Columns

As southern Europe is being flooded with refugees fleeing the unrest in Libya and Tunisia, a few North European countries plan to re-introduce border controls.

In the background of power availability in Tamil Nadu having become the subject matter of astrology rather than of technology, and the maddeningly ...

In a word, the Marxists lost West Bengal – after 34 years in power– because of the growing popular disenchantment with its rule. The predominant ...

The Assembly elections in West Bengal have resulted in the defeat of the Left Front government after 34 years in power. This edition of MacroScan examines votes polled to see whether this actually reflects a big decline in popular support for the Left in the State.

Any government that comes to power now and in the future will ignore at its own peril the rising expectations of the people who are in no mood to tolerate nonsense from ruling circles.

Lokpal activists have left the existing political system undisturbed, and instead focused on punishing corrupt legislators. However, legislators are likely to be less corrupt and more accountable if they are paid really well.

Rahul Gandhi's support to UP farmers protesting against land acquisition seems ironic, given that farmers everywhere are up against the UPA's industrialisation policies.

Where the voter chooses to take a particular course for reasons that seem valid and appropriate to him, he does so without any hesitation.

Comex gold futures ended lower on Friday, as the dollar surged against the euro and weekend profit-taking was seen. Earlier in the session, gold rose ...

A look at the changes staring us in the face

One clear lesson of the recent economic turmoil was that the virtues of risk aversion were rewarded, writes David Smith in The Age of Instability: ...

Ms J. Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu and Ms Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal deserve full credit for victory against formidable rivals. However, one has to be guarded, given their track record.

The best option is to turn the airline into an employees' cooperative that links its remuneration to performance.

Any tax-exempt political donation must be to the Election Commission, and not to the political parties.

Excavation work at the ruins of Pataliputra, in 1913, saw funding from a private patron on a scale that the Archaeological Survey of India had not ...

‘Tiger' Karan Singh has published his correspondence with Indira Gandhi. It was a cordial relationship which died after he asked her to resign in June 1975, when the Allahabad High Court ruled against her.

Andhra Pradesh's literacy rate lags behind the national average, despite its impressive achievements in growth and poverty reduction. An emphasis on education could help resolve grievances arising from inter-regional disparities.

It is a pity that the seminar arranged on May 10 by the Tamil Chamber of Commerce (TCC), focusing on the ever-broadening vistas for expanding business ...

The French presidency of G-20 may lead to a welcome consensus in favour of more regulation. Meanwhile, emerging economies like India, which have been more systems-compliant, can bring fresh perspectives to the table.

With world attention focused on the taking out of Osama bin Laden, there has been a tendency to ignore developments in Pakistan that preceded this ...

Reducing profit centre heads to the role of executioners of al-Qaeda can never be edifying to their egos and creativity.

One of the essays in ‘ Varieties of Activist Experience: Civil society in South Asia,' edited by David N. Gellner ( www.sagepublications.com), is ...

A reversal of easy money policies, political uncertainty in West Asia and reduced demand in China could halt the bullish trend.

“Judicial reticence has much to commend it; it preserves the neutrality of the judge, it shields him or her from controversy, and it deters the more ...