View Articles

As India celebrates the completion of 74 years of independence and enters the period leading up to the 75th anniversary of independence in 2022, the country is truly at a critical juncture.

An “epic” battle being waged, or rather being reported on in the corporate entertainment press, is between streamers and theatres or between various streamers. However, this is a battle now being fought not just in the United States.— Netflix is already losing U.S. subscribers to its rivals Disney+ and HBO Max — but throughout the world. Only through global subscriptions can these companies, most of whom have run up huge debt, stay one step ahead of their creditors.

A Covid vaccine passport is a digital or paper document that certifies its holder is completely vaccinated against the virus and allows access to physical spaces and travel since it is considered ‘safe.’

On July 28, shortly after he had taken oath as 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, 61, took his first decision at a one-man Cabinet meeting. He allocated Rs 1,000 crore for scholarship for children of farmers of state. With this step, Basavaraj sent out the message that his government will not be confined to caste identities, paid tribute to the legacy of his father the late S R Bommai, and reinforced once again the shrewd, political mind that he is; that has helped him rise in the BJP without deep moorings in the right wing ideology of the party.

With the general opinion, both global and domestic, that schools should now be reopened as soon as possible, India is also gradually trying to open its schools. However, bringing students back safely to schools is in itself a challenging task that is felt both at government and school level. The schools that have already opened are facing an additional difficulty on account of learning loss of students due to closure of schools for about one and half years since the general lockdown of the country. Bridging the learning loss needs specially tailored plans for specific requirements of students.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are the ones who can talk on Pegasus. But Modi doesn’t have the time to spare. That leaves Amit Shah in the lurch. And he’s acting as if he was never at ‘Home’. The Home Minister spoke once, but only to dwell on “chronology”. Then, he clammed up.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s plea to the Supreme Court hearing the Pegasus snooping case amounts to virtually admitting that the government has things to hide. The Modi government’s approach in this highly sensitive issue has been suspect right from the beginning and every new development is an indirect acknowledgment that it is not above blame. If it was ready to come clean, it had several occasions to do so, which would have averted the logjam in parliament that is costing the nation dearly. Prime Minister Modi keeps lamenting about the loss of legislative time, but is doing precious little to clear the air so that normalcy can be restored.

On the day of August 15, more than seven decades back, in 1947, our nation began her tryst with destiny. The political independence achieved by us is the result of decades of struggles by the people of our country. Recognising the exploitative nature of the British rule, people in various parts of our country started resisting the exploitation by colonial masters themselves much before organised platforms or political parties to lead them came into existence. People fought against British forces along with their native collaborators simultaneously at times. These spontaneous uprisings were ruthlessly suppressed leaving an indelible print on the collective memory of the people.

In January, the Supreme Court mentioned in Rajeev Suri vs Delhi Development Authority, also known as the Central Vista judgment, that India is a representative democracy with aspects of participatory democracy. It noted two integral elements of participatory democracy, i.e., public involvement in decision-making and open disclosures of information related to government decisions.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The all-powerful general secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League, P K Kunhalikutty, is no more the monarch of all that he surveys. The IUML strongman, who has enjoyed unchallenged supremacy in the party for four decades, is losing his grip on the IUML, which is the second largest partner in the Congress-led United Democratic Front Front (UDF). That is the message emanating loud and clear from the IUML meeting held to discuss the crisis in the party.