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Analysis
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Vaccines: The Centre and states should divide tasks
By Arjun Jayadev & Avinash Tripathi
UPDATED ON MAY 07, 2021 06:21 PM IST
A rapid and universal vaccination programme is essential to control a surge of this magnitude and time is of the essence — for the virus is not standing still
Exclusive
BJP in damage control mode after Uttar Pradesh rural polls setback
UPDATED ON MAY 06, 2021 10:43 AM IST
Panchayat poll results have caused an alarm within the ruling BJP that the handling of the Covid-19 crisis could have an adverse impact on its prospects in the 2022 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh
Exclusive
India’s farm sector to sustain momentum, but that’s not enough
By Zia Haq
UPDATED ON MAY 06, 2021 10:19 AM IST
India’s farm sector is forecast to maintain its remarkable expansion in 2021-22 on the back of robust output and prices despite the coronavirus pandemic
Exclusive
A self-destructive consensus explains the CPI(M)’s West Bengal disaster
UPDATED ON MAY 05, 2021 03:16 PM IST
The party-led Left Front (LF) ruled the state from 1977-2011. For an established political party within a democratic set-up to atrophy within a decade, is a rare, if not an unprecedented, political event
India to see expansion of agri sector in summer, despite Covid pandemic
By Zia Haq
UPDATED ON MAY 05, 2021 06:00 PM IST
The Union government is anticipating an increase in sowing and higher demand from the farm sector. It has issued instructions for the seamless availability and supply of critical inputs, such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, and machinery
Exclusive
In state elections, when incumbents had a high success ratio
By Basim-U-Nissa, Ananay Agarwal and Gilles Verniers
UPDATED ON MAY 05, 2021 10:39 AM IST
In this article, we use an original dataset, derived from Election Commission data and the results of the 2021 state elections, to explore the performance of incumbent candidates and turncoats
In Bengal, the X factor — women and welfare
By Neelanjan Sircar
PUBLISHED ON APR 30, 2021 05:19 PM IST
Irrespective of the outcome, the West Bengal election signals a major shift in the role of women in electoral politics. Privately, psephologists and party workers suggest that the difference in women’s and men’s voting preferences in the state is among the highest they have ever seen
PM Oli needs to spell out election plan; political instability has repercussions
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON APR 21, 2021 05:24 PM IST
The best course of action for Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli to end the acerbic power struggle is to go for early elections
In the climate battle, focus on the high-emitters
By Rahul Tongia
UPDATED ON APR 21, 2021 05:49 PM IST
There is immense pressure on countries to go big in their climate ambitions. The problem is that we are using similar framings across countries. Instead, we need universal but different action
How the 2nd Covid wave is different and why the next 4 weeks are crucial
By Aditi Prasad, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON APR 21, 2021 12:29 PM IST
- India’s total active Covid-19 caseload crossed the 2 million mark earlier this week with a mammoth surge in new infections.
In Kabul, the republic versus the emirate
By Avinash Paliwal
UPDATED ON APR 20, 2021 06:40 AM IST
India should appoint a special envoy, strengthen ties with allies in Kabul, talk to the Taliban, and work with Iran
The science behind super-spreader events
By Rajinder K Dhamija
UPDATED ON APR 17, 2021 06:44 AM IST
The pandemic is raging in India due to multiple reasons, including changes in the behaviour of people (whether vaccinated or unvaccinated), change in the behaviour of virus (in terms of new variants), as well as avoidable mass gatherings
West Bengal 2021: Where the national hegemon is a local rebel
UPDATED ON APR 14, 2021 04:12 PM IST
There seems to be a political consensus about the direction of the wind. There are strong headwinds for the TMC and tailwinds for the BJP. The only uncertainty which exists currently is regarding the magnitude of this change
Mamata Banerjee versus PM Modi in Varanasi is the buzz. Is it for real?
By Aditi Prasad
PUBLISHED ON APR 02, 2021 04:49 PM IST
- For now, the Mamata vs Modi face-off in Varanasi is just a social media virtual thought and not an on-ground reality.
Protests over Modi visit an excuse. Hefazat’s real aim to radicalise Bangladesh
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON APR 01, 2021 12:16 PM IST
The rise of anti-India Islamist force Hefazat-e-Islam in Bangladesh has contributed to the radicalisation of the region and is turning out to be a security threat to the Sheikh Hasina government
_1616921512521_1616921533038.png "PM Modi has tried to cut through the bureaucratic chaff but the civil services is still driven by processes rather than the outcomes.(File Photo)")
Time for a real round of reforms in the bureaucracy. The last one didn’t work
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 28, 2021 08:21 PM IST
The time has come for the Modi government to separate the wheat from chaff by incentivising deserving senior officials.
