Coronavirus update: Finance minister Sitharaman falls back on 'act of god'

 Sitharaman says there may an economic contraction ahead due to ‘extraordinary situation’

Rural migration may alter Uttarakhand‘s political geography

Around 32 lakh migrated from Uttarakhand’s rural areas since the state's inception

An interview with Gandhi

The interviewer was was in London while Gandhi was staying there. He was able to have a long interview and to put to him a number of questions …

Banning fake news endangers free speech, press freedom

Singapore recently enacted laws to ban fake news, but the problem requires a multi-pronged response instead

A case for India’s stray dogs

Sterilising and vaccinating the dogs who live in our communities effectively and humanely controls their population, prevents rabies and reduces …

Mass protests protect Hong Kong’s legal autonomy from China – for now

If the "One country, two systems" falls, what remains of Hong Kong’s democracy will go down with it

U20 leaders call on G20 to accelerate SDG goals progress

Mayors and governors of 30 major cities signed a Communiqué at the 2019 Urban 20 Mayors Summit

Tricky issue of policing the Internet

Instead of bans, regulations may be a better way of dealing with the downside of digital technology 

Idea of regulating comfort for energy efficiency

First-ever push for thermal comfort standard for buildings shifts focus from only energy efficiency of mechanical cooling systems to thermal …

‘The govt’s version of history is less dependent on science, more on divine sayings’

Journalist Tony Joseph debunks the myth of India being the homeland of the Aryans and offers a scientific chronicle in his latest book. Here, he …

Indigenous or not: the Uyghurs and their claim to Xinjiang

The Chinese narrative of Uyghur history shows that China has made sustained efforts to keep Xinjiang within its orbit, which has geopolitical, …

Bhima-Koregaon violence: Police raids homes of human rights activists, arrests at least five

In a multi-state raid, Pune Police seized laptops, pen drives and documents of human rights activists

‘Columbus Day is the celebration of genocide’

October 12 is when the United States celebrates Christopher Columbus making landfall in the Caribbean in his 3 caravels. A ‘cacique’ (…

Is it realistic to teach science in vernacular languages?

Can an alien worldview like western science be taught in the vernacular or is it best conveyed in the languages of the culture that created it?

Why bullshit hurts democracy more than lies

The bullshitter may do even more damage than the liar in politics

Farewell to welfare

Jharkhand government’s pilot Direct Benefit Transfer project has made public distribution system more complicated and exclusionary

A month on, NGT’s order on Kolkata wetland yet to be implemented

Vedic Dharma Sansthan Trust erected a 60-feet-tall structure in wetland region, which was deemed illegal by the National Green Tribunal

For environmental rights defenders, 2016 was the deadliest year on record

India emerged the fourth deadliest country in the world for land and environmental rights activists

In the Parliament on March 1, 2016

Here’s a round-up of today’s debates and reports on environmental and developmental issues

Railway budget focuses on capacity creation

With no increase in fare, the rail budget calls for generating Rs 1.84 lakh crores with an operating ratio of 92 per cent

Six environmental laws to be amended soon

An ongoing conference in the capital to decide on changes in crucial environmental laws, as proposed by the Centre

Agriculture, rural jobs, food subsidy need big boost

Will the drubbing it faced in Delhi election and the huge controversy over its land Bill make BJP reconsider its economic thrust areas?

Punjab’s panchayat flip-flop

State considers reverting to direct polls, court raps it for taking away right to recall sarpanch

Of shikaras and slums

The colony that has mushroomed upon the Dal Lake is the only slum on water in Srinagar. A byproduct of the proxy war between India and Pakistan,…

Digging the earth

Earlier it was deforestation, now it is mining that threatens the once stately Aravallis with total destruction