Opinion/Commentary

For one under pressure, Manmohan is confidence personified (Comment) (12:54)
By M.R. Narayan Swamy
Under unrelenting attack on more than one count, one would expect Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be wilting. No way! On the night he released his government's report card, nine years after he came to head the world's largest democracy, Manmohan Singh was visibly cool.

India's bleeding insurgencies: Lessons from Latin America (Comment) (09:04)
By Deepak Bhojwani
The tiny northeast Indian state of Tripura has turned into the second largest producer of natural rubber in the country largely because several hundred former militants of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) were rehabilitated a decade ago and allotted land.

Return of US dollar, end of gold run (Comment) (15:32)
By Vatsal Srivastava
Mark Twain once said that a gold miner is a liar standing next to a hole dug up in the ground. The time has come for financial market participants to stop looking at the world through the prism of a goldbug.

Sharif must use 'third chance' to break cycle of revenge (Comment) (17:43)
By Ravi M. Khanna
The fledgling democratic process in Pakistan has churned out a leader, who now has the rare opportunity to chart a new positive and peaceful course, not only for his own country but for the whole South Asia region, and leave a legacy that, so far, no other Pakistani leader has.

Muslims must stop playing loathsome politics with Vande Mataram (Comment) (09:18)
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed
As a law abiding Muslim of India, my head hung deep down in shame as I had read the news of Shafique-ur-Rehman Barq, BSP member parliament, leaving the hall while Vande Mataram, the national song, was being played. On his part, it was the stupidity of highest order.

Tagore's legacy: Seeking out the man behind the mask (Comment - May 9 is Tagore's birth anniversary) (12:35)
By Radha Chakravarty
To reconsider the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) on his 152nd birth anniversary is to confront a maze of contradictions. What, for instance, inspired a school dropout without a college degree to establish an international university? Why did a member of the land-owning 'zamindar' class feel compelled to write about the lives of oppressed peasants, and to experiment with schemes for rural development? How could a man write so insightfully about the lives of women? What made him express religious devotion in erotic language, and love in the language of religion? Why did he yearn for fame, yet live in constant fear of it?

Now a Shariah Index for financial inclusion of Indian Muslims (Comment) (12:44)
By Rohit Bansal
Followers of Islam, the second largest faith in the world with an estimated 1.7 billion believers, can now be surer when an Indian firm stands the pre-requisites for observant Muslims. The Shariah index launched by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is a new measure in town, assuring compliance with the Islamic canonical law.

Task of cleansing system has fallen on judiciary (Comment) (14:16)
By Amulya Ganguli
Ever since the Manmohan Singh government became embroiled in scams, it has been mainly the Supreme Court that has pushed for accountability.

Intemperate media hysteria setting political agenda (Comment) (18:08)
By Saeed Naqvi
I was in Lucknow when Sarabjit Singh died in Lahore. My purpose in visiting the city of my childhood was to address a much milder agenda: to attend a seminar organised by the local Urdu Media Guild on May Day. Since May Day this year coincided with celebration of Prophet Mohammad’s daughter Fatima Zehra’s birthday, the organisers made this coincidence the theme of the seminar.

BRICS: Changing the paradigm of international relations (Comment) (15:54)
By Deepak Bhojwani
India, a motive force behind the founding of BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - has shown the world the importance of the development of democracy. By focusing on cooperation rather than competition, these five emerging world powers have shown that they are capable of changing the paradigm of international relations and promoting the democracy of development.

Consumption of the well-off is main cause of pollution (Comment) (08:56)
By Arun Kumar
The problem confronting India is that at a very low level of per capita income and consumption compared to even developing countries, the pollution of rivers and air is among the worst in the world. Consequently, people are confronted with severe health-related problems caused by environmental degradation.

Chinese provocation: Is India prepared? (Comment) (13:14)
By Gen. (retd) Deepak Kapoor
The Chinese intrusion into Depsang Bulge in East Ladakh, approximately 19 km inside our perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on April 15, has raised temperatures both militarily and politically on either side. A series of border personnel meetings between the militaries of the two sides have not been able to resolve the issue so far and the standoff continues till date. It would not be incorrect to presume that this latest provocation from the Chinese side has been undertaken with the tacit approval of the highest levels in the Chinese hierarchy.

Indian cinema: Projecting India's soft power (12:20)
By Saroj Mohanty
"Could we, the sons of India, ever be able to see Indian images on screen?," wondered Dhundiraj Govind Phalke as he saw a French film, "The Life of Christ". Gripped by nationalistic fervour, Phalke, better known as Dada Saheb Phalke, went on to make in his own words the country's first "swadeshi" (indigenous) feature-length film, "Raja Harishchandra", which was released in May 3, 1913.

