Progress should not just be fast but future-proof

As climate change accelerates, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. Representational file image. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN India’s climate future is not written in the stars — it is written in the rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, and intensifying disasters. The question is: what are we doing about it? The World Bank … Read more

The churning within the BRS

Instead of stepping up its tirade against the ruling Congress government for what it terms its “failures”, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana is grappling with internal conflicts. The Congress is facing a financial crunch which is affecting its ability to implement various welfare schemes, particularly the ones it promised before the Assembly elections. … Read more

Letters to The Editor — May 21, 2025

NEET-UG and conduct I write this letter as a former Director of Entrance Exams and Admission, Anna University, Chennai. The NEET-UG 2025 has had fewer “irregularities” this time when compared to its earlier editions, especially last year. Question paper leaks, impersonation and outsourcing of the key from outside an exam hall are some of the … Read more

Scheme-based workers, the struggle for an identity

A protest by Accredited social Health Activist workers, in Bengaluru, in January 2025, for fixed wages | Photo Credit: THE HINDU/K. MURALI KUMAR The central government employs millions of regular and contract workers who are recognised as government employees and are in the pay spectrum of the government. The government also employs several types of … Read more

​Trade diplomacy: on India-Bangladesh trade-related tensions

In an escalation of bilateral trade-related tensions, India recently announced restrictions on readymade garments and other specified commodities from Bangladesh. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s announcement targeting Bangladesh’s vital apparel sector sent an unmistakable signal that deteriorating political relations have now spilled over into economic ties. By specifically denying Bangladeshi goods access to India’s … Read more

​Stitch in time: on judiciary and Environment Ministry notifications

Last week, the Supreme Court of India finally struck down as “illegal” two notifications by the Union Environment Ministry that allowed industrial units to set up, expand operations or change their manufacturing practices without following the due process of taking government permission beforehand. Taking ‘prior’ approval is a sacrosanct principle at the heart of the … Read more

What India can learn from U.S. academic freedom crisis: When politics enters the classroom

With conservative State governments in the United States enacting policies that opponents claim jeopardize academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and intellectual diversity, American colleges have recently turned into arenas for ideological conflict. Although freedom of thought and inquiry have long been defended by the U.S. as essential components of its higher education system, that basic foundation … Read more

Kerala Congress: New leaders, old troubles

Sunny Joseph, the newly appointed president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, being welcomed in Kozhikode. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh After deliberating for more than six months, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on May 8 effected a leadership change in the party’s Kerala unit by appointing Sunny Joseph as president of the Kerala … Read more

Combating obesity among adolescents – The Hindu

India has, for a while, been facing a nutrition paradox where under nutrition and obesity coexist. Image by jcomp on Freepik There is an increased focus in public discourse on growing obesity among adolescents. The seventh edition of Poshan Pakhwada, held last month, focused on childhood and adolescent obesity alongside the first 1,000 days of … Read more