FROM the din of the grand spectacle of pomp and pageantry in Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Motera two dynamic world leaders, in their own right, have opened a new chapter in the Indo-US relations that now bask in a unique warmth after the two-day visit of the President of the United States Mr. Donald Trump to India. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and the US President have managed to instill a wonderful pep in the bilateral relations that transcended the usual transactional format ..

FINALLY schools in Jammu and Kashmir have begun to bubble with children’s activities. There is an air of expectancy among children, teachers and parents that the year ahead would be peaceful and conducive for acquiring education. The children are keen to pursue their avowed goals and follow their dreams. The Government and security forces have made enough efforts and have taken steps that should lead normalcy of life to get entrenched so that people can begin to live their normal life. Reports from ..

THE UK’s “sky-high” visa fees could deter vital NHS staff and the “brightest and best” scientists that Boris Johnson wants to attract with his new immigration policy. The tech experts who till recently flocked to the UK from the EU may not be able to afford to do so if Boris Johnson’s proposed immigration overhaul, as being supposed to be implemented by Priti Patel becomes law...

While India’s renewable energy generation capacity had grown rapidly to 75.8 GW by the end of December 2018, including 35.3 GW of wind and 26 GW of solar (both utility scale and rooftop), the country still has a long way to go to meet both the short-term and long-term targets...

The decision of the Apex Court to give permanent commission to all women officers in the Army is a welcome and progressive step. Even as this step is hailed by the Army top brass, they are of the opinion that women are still not ‘combat ready’. As of now, this idea cannot be put into practice. Women, they feel, will not be able to meet the challenges and hazards faced in warfare due to a few physical limitations and their mental makeup...

CONGRESSIONAL Democrats, progressive groups, and defenders of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid all blasted President Donald Trump’s proposed Budget cuts for the fiscal year that starts October 1. Two top Government worker unions chimed, in, too, slamming Trump for proposing only a 1 per cent raise for calendar 2021, far below inflation and below this year’s 3.1 per cent, which Trump had resisted. Meanwhile,..

THE Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has assessed that the incomes of our farmers have increased by 7 per cent per year between 2013 and 2019. In this backdrop, we have to assess the steps required to attain the Government’s commitment to double the income of the farmers by 2023. It will be necessary for the farmer’s income to increase by about 30 per cent per year to attain this target. The strategy outlined by the Finance Minister in the Budget is to help the farmers increase the quantity of ..

IN view of binding nature of two judgments delivered by larger Benches of the Supreme Court in the cases – Pratap Narain Singh Deo v. Srinivas Sabata – 1976 (1) SCC 289 and Kerala State Electricity Board v. Valsala K. – (1999) 8 SCC 254, in the judgment of the case – K. Sivaraman & Others v. P. Sathiskumar & Another, delivered on February 13, 2020, Justice Dr Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi have held, at the Apex-Court , that the relevant date for determination of compensation payable ..

  THE Congress party’s ‘zero to zero’ journey in Delhi Assembly elections has left the internal split wide open. Voices of dissent against leadership and calls for total overhaul by senior members are indicators of a storm brewing within the Grand Old Party. By calling the Delhi debacle as an unmitigated disaster like coronavirus, former Union Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh has nailed the present condition of Congress which is undoubtedly staring at irrelevance. Lack of ideas ..

THE 8-phase by-polls to fill up 12500 panchayat seats will be another exercise towards restoring normalcy in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Government is moving step by step in restoring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir after it abrogated its ..

THE Corona Virus has led to a shutdown of the Chinese economy. Airbus has suspended the production of airplanes and Foxconn, which makes mobile phones for Apple, has done the same for mobile phones. The Chinese share markets are down and are pulling the global markets with them. Tourists to- and from China have come to zero. We are also impacted. Fourteen per cent of our imports, including items such as auto parts, come from China; and five per cent of our exports of items such as diamonds, fish, ..

QUITE recently, in the judgment of the case – M/s Granules India Ltd. v. Union of India and Others, delivered on January 23, 2020, Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Krishna Murari, at the Supreme Court, have voiced the Court’s “considered opinion” that “it is absolutely no defence of the State authorities to contend that they were not aware of their own notification dated 18.09.1994”. The onus heavily rests on them and a casual statement generating litigation by State apathy cannot be approved. After ..

