 2047, his finance

Naval Warfare: Realisations & Gains from 1971 War

05 Feb 2024 09:49 AM IST

An unprecedented display of Indian Navy (IN) might occurred during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Aside from their important roles in the Liberation of Goa (1961) and defensive activities during the 1965 Indo-Pak War, the IN had a limited role before this. Many different types of naval activities took place in

Bharat Ratna L K Advani: philosopher, friend and guide to Modi

05 Feb 2024 09:47 AM IST

The decision of the Central government to confer the prestigious Bharat Ratna award to BJP patriarch Lal Krishan Advani has come at the right time, though many of his admirers would still say, a little late. Advani was in real terms, the original architect of the BJP, though his senior

Demographic trends, culture and concept of nationhood

05 Feb 2024 09:38 AM IST

One of the most present and potent crises staring at most advanced and developed nations is the anti-migrant sentiments and the rise of more and more far rights movements and political formulations that ride on these sentiments. Be it former President Trump calling to build the wall along the Mexican

Walk the Talk or Face the Mock

03 Feb 2024 06:37 AM IST

A few days ago, there was a freakish report in the newspaper about two men having stolen a police vehicle from a police station in Madhya Pradesh. Such headlines disturb as well as amuse the readers. Something similar happens when we come to know about a cardiologist having undergone stenting.

Knives out for Navjot Singh Sidhu in Punjab Congress..

03 Feb 2024 06:32 AM IST

Navjot Singh Sidhu, former flamboyant Test opener and Congress leader has always been the stormy petrel of Punjab politics. He was at one point regarded as the future Chief Minister of the State and was instrumental in the removal of Captain Amarinder Singh from his position, much before his tenure

FM Promises a Golden Era

03 Feb 2024 06:28 AM IST

The budget has many promises making good noises but one only hopes that the final July budget would be different. It is a sparkling poll budget right from the address of the President Draupadi Murmu’s address harping on the economy to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman harping on need to give

Is India ready for free access to quality higher education?

02 Feb 2024 05:29 AM IST

UNESCO has been championing the right to education at all levels, including higher education. It is convinced that making higher education freely accessible and guaranteed for all is essential. It believes that tuition-free public higher education is an important step in this direction. Free access to quality higher education may

JAISHANKAR’S ‘NOT SCARED OF CHINA’ REMARK IS A TIMELY MESSAGE

02 Feb 2024 05:24 AM IST

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has recently said that India does not need to be scared of China and it has the capability and confidence to compete with the country. He also said that it was necessary to acknowledge China will influence India’s neighbours but New Delhi must not