In Focus by The Hindu

The Ukraine war has been raging for nearly seven months, and the dominant pattern so far has been Russia making slow and incremental gains in territory. But this pattern was abruptly broken over the past week as Ukraine made rapid gains in the north and north-east. Russian troops have been driven out of cities like Kupyansk and Izyum, which are critical from the perspective of military logistics a...

The Union Power Ministry introduced the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha on August 8. The Power Minister said at the stage of introduction that the Bill could be moved to the Energy Standing Committee of Parliament for broader consultations. But the Opposition has questioned the introduction of the Bill, saying that the Centre has broken the promise made to the farmers that this Bil...

The Union Power Ministry introduced the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha on August 8. The Power Minister said at the stage of introduction that the Bill could be moved to the Energy Standing Committee of Parliament for broader consultations. But the Opposition has questioned the introduction of the Bill, saying that the Centre has broken the promise made to the farmers that this Bil...

Managing a difficult relationship has brought dividends to both India and Bangladesh. By all accounts, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina have transcended many barriers and rapids to take their relationship in a direction that benefits both countries.  Mr. Modi appears to have put some distance between his Home Minister Amit Shah’s use of the term “termite” when referring to Banglades...

This year’s U.S. Open is being viewed as a ‘farewell tour’ – more or less – of the Williams sisters as the curtains come down on what has been described as “the greatest sibling act in sports history”. With both Serena and Venus Williams exiting the U.S. Open early, the two sisters, who between them account for 30 singles Grand Slam titles, 14 doubles Grand Slams titles, and eight Olympic gold med...

Liz Truss has become Britain’s third woman Prime Minister. She defeated Rishi Sunak to become leader of the Tory party – the fourth leader in six years. Truss becomes Prime Minister with fewer than half of eligible voters in the party’s electoral college voting for her. She replaces the very flamboyant Boris Johnson. Truss is faced with multiple issues, especially a looming energy crisis as gas pr...

Mikhail Gorbachev, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991, died in Moscow on August 30 after a long illness. He was 91. Gorbachev not only tried to introduce reforms and change in the erstwhile Soviet Union, he presided over its demise in 1991.  Loved by the West, Gorbachev made two Russian words – glasnost or openness and perestroika or restructuring – popu...

In November 2021, the Delhi government rolled out a new excise policy. The new policy effectively took the government out of the liquor retailing business and handed it over to private players. But within a few months, it came under CBI scrutiny following allegations of favouritism and corruption. The Delhi government withdrew the policy and announced that from September 1, the state would revert...

Late last month, the Adani Group acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. (VCPL) which held warrants convertible to 29.18% stake in NDTV. As per SEBI rules, the Adani Group – having exercised the option to convert the warrants into equity stake – made an open offer to acquire 26% shares from public shareholders, offering Rs. 294 per share. On the date of the announcement, the shares were tradin...

The words Congress and crisis go together. Since losing power in 2014, the party has lurched from one crisis to the other, sending warning signals of its imminent demise. Yet, it remains in power in a few states and, perhaps, the only non-BJP party with a national footprint. In the politically significant state of Uttar Pradesh, the party has stuck to its non-player status.  The Congress has remai...

On August 26, China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong published an article in a Sri Lankan newspaper in which he drew parallels between American leader Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, and India’s objections to Chinese tracking tracking vessel Yuan Wang-5 docking at Sri Lanka’s strategically significant Hambantota port. In the article, without naming India, he effectively accused India of bully...

The United Nations recently released a new report by Tomoya Obokata, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences. The report will be part of the agenda at the next session of the Human Rights Council in September. It focuses on one particular aspect of contemporary slavery -- how minorities are especially vulnerable to it, and what can be done to...

Earlier this month, Cricket Australia launched a five-year strategic plan for growing and managing the sport in the country.  The plan, titled ‘Where the Game Grows’ lays down a roadmap for Australian cricket for the period 2022-2027. It has many ambitious targets, including doubling the number of cricket-playing kids aged 5 to 12 years to 210,000 in five years, and quadrupling the number of girls...

The central government had recently barred State-owned power distribution companies from buying or selling power on the spot exchanges without paying their current dues to power producing firms. Many States have since paid up and have been able to participate in the trades. This is an opportune moment to evaluate whether the legacy problems of State discoms, that have been perennially burdened wit...

The premature release of these prisoners, responsible for heinous crimes, has taken place behind closed doors. It has led to some public outrage and the matter may well go before the Supreme Court for its opinion on whether the State Government operated in a judicious manner.  To discuss the issues surrounding the release, I am joined by Senior Advocate Rebecca John, who is a well-known criminal l...

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019(PDP Bill). It didn’t give clear reasons for the move, except to cite the detailed recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s report. It has also not given a definitive timeline for when a refurbished Bill will be ready.  The move to withdraw the PDP Bill has evoke...

On Monday, China said its industrial output expanded 3.8% in July compared with a year earlier, a tad slower than June’s 3.9% growth. Retail sales too rose a slower 2.7% compared with the 3.1% growth in June. Media reports quote analysts as saying that loan demand from the real economy remained weak. The country’s central bank cut rates with an aim to spur growth. Like the rest of the world, India...

On August 16, FIFA, world football’s governing body, suspended India citing “undue influence from third parties” in the functioning of the All India Football Federation. This ban, if not lifted soon, could mean that India wouldn’t be allowed to host the Under-17 Women’s World Cup, which is scheduled for October this year. FIFA’s statement also laid down two conditions for the lifting of the suspen...

It's a debate that refuses to go away. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit into the culture of government "freebies" or Revdi as he called it in Hindi, the matter has now gone to the Supreme Court. What is the difference between freebies and welfare? In a poor country like India, isn't State intervention for, say, scholarships for students not in the public interest? Who decides what is a freeb...

As the title, Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age, suggests, Shruti Kapila’s latest book deals with fraternity, violence and sovereignty. Her core argument is that violence has not been as distant from India’s politics as we have been told. In this episode, Kapila talks about the role of violence in the making of the Indian republic. Zeroing in on the ‘power of ideas’ in...

A possible berthing call by a Chinese surveillance vessel, the Yuan Wang 5, at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port, has led to Beijing protesting loudly about New Delhi’s suggestion to Colombo that the tracking ship be denied entry. Colombo has said that it had asked Beijing to defer the call by the Yuan Wang 5 at a time when the country faces a dire economic crisis. After Indian concerns, the Chinese in...

Earlier this month, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the benchmark interest rate by another 50 basis points in its ongoing efforts to rein in inflation that has persistently stayed above the central bank’s upper tolerance band of 6% for six months running. The interest rate increase takes the policy repo rate to 5.4%, and, more significantly, to a level last seen in the pre-pandemic seco...

Nitish Kumar has done it again. He probably holds a record for the number of times he has ditched his allies, only to ally with them again, in India’s politics. There is, clearly, nothing ideological about his choice of partners – Nitish Kumar’s decisions seem governed by one goal alone – how to keep his seat of power warm. As he becomes chief minister for the eighth time in 22 years, Nitish Kumar...

The last day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games proved to be a good one for India, as a flurry of medals pushed India’s tally to 22 golds medals and a fourth place in the medals table, behind Australia, England and Canada. The difference between Canada and India was four gold medals. In 2018, when India finished third, it had seven golds from shooting alone, and it’s clear that if shooting hadn’t been...

On July 27, the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on a batch of around 200 petitions that had challenged various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The judgment, titled Vijay Madanlal Choudhury & Ors vs Union of India & Ors, has led to grave concerns about further erosion of constitutional protections for personal and civil liberties. The Opposition has said that it wil...