   By Ashis BiswasFor the coming civic polls in Bengal, both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have focused on reconstructing their strategies post 2019 Lok Sabha elections.Leaders and activists in both parties have been busier than their counterparts in the Left Front (LF) and Congress (INC). Pushed by an increasingly assertive BJP, the TMC has been forced to go unannounced into an early campaigning mode.In recent months, the TMC has made some ..

   AS EXPECTED the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the interest rates unchanged obviously because of the inflationary winds that are blowing in the country. Since inflation remains a major concern for the Apex Bank it was a foregone conclusion that status quo would be maintained on interest rates regime. In the last few weeks the inflation rate has climbed to five-year high of over 7 pc in December on the back of unprecedented rains in most ..

THE Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has sought raising of retiring age of armed forces personnel below the rank officers from the current 37-38 to 58 years. It is aimed at curbing the pension outlay that has gone up from Rs 1.1 lakh crore of 2019-20 to Rs.1.33 lakh crore for 2020-21 and utilising prime years of jawans instead of sending them to a retired life after just 17-18 years of service. The proposal holds merit though the general belief is having a young military as the nature ..

THE Indian security forces and intelligence people must be thanked and congratulated for laying hands on deadly ammunition of American and Chinese origin. The amount of stock of arms and ammunition that the security forces got their hands on, on January 31 after an encounter with terrorists at a Srinagar plaza toll, led them to believe that a major attack has been nipped in the bud. What has surprised the security forces is the recovery of sophisticated MP4 gun of American make, capable of being fitted ..

REVENUE Secretary Mr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey has done well to spell out the modalities behind the new tax system and the thinking that went into having multiple slabs in tax brackets. Various theories have been floating in the country after the announcement of a new Income Tax regime which also gives the tax payers an option to stay with the old system. Contrary to the belief that the new regime has complicated things for tax payers,..

A 3-JUDGE bench of the Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Surya Kant have ruled in the judgment of the case – Desh Raj v. Balkishan (D) through proposed LR Ms. Rohini, delivered on January 20, 2020, that the courts continue to have discretion in condoning delay in filing of Written Statement (WS) beyond the prescribed period of limitation in non-commercial disputes. Regarding the timeline for filing of Written Statement in a non-commercial ..

THE widespread wildfire in Australia that ravaged 12 million acres of forestland apart from countless animals and 29 humans, is almost equal in intensity as the widespread anger and angst of the people against their Prime Minister. For several weeks, as the fire ripped through the continent, videos did rounds on social media how the people in the affected areas were even reluctant to shake hands with the Prime Minister as he went out assuaging the grief and anxiety of the people. It was seen as a ..

THE conversation was plainly acerbic, even insulting, to both parties, but more to the elder between them. Certain terseness in such conversation may not be ruled out altogether. For, when an elder, or a parent, asks a youngster to conduct himself or herself properly, certain terseness cannot be avoided. That happened that evening when a father asked his son to return home immediately as it was already 8.30 pm. But the son’s reply was absolutely shocking, to say the least. He said, “I am a grown up ..

Time has now come for taking the national issues out of the political arena and create an apolitical “The Centre is keeping ‘normalcy’ in Kashmir under heavy security cover. That is not normalcy; that is actually a failure ...”. - Statement by an Opposition leader THIS is nothing but a massive hypocrisy. Ever since the Centre first introduced Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India in Kashmir, the State was always kept under heavy security cover of varying proportions. ..

IT IS A proud moment for India that the United Nations Organisation (UNO) has hailed the country’s use of digital technologies for reducing disparities as a path-breaking initiative which the world body says is worth replicating the world over. For the developing countries which fight economic inequalities this is a very useful tool to reach out to the deprived sections of the population. The Government of India, therefore, deserves all the praise for this initiative. The World Social Report 2020 ..

ROUTINE life in Israel is invariably marked by a conflict-laden day throughout which its armed forces battle on multiple fronts with Palestine-backed forces and political leaders ponder on ways to settle a long-pending territorial dispute. A change in status quo is likely to happen soon with the President of United States Mr. Donald Trump unveiling his Middle East peace plan that proposes a two-State solution aimed at ending one of the longest disputes. Mr. Trump’s plan -- Peace to Prosperity: A Vision ..

