​Pension woes: on EPFO member-pensioners

The Standing Committee of Parliamentarians on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development, in its report on the 2025–26 demands for grants to the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, has rightly reiterated the urgent need to revise the minimum monthly pension of ₹1,000 for member-pensioners under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This amount, fixed in … Read more

Letters to The Editor — April 2, 2025

What is special about IPL The ongoing IPL 2025 season continues to showcase why cricket is more than just a sport — it is a celebration of skill, strategy and entertainment. The balance between experience and young talent in the IPL has made it an ideal platform for budding cricketers to shine on a global … Read more

China-India ties across the past and into the future

Yesterday (April 1) was the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India (1950). Over the past 75 years, China-India relations, despite weathering ups and downs, have always surged forward like the Yangtze and the Ganges. One learns from the past in order to understand the future, and follows the right … Read more

​Leave it alone: on the status of Greenland  

United States Vice President J.D. Vance’s recent visit to Greenland, where he reaffirmed U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to assert control over the Arctic island, was a blunt demonstration of American power over a strategically vital territory inhabited by around 56,000 people. The visit drew sharp disapproval from Greenland’s local leaders and the Danish government, … Read more

Thinking beyond population count – The Hindu

The history of the delimitation exercise in India during 1951-71 indicates that the number of Lok Sabha seats was increased in response to the population increase that resulted in the population representation per seat. | Photo Credit: ANI The discourse on delimitation and financial devolution has caused an uproar in Parliament and some State Assemblies … Read more

Interview | I fought with the mindset of giving it my all in each match, says Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto

Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto was a revelation in the WTT Star Contender Chennai held at the Nehru Stadium here recently. World ranked 30, Hashimoto put up a masterclass in defensive play by reaching the women’s singles final, losing to Miwa Harimoto of Japan, seeded two.   Unheralded, Hashimoto had … Read more

The back-slapping men’s club – The Hindu

In this image provided by DIPR, BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal speaks during the Budget session of the State Assembly, in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: DIPR In 2012, Ministers in the then BJP government in Karnataka, Laxman Savadi and C.C. Patil, were forced to resign from the Cabinet after they were caught on camera purportedly … Read more

NEP 2020 in the classroom, from policy to practice

‘Learning levels at the foundational stage have improved across the country, a change mostly driven by government schools’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 frames the universal acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) as an urgent national mission. Since the release of the policy, the central and State governments … Read more

No to regression: on protests in Nepal, pro-monarchy sentiment

The violent protests in Kathmandu on Friday, which left two dead, dozens injured and saw arson and looting, were spearheaded by fringe political forces such as the royalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Though long relegated to the political margins, the royalist camp has managed to seize upon growing disillusionment with the political establishment. The series of … Read more