Opinion

Melvin Durai These are tough economic times in many parts of the world. If you’re like me, you’re saving money any way you can. I’ve cancelled my cable, invested in a good pair of binoculars and started watching my neighbour’s TV. Desperate times call for...

Kailash Satyarthi For the first time in two decades, the number of child workers has increased. The shocking rise – from 152 million to 160 million worldwide, according to recent United Nations data – occurred in the four years that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic. There...

Shivaji Sarkar The rollercoaster Indian economic journey is likely to continue. It is recovering at 11.5 per cent in the April-June quarter, says the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), a think tank, but the State Bank of India, says the second wave has...

Dr Bhubanananda Sahu The announcement of the Nobel Prize at Stockholm in Sweden in 2019 stunned everybody when professor Dolaldson explained the composition of our universe. He described the universe as a cup of coffee. Whole of the coffee is the dark energy; little bit...

Nikunja Bihari Sahu While events like electioneering for Assembly polls, Kumbh Mela, Indian Premier League are being blamed for the sudden spurt of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the role of the triple mutant Delta variant of the virus behind the...

India has one of the largest open and distance learning (ODL) systems in the world, second only to China. To increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) there is every need to increase the number of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and ODL comes in to help...

Abbas Milani Iran’s presidential election June 18 was the most farcical in the history of the Islamic regime – even more so than the 2009 election, often called an “electoral coup.” It was less an election than a chronicle of a death foretold – the...

Melvin Durai Cellphones have become a necessity for many people, including me. I enjoy many of the features of my phone, including talking, texting, taking photos and browsing. But I have to constantly resist the temptation to use my cellphone at inappropriate times. It’s not...

Malay Mishra Cold wars need not be symmetrical. They could vary with change in actors, circumstances and time. To assess the aftermath of the recent Biden-Putin summit meeting June 16 as a ‘cold peace’ or a full-fledged cold war in the making is immaterial. It...

Harish Barthwal Music has ever been integral to social, cultural and religious ethos of mankind. In wintry nights early men gathered around fire, danced and sang in accompaniment to music as a refreshing relief from drudgery of diurnal life. This energised them to take up...