Opinion

A party is entitled to shower gifts on its prime minister on his birthday. But can public welfare be parcelled as a gift for such an occasion? The question arises on account of the impressive — ...

Palace intrigue Sir — The British royal family and controversy go hand in hand. Recently, Prince Charles was accused of meeting intermediaries who arranged for special favours from the royal fa...

The so-called ‘bad bank’ is ready to get off the ground. Last week, the Centre said it would provide guarantees worth Rs 30.6 billion that will buttress the security receipts that the Nati...

The climate negotiation has come full circle. Twelve years back, during the United Nations’s climate summit in Copenhagen, mayors of several important cities were shown the door midway through t...

It should not surprise anyone that prolonged insurgencies leave behind scars, some barely visible but, nonetheless, excruciating. The case of the civil militia, Village Defence Force, in Manipur, rais...

The dictionary defines schadenfreude quite simply as the ‘satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune’. This is so typical a desi emotion that it a...

Crucial fight Sir — Strange spectacles are on display on the campaign trail for the Bhowanipore by-election. While the chief minister and Trinamul Congress candidate, Mamata Banerjee, is rushin...

That justice delayed is justice denied is a reality with which Indians are all too familiar. A decade ago, India already had the world’s largest backlog of cases; the total has now climbed to a ...

Crime must be met with punishment in a polity that honours the rule of law. But punishment need not be a deterrent by itself. What is required is continuous engagement with the nature of criminal acti...

What I cannot tell some people, I take out on telemarketers. They mostly call to offer personal loans. I play with them for a while like gau rakshaks play with cattle sellers, or cat with mi...