THE arrest of Sharjeel Imam as a mastermind of multiple anti-national activities actually marks a very major development whose metaphor needs to be understood in totality. The arrest will prove to be a major boost to the comprehensive investigations into the current phase of senseless but well-organised and violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act -- CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the National Population Register (NPR) and help unravel the larger plot of creating widespread ..

What one finds as the most striking feature of Nagpur while loose-footing around is the historicity the city is steeped in. At every nook and corner, one sees evidence of history that actually shaped Maharashtra’s Second Capital. One’s heart fills with reasonable pride that the city has seen many critical moments that decided the future of larger India – like the fall of the Bhonslas to the British, one of the last royal dynasties that gave up fighting the aliens …! But what strikes most is the previous ..

THE Budget is all about allocation of resources towards social sectors such as education, health, infrastructure and agriculture. Ideally, the Government should spend/allocate funds toward any sector, in a fashion, which requires the most. Take for example the agriculture sector. There are around 500 million farmers with more than 50 per cent of the Indian labour force depending on agriculture and allied activities. As there is an indication that there is a fall in consumption expenditure (first time ..

PRESIDENT Mr. Ram Nath Kovind has quite justifiably lamented that there are still people in the country who do not understand the importance of their vote. Speaking on the occasion of National Voters’ Day, marking the establishment of the Election Commission in 1950, the President said that there are still countries where people have to fight and make sacrifices to get voting right. But in India some people refuse to exercise that right though it is freely and rightfully available. This is the travesty. ..

THE tender fabric of a living democracy thrives on a society which adheres to non-violent ways while carrying one’s right to protest. Expression of political ideas and ideologies must pass tenets of democracy and constitutional methods. Violent protests are a straight stab in the heart of democracy and has no place in a matured society that constantly aims to achieve social and economic objectives. In wake of the protests ..

THE UN General Assembly has approved a resolution that will start the process of drafting a new international treaty to combat cybercrime. The Russian-drafted resolution was approved by the 193-member world body by a vote of 79-60 with 33 abstentions. The resolution establishes an expert committee representing all regions of the world “to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes.” It says the committee ..

  THOUGH he has stopped short of saying back-breaking the scheduling of tours, Virat Kohli is apparently not happy with the manner in which tours are being planned. Just four days ago the Indian team had finished two gruelling series, first against Sri Lanka and then Australia. They had barely the time to pack their bags to take a flight to New Zealand. They had not enough time to shake off jet lag when they had to launch into another gruelling series. No doubt the Board of Control for ..

FROM a legal angle, the killing of General Qasem Soleimani was murder, plain and simple, that must receive international opprobrium. The USA has been killing terrorists all over the world. There is, however, a fundamental difference in the killing of a terrorist like Osama and that of General Soleimani. Osama was a non-state actor; General Soleimani was a State actor. This puts them on entirely different pedestals. Article 51 of the UN Charter covers an individual or collective right to self-defence ..

THE observation in a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that Pakistan has only “limited options” to respond to India’s decisions as regards Kashmir, may appear all right from the American point of view, but in actuality makes little sense on the ground. For, Pakistan has no locus standi as regards Kashmir -- which is India’s totally internal matter. By that standard, Pakistan has no option but to remain out of the picture, no matter its fuming and fretting on various international platforms ..

A NEW wave of development has begun in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir as rightly pronounced by Union Minister Ms. Smriti Irani as she assured opening of a textile unit in Reasi district. Setting up of a suitable textile unit will be another step in opening up of a way to livelihood for the local populace which depends largely..

NO MATTER the downward revision of economic growth forecast for India in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) to 4.8 per cent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a rise in growth prospects to 5.8 per cent in 2020 and to 6.5 per cent in 2021. This is a positive indication for India, particularly against the background of a noticeable slide from a near-7 per cent mark to 4.8 in the last one year. Another positive note in the WEO Report ahead of the World Economic Forum at Davos is that ..

IT IS a tale of two countries. India’s growth rate slumped and it has caused a furore. The Government has been held responsible for the sudden drop in GDP growth rate on account of its policy mistakes. In China, economic growth has fallen to a three-decades depth. At just about 6.1 per cent GDP growth in 2019, it is a distant call from those of days of two-digit growth rates in that country over decades. However, the Chinese Government is not under fire nor there is much worry about things being altogether ..