CATEGORIES

Bigger Bomb

North Korea conducts another nuclear test, which helps it gain the capability to produce “standardised and minimised” nuclear warheads, and the U.S. presses for more sanctions on the country.

Rise Of The Police State

From Madhya Pradesh to Delhi to Jharkhand to Chhattisgarh, agencies of the BJP governments have literally been on the rampage. The fake encounters, the oppression of people fighting for their rights, and the curbs imposed on the media bring back memories of the Emergency days.

Whose Development Is It Anyway?

The Assembly elections have put under intense scrutiny Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model of development which is touted as worthy of replication throughout the country. Audit reports of the CAG provide ample evidence of it being inefficient, corrupt and not beneficial to the common people.

Online Shopping Frenzy

The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba creates a startling sales  record on this year’s Singles’ Day, tapping into the rising consumerism of the upper middle class. The surge may not yield the home market growth needed to rebalance the country’s growth.

World Affairs Saudi Intrigues

The purge of the Saudi royal family, camouflaged as an anti-corruption drive, has torn apart its erstwhile unity, while the forced resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister has reinforced the battle lines in the volatile neighbourhood.

Show Of Solidarity

An international conference held in Yalta highlights how Crimea has been subjected to harsh sanctions by the West since it conducted a constitutionally valid referendum to secede from Ukraine in 2014.

Ruined Infrastructure And A Refugee Crisis

Two months after two hurricanes hit Puerto Rico, the island nation continues to be plagued by collapsed infrastructure, widespread power failure and fears of a health crisis, even as residents leave en masse for the U.S. mainland.

Mandir Manoeuvres

Not much is actually happening in Ayodhya, but the fact that the BJP is now in power in Uttar Pradesh stokes the hopes of those seeking to build a Ram temple there.

Debt Of Honour

The Maharashtra government comes through on its promise of loan waiver to farmers, but many other issues remain unresolved.

Crisis Of Confidence

The threat from within to the integrity and impartiality of the Supreme Court that four seniormost judges of the court highlighted at an extraordinary press conference has profound implications for India’s democracy.

Question Of Conduct

The complaint filed by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms against the Chief Justice of India serves as the latest reminder of the urgent need for reform in the Supreme Court.

The Crisis In Context

The crisis in the judiciary is symptomatic of a wider crisis being felt in all significant constitutional institutions and requires introspection on a far wider scale than is assumed.

Political Roots

The silence of the government on the memorandum of procedures finalised by the Supreme Court and the alleged arbitrary assignment of cases is at the core of the controversy dogging the judiciary.

Window Dressing The Budget

Budget 2018-19 will feature a window dressed Revised Estimate to ensure that the fiscal deficit is on target. The government’s decision to sell its stake in HPCL to ONGC is only one more step in that direction.

Oil Shock And Surprise

How the Indira Gandhi government dealt with the oil price hike of 1973 by signing beneficial agreements with Iraq and Iran.

Climate Of Fear

The Christian community has been at the receiving end of rising persecution at the hands of Hindu right-wing elements aiming to polarise society along religious lines.

One-­Horse Race

With most leaders of the opposition parties either in jail or in exile, President Abdulla Yameen appears set to win the approaching presidential election.

Sleight Of Hand

The striking aspect of the NDA government’s last full Budget is a lack of clarity on policy measures and the absence of commitment of resources to back them up.

Back To Ballot

Nagaland is poised for a fight between the NPF and the NDPP-BJP as the political parties go back on their decision to boycott elections until a solution to the Naga issue was found. 

'Muckrakers' united

The GIJN’s Asia conference was a telling reminder of the need for investigative and data-driven journalism to strengthen democracy in the current global climate.

Delhi's Air Pollution Explained!

An unusual confluence of factors caused unprecedented pollution and smog in the Delhi region soon after Deepavali, and experts warn of a similar episode in the days to come.

The Cow Menace

The BJP governments’ holy cow policy has given rise to the phenomenon of large herds of unproductive cattle abandoned by their owners creating social, economic and environmental crises across northern India.

For Pastures New

Sant Gopal Das takes on the Haryana government for failing to protect cows and to keep its promise to provide grazing land.

A Blow For Child Rights

The Supreme Court rules that sex with a minor wife, despite consent, is rape, but activists call for a more realistic perspective to prevent child marriages and also to uphold the rights of young couples.

Killer Spray

The death of nearly 20 farmworkers who sprayed pesticides on Bt cotton crops in Maharashtra puts the focus on the risky practice and on the claims about Bt cotton not needing pesticides.

The Golden ‘Diwali Gift'

The ability to evade identification while purchasing large quantities of gold and other precious jewellery is a move aimed at favouring some relatively richer groups while denying ordinary people their basic  socio-economic rights.

Devastated Puerto Rico

Three weeks after Hurricane Maria struck, Puerto Ricans continue to lead perilous lives, without access to water or electricity, and relief packages have only exacerbated the country’s serious debt problem.

Grand Scheme

The Maharshtra government’s Mumbai-Nagpur expressway is on course despite large tracts of irrigated land being lost to the project.

Deja Vu In Colombo

“The war” in Sri Lanka, as it is cryptically referred to, is over, but politicians, civil society and media commentators continue to be conflicted, even nervous, about what it has left in its wake and what is in store ahead.

Tumultuous Times

The political system in Brazil has been rocked by a mammoth corruption investigation nicknamed Operation Car Wash, even as the country’s economy remains trapped in the worst recession it has experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s.