Columnists | The Asian Age

Climate activist Disha Ravi, 22, being taken to a court in New Delhi, India, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Ravi was arrested for circulating a document on social media supporting months of massive protests by farmers in India. (AP)

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Arrests on flimsy basis undermine democracy

A citizen’s liberty cannot be left to the mercy of a policeman or policewoman

26 Feb 2021 12:00 AM

President Biden’s words need closer attention to understand that this is a new America, traumatised by four years of Trumpian undermining of US institutions. (AP /Evan Vucci)

K.C. Singh | Ignoring Biden mantra may be costly for India

Indian government has so far ignored subtle hints from the US that freedom of expression includes the freedom to protest peacefully

25 Feb 2021 1:08 AM

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, third from right, attends a ceremony of India's AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccination at the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (The Presidential Palace via AP)

Anand K. Sahay | Afghan challenges for India & Taliban factor

Whether the Taliban’s recapture of Kabul comes to pass or not, staying engaged with Afghanistan is India’s foremost challenge in the region

24 Feb 2021 7:25 AM

With its seemingly endless saga of mismanagement and irregularities, the Club has been in the limelight a lot, unfortunately. (Image: delhigymkhana.org.in)

Dilip Cherian | ‘Takeover’ of Gymkhana Club strikes fear in Lutyens’ Delhi

This is the first time in the Club’s history that an administrator has been appointed to run its affairs

24 Feb 2021 7:10 AM

By threatening Twitter officials with jail and publicly contemplating the application of media laws to the social media, the government is putting on public display how spooked, rather than concerned, it is. (Photo: AFP)

Shashidhar Nanjundaiah | Hashtag power: Twitter, govt in fight for survival

The social media has two broad roles — the organisational and the dialogic, and it is the former that is spooking nervous governments

23 Feb 2021 4:48 AM

The nations that follow India on the list of those with high taxes are all European nations, plus the United States and Japan. (Photo: AFP)

Aakar Patel | Who’s to blame for Rs 100 petrol: Nehru, Indira or Modi Sarkar?

India’s consumers pay the highest rate of tax on the petrol and diesel that they consume

23 Feb 2021 4:13 AM

Going forward, Indian diplomacy will have to come up with a well-considered response and approach to the Indian diaspora’s engagement with India’s local political issues. (Photo: PTI)

Sanjaya Baru | Diaspora & democracy: Global Indians go local

A Sikh in Canada does not have to be a Khalistani to express concern about the fate of fellow Sikhs in India

22 Feb 2021 4:35 AM

Anita Katyal | BJP for Sourav as Bengal CM; Cong farmer cell has no chief

The BJP has apparently put together a copious dossier on Ganguly and his family’s business interests in its effort to persuade him

21 Feb 2021 4:52 AM

It’s not all sapsuckers and sappy stories. There are those harsh realities of the countryside. Of the lack of basic amenities. Health, education, migration for work. Of environmental destruction and the resultant devastation. (Photo: PTI)

Ranjona Banerji | Concrete threat, but there's bignonia, and birdsong

Dehradun has no buzz. It has higgledy-piggledy growth. Almost none of it is organic

21 Feb 2021 4:37 AM

It has been reported that stickers are put on the doors or entrances of those who have paid, thereby marking out those who have not. (Photo: PTI)

Pavan K Varma | Not much righteous about Ram temple funds drive

Fear and unlawful pressure cannot be a basis for religious or spiritual pursuits

21 Feb 2021 4:10 AM

Farrukh Dhondy | Why it’s crucial to stand up for views you may not agree with…

The definition of hate crime in any democracy should not deteriorate or ever be interpreted as 'Disagree Crime'

20 Feb 2021 7:17 AM

The court in this remarkable verdict has emphasised that there is no time bar for speaking out. A woman is entitled to do so decades later, if she so chooses. (PTI file photo/Ravi Choudhary)

Shobhaa De | Women walk taller… But what if Ramani had lost?

Priya and Rebecca must know what this victory and acquittal signifies for women -- it is like the biggest validation of all times

20 Feb 2021 7:10 AM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha during Budget Session of Parliament. (Photo: PTI)

Karan Thapar | Decoding the numbers: What the FM didn’t say

When you dig into details and ponder over the implications, the Budget feels rather different to what you’ve heard

19 Feb 2021 4:51 AM

Moving towards use of renewable energy to meet India’s energy requirements is one of the priorities of this Budget. (Photo: AFP)

Budget 2021 puts green recovery at the centre of policy framework

The Budget has a long-term vision for this decade on environmental sustainability

18 Feb 2021 4:49 AM

Human rights groups call this a form of discrimination in favour of the wealthy. There is also the ethical question of those who for one reason or another refuse to be vaccinated. (Photo: AFP)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | ‘Vaccine passports’: Key to safe travels is flawed

Vaccine passports will prevent travel by people from countries that will not get vaccines for months, or even years

18 Feb 2021 4:16 AM

Dilip Cherian | Fresh push for lateral entry of babus likely

Though the Supreme Court fixed a two-year tenure for babus back in 2013, few states have complied with the directive

17 Feb 2021 7:26 AM

The honest way of going about this important issue dealing with the challenges of agriculture is to tell the truth that the government is unable to pay the rising MSP bill. (PTI/Kamal Kishore)

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | PM’s arguments on farm laws seem deeply flawed

The government is now telling a lie -- that farmers will get a better deal outside the mandi, which is not the case over the long term

17 Feb 2021 7:18 AM

The mid-day meal scheme, on which crores of children depended for their one good meal of the day, found its budget cut from Rs.13,400 crore in FY 2021 to Rs.11,500 crore in 2022. (LSTV/PTI file Photo)

Aakar Patel | Vital areas in kids’ health left ignored in Budget 2021

Poshan Abhiyan, the flagship programme meant to improve nutritional outcomes by 2022, was also damaged

16 Feb 2021 7:27 AM

The protests are no longer primarily about fears around the potential reduction or doing away with minimum support prices, or ending of the mandi system, it is now about hurt farmers set against the hubris of the government. (PTI file photo)

Sriram Karri | How PM can win hearts, keep bills, end protests

In the next many days, on any day of his choosing, Mr Modi should just walk into a protest site and spend several hours

16 Feb 2021 7:08 AM

Kishwar Desai | Darcy zest adds zing to V-week; Suella’s baby may lead to reforms

Darcy, in the novel, turned out to be a perfect lover — and so perhaps we can hope for warmer days as the sun now is beginning to shine

15 Feb 2021 4:52 AM

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