Do not export ore to China, Pakistan: CPI-M (18:16)
Panaji, April 27 (IANS) By insisting on allowing private mining companies to export ore to China and Pakistan, the right-wing BJP government in Goa was actually helping these two countries, often perceived as hostile nations, the CPI-M said Saturday.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist secretary for Goa, Thalmann Pereira, also said that mining leases given to handpicked, crony Goan families by the "hated" colonial regime headed by Portuguese dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar decades ago should be wrested back, and a government corporation should be formed to run the mining on these leases.

VVIP chopper deal: Singling out an individual is wrong (Comment) (09:50)
By Air Marshal (retd) V.K. Bhatia
In the ongoing investigation of bribery and corruption in the VVIP helicopter deal, the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, appears to have made up its mind that the then Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, was instrumental in swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland.

Boston suspects revive focus on Russia's restive North Caucasus (Comment) (13:38)
By Nabi Abdullaev
As US investigators hunt for evidence about the Boston bombing suspects, some of their questions will focus on Russia's restive North Caucasus, including the war-scarred Chechnya region that has produced a number of militant groups, but none that has been linked to terror attacks against the West.

RPG: 'Friendly' takeover tycoon and remarkable man (Tribute) (08:18)
By Sankar
Rama Prasad Goenka (who died April 14) was decidedly the most remarkable man I have seen in my life's journey. The world need not be told that R.P. Goenka was a great businessman. What was more remarkable was that he was an extraordinary human being, rich not only in bank balances but richer in human values, always keen to understand the world and enjoy the company of the people around him.

Narrative on Modi that will annoy supporters, detractors (Book Review) (With Images) (11:16)
By Rohit Bansal
Book: "The NaMo Story, A Political Life"; Author: Kingshuk Nag; Publisher: Roli Books; Pages: 188; Price: Rs 295.

12 billion mobiles in the next 10 years (Comment) (09:32)
By Prasanto K. Roy
One kilogram. That's what it weighed, the bulky prototype used for a wireless phone call by a Motorola engineer in 1973. For the real milestone 10 years later, a 790-gram Motorola DynaTAC made the first call from a commercial mobile phone, in a Mercedes in 1983. That makes the mobile 30 years old, and not the 40 that's being reported.

Can Rahul reform his party - and system? (Comment) (12:56)
By Amulya Ganguli
The recent reaffirmation by the Congress of its governing model of dual centres of power, notwithstanding party general secretary Digvijaya Singh's caveat, was further substantiated by Manmohan Singh's and Rahul Gandhi's addresses to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

India's education system must prepare children for life (Comment) (09:38)
By Shashank Vira and Mark Runacres
The far-reaching Right To Education Act, now in its fourth year of implementation, obliges the central and state governments to provide eight years of free and compulsory education to all children between 6 and 14 years of age. But the country is a long way from achieving that goal. India has always been a land of extreme dichotomies and the most extreme is that while the country is aspiring to become an economic superpower, it has an education system that is failing generations of children.

Policy changes key to affordable housing (Comment) (12:50)
By Vinod Behl
Affordable housing is the key to India's realty industry being able to change lanes to the fast track but cost escalations due to delayed permissions, lack of access to cheap credit and shortage of building material are proving to be major hurdles. The solution: Policy changes covering land to lending.

India's service industry must strive for excellence (Comment) (10:12)
By Amit Chaudhery
Emerging amid liberalisation and increasing integration with the global economy, India's service industry offers tremendous potential but also poses daunting challenges. Underdeveloped infrastructure, archaic policies, historical baggage of complex cultural mores and inadequate exposure to services standards are challenges that remain even after 65 years of independence. Yet, opportunities lie in challenges and adversities.

Novartis ruling sifts 'artful' patent from innovation (Comment) (13:57)
By Rohit Bansal
India’s apex court is in the witness box facing not-so-subtle protests from the $56.67-billion Swiss drugs giant Novartis that is on the losing side of a far-reaching ruling this week on the crucial area of innovation, research and development in life-saving pharmaceuticals.

BRICS has arrived, so will the mortar (Comment) (14:44)
By Arvind Padmanabhan
With Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa concluding in Durban a cycle of one summit in each country, the BRICS bloc, in a rather short span of time, seems to have arrived as an influential voice on the geopolitical space and some decisions like a development funding arm for poor and emerging economies, when executed, will have the potential to even challenge the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).