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Analysis
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India should be wary of Chinese mind games
UPDATED ON JAN 13, 2021 12:31 PM IST
- Withdrawal from the vast Tibetan and Xinjiang military region means little in an era of stand-off weapons and long-range missiles. The Chinese PLA has capacity to deploy troop divisions within a week with metalled roads and optical fibre cables up to the last military post and advanced landing grounds (ALGs) all along the LAC.

Xi Jinping is preparing for a special birthday party. It has repercussions
UPDATED ON JAN 10, 2021 02:26 PM IST
- The 100th-anniversary celebrations of the Chinese communist party would be projected as a strong counter to the so-called ‘century of humiliation’ that the Chinese empire and the Republic of China faced between 1839 and 1949 at the hands of western powers, Russia and Japan.

What India should, and shouldn’t, do in Nepal
By SD Muni
UPDATED ON JAN 08, 2021 07:59 PM IST
Irrespective of whether Nepal has elections or witnesses the restoration of Parliament, a prudent course for India would be to let Nepal cope with its internal political mess

To secure India’s energy future, create a sovereign wealth fund and invest
By Amit Bhandari
UPDATED ON JAN 07, 2021 07:43 PM IST
Norway is an example of prudent management of the windfall from high oil prices of the past, with which it set up a rainy day fund — now one of the most powerful and successful in the world. India is witnessing a similar windfall, in reverse, due to low oil prices — and needs to plan for the time when prices will be higher. That time is now.

Devising a vaccine strategy for India
By Reuben Abraham and Anup Malani
UPDATED ON JAN 07, 2021 07:43 PM IST
Focus on allocation, distribution, financing, communication and certification

January 6: A black day for US democracy
By C Uday Bhaskar
UPDATED ON JAN 07, 2021 07:41 PM IST
The erosion of democracy in the US, led by a defeated president, emboldened by his white supremacist base, will have both domestic and geopolitical consequences

Ensure access to justice in a post-Covid world
By Leah Verghese
UPDATED ON JAN 07, 2021 07:20 AM IST
Any move towards the online functioning of courts must account for the digital divide in India

The new architecture of a new India
PUBLISHED ON JAN 06, 2021 08:23 PM IST
India needs iconic buildings for functional reasons, to reflect new aspirations, and move past the colonial legacy

India’s retrospective taxation blunder is still extracting heavy costs
By Prabhash Ranjan
UPDATED ON JAN 07, 2021 07:20 AM IST
In endeavouring to extract revenue through retroactive taxation that damages investor sentiment in the long run, India is being penny-wise and pound-foolish

Eliminate State and social interference in matters of conscience
By Gautam Bhatia
PUBLISHED ON JAN 05, 2021 06:52 PM IST
The UP conversion law is unconstitutional. But the debate does not end with this one law, as it also replicates many existing provisions from other laws, which have been left standing for too long. India cannot call itself a constitutional democracy until social interference in matters of conscience is eliminated from its laws, once and for all.

Understanding the rationale of farm protests
By Vijay Inder Singla and Aadil Singh Boparai
UPDATED ON JAN 06, 2021 06:13 AM IST
We need an empathetic government with a moral compass to urgently find a solution to the satisfaction of the farmers. Engaging in dilatory tactics and subterfuge will further exacerbate the growing trust deficit between the farming community and the Centre.

The Delhi-Beijing battle in South Asia
By Harsh V Pant
UPDATED ON JAN 06, 2021 06:13 AM IST
China’s influence has grown, but contrary to conventional narrative, it is not necessarily ‘winning’. India has retained its focus

Silicon Valley is in for a rough ride
By Vivek Wadhwa & Tarun Wadhwa
PUBLISHED ON JAN 04, 2021 08:21 PM IST
The days of regulators prioritising innovation over compliance may be over. The traditionally warm relationship between the Democratic Party and Big Tech is becoming contentious

Only a strong social security net can ensure economic growth
By Jasmine Shah
UPDATED ON JAN 04, 2021 09:13 PM IST
The economic response of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has focused primarily on the poor and created the closest equivalent of a universal social safety net anywhere in India

Will physics un-gender itself in the new decade?
By Prajval Shastri
PUBLISHED ON JAN 04, 2021 08:18 PM IST
Physicists need to internalise that being allowed to follow one’s passion at taxpayers’ expense is a privilege. All accomplishments are a consequence of that privilege, and from that follows the responsibility to correct the injustices.