Delhi-Dhaka ties move beyond symbolism, seek to power growth and connectivity
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 26, 2021 11:29 AM IST
PM Narendra Modi made it clear early in his first term that Bangladesh, like Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar, occupies a special place in Indian diplomacy and should be helped for mutual growth and security.
In Kabul, be ready for political uncertainty
By Rakesh Sood
UPDATED ON MAR 25, 2021 08:04 PM IST
The political reality is that the Taliban had more loyal and consistent backers in Pakistan and the Inter-Services Intelligence, while the Kabul government steadily lost legitimacy because of its own incompetence and disunity, and because its backers in the West eventually lost patience and interest. By end-2021, the US may have ended its longest war, but for Afghanistan, the uncertainties are only increasing.
Surge in Covid-19 cases: Is India heading towards another hard lockdown?
By Aditi Prasad, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
PUBLISHED ON MAR 15, 2021 05:36 PM IST
- As India witnesses a steady rise in the number of new infections over the past few weeks, there is a possibility that more cities could explore the possibility of imposing similar restrictions in other hotspots
Deepening India-UAE defence cooperation enlarges India's footprint in West Asia
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 15, 2021 11:43 AM IST
- The UAE, which has deported more than 100 fugitives to India over the last few years, has also helped India with real-time intelligence from Iraq and Syria in the past. This month, its air force will refuel the Rafale fighter jets flying in from France.
Quad leaders made history at summit. Expect pushback from China
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 13, 2021 12:48 PM IST
- Beijing will try to cut a side deal with at least one of the Quad partners to derail the grouping yet again
Quad owes its revival to President Xi’s 'fortress China' doctrine
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 12, 2021 12:48 PM IST
- The US’ leadership role in the Quad is a sharp contrast to the message from Washington after the 2007 Malabar naval exercises that cautioned against provoking China.
QUAD to reject the 2007 Chinese veto on its foreign policies
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 11, 2021 06:08 PM IST
- The meeting of leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or QUAD – India, Australia, Japan and the US –signifies three things.
_1615352236747_1615352248667.jpg "The Joe Biden administration has made it clear that it will continue to press China's Xi Jinping regime on the Dalai Lama succession and Tibet. (AP)")
US rebuff to China over Dalai Lama signals Biden won’t take eyes off Tibet
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 10, 2021 10:53 AM IST
- The United States says the Chinese effort to impose a government-chosen successor of the Panchen Lama 25 years ago was “an outrageous abuse of religious freedom.”
Espionage to smuggling, scandals spice up every poll in Kerala
By Ramesh Babu, Thiruvanathapuram
PUBLISHED ON MAR 03, 2021 07:26 PM IST
- controversies and scandals were part of the state polity in the last three decades and mushrooming digital media also played its part in amplifying them, said a political observer.
Why 2021 political rhetoric is no match for 1962 fighting in Ladakh
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAR 03, 2021 02:15 PM IST
- India and China came close to war last year after Indian army commanders atop Rezang La-Rechin La ridge threatened to fire at the advancing PLA tank regiment that sought to dislodge the Indian troopers.
J&K delimitation: Go by the population rule
By Haseeb Drabu
PUBLISHED ON MAR 01, 2021 06:39 PM IST
Having already decided on the number of electors as well as the number of elected, the only part of delimitation that has been left to the Commission is the electoral cartography — the redrawing of boundaries and enclosing people within the constituency framework. Notwithstanding these debilitating infirmities in the context of J&K, the redrawing of the constituencies is an extraordinarily complex and highly contentious exercise. It can potentially alter the electoral demographic balance.
Congress needs to worry more about rebels than opponents in Puducherry
By Abhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON FEB 22, 2021 06:32 PM IST
The only time the Congress has lost Puducherry, it has been because of a rebel. The Congress and DMK together have won over 50% seats in every assembly elections in Puducherry since 1980, except in 2011
Behind PM Modi’s stinging critique of the IAS, a Jan meeting holds the clue
By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
UPDATED ON FEB 17, 2021 09:35 AM IST
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given bureaucrats an earful at a January meeting of the country's top officials and underlined the price that India paid for their slow pace.