Opinion

Brahma Chellaney China's foreign minister Wang Yi recently declared that aggression and expansionism have never been in the Chinese nation's "genes." It is almost astonishing that he managed to say it with a straight face. Aggression and expansionism obviously are not genetic traits, but they...

Melvin Durai If you happen to visit Khao Yai National Park in Thailand, please be careful not to litter. Littering in a national park could earn you a stiff punishment. The authorities may make you pay a fine as high as `12 lakh or sentence...

José Antonio Ocampo As the United Nations marks its 75th anniversary, the world is in turmoil. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in nearly one million deaths so far and is nowhere close to being contained. The world economy is experiencing its worst recession since the...

Prof SN Misra I have had the rare privilege of working with four defence ministers --beginning with Mulayam Singh Yadav during 1996-98, and later with George Fernandes for 1998-2004, Pranab Mukherjee during 2004-06 and AK Antony for 2006-2014. Each of these had their own unique...

Ganesh Devy The contempt of court case against the Tamil actor Suriya was fortunately and wisely dropped by the Madras High Court. This, and the case of contempt against activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, raise serious concerns about the judiciary’s notions of its self-image. One wonders...

Shivaji Sarkar Ambition is good. The $5 trillion economy is a nice goal, but the path chosen has to match the goal. Since the April-June quarter of 2019, the economy has been nose-diving. The industry has continuously been bringing to notice the demand plunge. Belated...

Saeed Naqvi There have been many, but let me cite just two reactions from the family to Justices DY Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and KM Joseph’s utterances restraining Sudarshan TV from telecasting its ‘UPSC Jihad’ show. A relative mailed a couplet comprehensive in its simplicity: “Door...

Bertrand Badré and Aurélie Jean Trust will be key to the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and recession. Yet over the past ten years, people's trust in governments, public and private institutions, and one another has declined across many of the advanced economies. As is...

Seth Berkley, Richard Hatchett, and Soumya Swaminathan Almost in its tenth month, the Covid-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc on economies and lives around the world. But while the end of the crisis seems as far away as ever, the fact is that we are...

Dr D K Giri Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke in Parliament this Tuesday on the border face-off with China. Rajnath Singh is an old hand in governance, deeply experienced and extremely articulate. Yet, his statement to Parliament was esoteric, evasive and laconic. Disappointing, that he...