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The Supreme Court of India’s sentencing judgment in Re: Right to Privacy of Adolescents (May 2025) is a remarkable example of the Court revisiting its stance by prioritising the voice of the young person most impacted by the criminal case initiated for her protection. The Court exercised its extraordinary jurisdiction, under Article 142 of the … Read more
The continued fall in inflation to a 77-month low of 2.1% in June 2025 should serve as a significant source of relief for policymakers. The general public, however, would not be too thrilled. There is some good news for them, but also a significant dose of pain. Food inflation, for example, saw a significant easing, … Read more
Inflation down In India, the dark reality at the ground level is that ordinary people do not find food prices dropping for most items even when reports say inflation has come down (Page 1, July 15). The inflation rates released by the government are perhaps useful only for the upward or the downward revision of … Read more
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, is the visible part of the global transformation that is underway and the global trend supports India’s re-emergence. The current super power has marginalised the United Nations, and, with it, emasculated the collective bargaining strength of the Global South — there will be no going back. The … Read more
In a welcome move, the Health Ministry has directed all government departments to display oil, sugar and trans-fat content in everyday Indian snacks such as samosas, jalebis, vada pavs and laddoos in a bid to highlight the health risks of their consumption on a regular basis. The campaign will be piloted in AIIMS Nagpur and … Read more
Having observed higher education and research in India and worldwide for the past over four decades initially as a student and later as a research scholar, young faculty, researcher, senior faculty, and academic administrator, needless to mention my involvement in assessing and accrediting institutions through the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) and participating in … Read more
It began as a heavy rain, the kind that Himachal Pradesh has seen before. But by the night of June 28, it became clear that this was no ordinary monsoon rain. Cloudbursts over the upper reaches of the Beas basin triggered a chain reaction — landslides, glacial run-off, river swelling, and catastrophic flooding. In Mandi … Read more
Perhaps the only surviving relic of the long-targeted peace process and decades of futile negotiations intended to end Palestinian suffering is the continued talk of the two-state solution. All the other once-sacred phrases — ‘land for peace,’ ‘confidence-building measures,’ ‘final status issues’ — have faded from headlines and memory alike. Yet today, the international community … Read more
The show of strength and unity between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray on July 5 has rekindled hopes of their reunification among the cadre of their respective parties — the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The estranged cousins, who had not shared a dais for nearly two decades, came together … Read more
Air crash report The preliminary report arising from the ongoing investigation into the Air India crash at Ahmedabad has pointed to the cutoff of the fuel control switches during takeoff. However, this clarity has, paradoxically, sparked further debate among aviation experts and pilots. At this stage of the probe, varied expert opinions only confuse the … Read more