No room for complacency in Covid-19 battle
By K Srinath Reddy
UPDATED ON JAN 04, 2021 11:11 AM IST
The vaccine is here but its success depends on a robust primary health system

Key constitutional values invoked last year must be built on
By Ritwika Sharma
UPDATED ON JAN 04, 2021 11:09 AM IST
There were assertions of federalism by some states on CAA; the Election Commission smoothly conducted its first post-Covid assembly election; and, most significantly, citizens came into their own and truly realised the import of the Constitution — for themselves and their fellow country people. Let us hope to build on this spirit this year.

Post-Covid-19, cardiac health management is vital
By RR Kasliwal
PUBLISHED ON JAN 02, 2021 07:01 PM IST
It would seem that the recovery process from Covid-19 exists on a continuum early in the course of acute Covid-19. Management is focused on detecting and treating acute Covid-19 related complications while after recovery from the acute phase, people require management and evaluation of persistent or new symptoms.

Covid-19 highlighted the ‘the tyranny of experts’
By Praveen Chakravarty
PUBLISHED ON JAN 01, 2021 08:07 PM IST
Ideas and opinions play an inordinately important role in a liberal democracy and should flourish freely. But the weight of such ideas and opinions rise only when incentives are aligned and symmetrical

The climate crisis needs a vaccine too
By Shyam Saran
UPDATED ON JAN 01, 2021 06:02 AM IST
The pandemic has starkly exposed the perils of the rampant degradation of our planet’s fragile ecology

Pakistan’s relations with India remain stationary; with China it has consolidated; there is an uptick with the US
By T C A Raghavan
PUBLISHED ON DEC 31, 2020 07:51 PM IST
In brief the US rediscovered Pakistan’s utility in Afghanistan in 2020.That this happened within the tenure of the Trump Presidency gave to many in Pakistan the hope that things will begin with the new Biden administration on a more stable note and move quickly in a positive direction.

China violates border agreements with India, swears by 2003 pact on Tibet | Analysis
By Shishir Gupta | New Delhi
UPDATED ON DEC 31, 2020 01:55 PM IST
The Chinese embassy official not just cherry-picked bilateral agreements with India, but also portions from the 2003 pact that the embassy decided to quote.

Women must be centre-stage in water and sanitation
By Naina Lal Kidwai
UPDATED ON DEC 31, 2020 05:42 AM IST
In 2018 the rallying call of the Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM) campaign of “Satyagraha se Swachhagrah” - rode on the back of the big change in sanitation habits in India .

Mutant strains emphasise the need for strict controls
By Narinder K Mehra
UPDATED ON DEC 31, 2020 05:43 AM IST
It is important to keep the viral load in check so that the natural benefits India’s population enjoys of broad-based immunity can be best made use of

Challenges ahead for the judiciary
By Abhishek Singhvi
PUBLISHED ON DEC 30, 2020 07:44 PM IST
To free up the clogged arteries of the system, we need an alternative dispute resolution mechanism

For the BJP, it has been a productive year
By Swapan Dasgupta
UPDATED ON DEC 29, 2020 05:05 PM IST
It has treated every election, including local body and panchayat polls, as equally important, even those outside its traditional areas of influence.

2020: When people spoke truth to power
By Kapil Sibal
UPDATED ON DEC 29, 2020 05:07 PM IST
In the case of agitating farmers, the government realises that they are not easy targets. This agitation will impact the year 2021. Its political ramifications will be felt in the years to come.

2021 strategic outlook: India must not yield any ground to China
By Jayadeva Ranade
PUBLISHED ON DEC 29, 2020 04:59 PM IST
As India strives to ensure good relations with the US and Russia, revive its economy and build indigenous capabilities, it is vital that it does not yield ground to China and assertively raises issues that impact its core national interests.

In between manhole and machine hole
By Pragya Akhilesh | Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON DEC 29, 2020 01:26 PM IST
With the surge of mechanisation, sanitation workers need to be reorganised on a large scale to reinstate a permanent structure in the system.

How biofuels can double farm incomes
UPDATED ON DEC 28, 2020 09:26 AM IST
A total of Rs 1 lakh crore worth of biofuel will be purchased every year by oil marketing firms in the future for blending. This money will be ploughed back to the rural economy