business

Language harmony versus language power 

by

The average city Indian speaks three or four languages and has a nodding acquaintance with a couple more. | Photo Credit: Getty Images My wife’s maternal grandparents were a Rajput and a Malayali. Her mother married an Andhra, her sister a Punjabi. Their son’s wife is Algerian, our son’s is a Scot. That should make … Read more

Identities and symbols: On Tamil Nadu and the ரூ

by

Even as the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu engages in a political discourse with the BJP-led regime at the Centre over the delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), its use of the Tamil letter ‘Roo’ (‘ரூ’) instead of the Indian currency symbol ‘₹’ in the … Read more

A voluntary mandate: On the APAAR student ID

by

The introduction of an Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) ID by the Ministry of Education, to digitise the academic transcripts of every student, aims to ensure a “single source of truth” for all their records throughout their life in the academic ecosystem in India. Linked with Aadhaar, APAAR is far from the first such … Read more

Letters to The Editor — March 15, 2025

by

State Budget logo The use of the Tamil letter ‘Ru ‘ in the promotional logo for the Tamil Nadu Budget is a minor issue when compared to the fierce controversy over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the three-language policy (Page 1, March 14). The central government must climb down from its adamant stand … Read more

A school closure that must be called out

by

‘The order to close down the only Gondi-medium school in Maharashtra raises important questions’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto The order to close down the only Gondi-medium school in a village of Maharashtra raises important questions. The school was started in Mohgaon village in the Fifth Schedule area of the Gadchiroli district, in 2019, as … Read more

Identities and symbols: on Tamil Nadu and the ‘Roo’

by

Even as the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu engages in a political discourse with the BJP-led regime at the Centre over the delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), its use of the Tamil letter ‘Roo’ (‘ரூ’) instead of the Indian currency symbol ‘₹’ in the … Read more

Modern day summitry, its perils and prospects

by

Across the world, there is broad agreement, including in the area of politics and diplomacy, that a strong leader can be useful. The term, no doubt, carries more than one interpretation, but is generally taken to mean a leader who concentrates a great deal of power in his hands and dominates both a wide swathe … Read more

Can the 2025 draft regulation ensure equity? Addressing discrimination in higher education

by

The University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Draft (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2025 purport to curb discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth and to promote equity within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).  They, however, lack the necessarystrategic and operational interventionsmuch like a similar series of regulations in the past, … Read more