Columnists | The Asian Age

The BJP’s invocation of Ram Rajya -- literally Ram’s kingdom, a utopian paradise flowing with milk and honey -- for electoral purposes is seen as just that, and not taken seriously by thinking persons who cannot forget that 2.5 million Indians would not have migrated every year if India had really achieved so much. (iMAGE: AFP)

Sunanda K Datta Ray | Compromise vital as India tries to expand global role

Similar credibility issues in explaining India’s foreign policy face Modi and Jaishankar as Nehru did

07 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s preferred lateral entry, introduced with much fanfare in 2018, received a lukewarm response and soon got passed over and forgotten. But Mr Modi never dropped the ball. Now, lateral entry has made a formidable comeback as Mr Modi’s second term comes to a close. (Image: PTI)

Dilip Cherian | 3rd term in sight, Modi govt pushes ahead with lateral entry appointments

Modi-led government greenlights appointments of private sector specialists in key government roles, marking a departure from tradition

07 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Image: PTI)

Shikha Mukerjee | Modi’s ‘guarantees’ on India’s growth can be a mind-bender

Examining the promises, challenges, and contradictions of India's development journey in the past decade

06 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

The BJP says an RSS rally in Delhi in December 1947 drew a large crowd and also attracted Hindu princes, businessmen and leaders of other Hindu organisations.

Aakar Patel | How RSS, world’s largest NGO, led to Jan Sangh/BJP, world’s top party

Hedgewar died in 1940, by when the RSS had spread beyond Nagpur and had 100,000 members

05 Mar 2024 12:37 AM

This picture taken from Rafah shows flares lighting the skies over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 4, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)

K.C. Singh | Gaza bleeds as Israel lacks endgame, hits US politics

Israel has announced that the next interim ceasefire is acceptable to it, provided of course that Hamas concurs

05 Mar 2024 12:37 AM

Banknotes carrying a portrait of King Charles III (Image: AP)

Kishwar Desai |UK warms to King as he fights cancer; welcome to virtual life with the royals

Royals' virtual presence dominates media, their absence sparks speculation. Can journalism survive without them?

04 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

The decline in share of foreign trade in national income is mirrored in the decline in India’s share of world exports. In short, the record of the Narendra Modi government in the realm of foreign trade -- both policy and performance -- has been disappointing, especially compared to what was achieved in the preceding decade.n(File Image: AFP)

Sanjaya Baru | A widening gulf: India’s trade policy needs a fix

India's foreign trade performance has declined under the Modi government, reflecting policy shifts and missed opportunities

04 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

the Supreme Court (SC) struck down the legality of electoral bonds. That was the right decision, considering that the bonds did nothing to eliminate the deliberate opacity in the role of anonymous money in politics, except to make the donations through a bank transfer. Everything else remained the same, or even worse: The donor was unknown, the party receiving the funds unknown, the cap on amount of funding removed, and donations from foreign sources — not allowed earlier — made unlimited. (Image:AP)

Pavan Varma | Bonds, not black money, gone: All eyes now on EC

Supreme Court's striking down of electoral bonds underscores the need for comprehensive reforms to combat corruption

03 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

Breaking societal taboos, shedding light on the therapeutic benefits of emotional expression through tears, fostering empathy and mental well-being.

Shreya Sen-Handley | Keep calm and carry on crying

Crying gets a bad rap, doesn’t it?

03 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. (Image: PTI)

Anita Katyal | Questions on role of Shukla in HP

Prawn excuse for Sandeshkhali grab

03 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

The corresponding share of expenditure on food increases from 46.4 per cent in rural areas to 47 per cent and from 39.2 per cent in urban areas to 40 per cent. Non-comparability across previous survey results inhibits time-trend analysis, though the long-term trend of a declining share for food, in both the rural and urban consumption basket, is not disrupted. (DC File Photo)

Sanjeev Ahluwalia | The politics behind India’s rural and urban spending

This survey includes, for the first time, the “imputed value” of consumption goods provided free by the Union and state governments

02 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

Farrukh Dhondy | Shamima Begum a terrorist threat or victim of ISIS? Britain is divided

Were Shamima and friends in touch with someone on the Internet or in person who groomed them into embracing ISIS?

02 Mar 2024 12:00 AM

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress leader Rajeev Shukla during a meeting, in Shimla, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Cong’s slide in Himachal sign of a deeper malaise

Cross-voting chaos in Himachal as Congress faces dissent, BJP claims majority, creating a political turmoil

01 Mar 2024 2:49 AM

With a focus on stability and effective governance, Modi government extends tenures for IAS officers while a wave of reshuffling looms large in Punjab and Maharashtra.

Dilip Cherian | Longer tenures for senior babus soon

Modi government prepares for a significant bureaucratic reshuffle

29 Feb 2024 12:00 AM

The latest household survey offers some stark facts about the gaps -- between the richest and the poorest, between states, between cities and villages and between social groups.

Patralekha Chatterjee | Acute poverty falls in India, but not extreme inequality

Amidst political narratives of progress, a recent survey reveals stark economic disparities, fueling debate on India's development trajectory

29 Feb 2024 12:00 AM

A view of the town of Avdiivka in the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk region on February 19, 2024. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)

Indranil Banerjie | Western hysteria mounts as Russia makes Ukraine gains

Ukraine-Russia conflict escalates, triggering shifts in geopolitics and the global economic landscape.

28 Feb 2024 12:05 AM

Indians in the U.S. Forge Solidarity Across Struggles for Secularism and Against Imperialism. (File Image: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Aakar Patel | Desis in America show solidarity for secular India, Palestinian rights

Solidarity Meeting in the U.S.: Uniting Struggles for Secularism in India and Against Imperialism in Palestine

26 Feb 2024 11:17 PM

Supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party protest against the alleged skewing in Pakistan's national election results, in Peshawar on February 17, 2024. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)

K.C. Singh | Pakistan in a mess after polls, uncertainty ahead

Surprising Results, Predictable Endgame: Unraveling the Complexities of Pakistan's General Election

26 Feb 2024 11:08 PM

Women holding posters stage a protest demanding the arrest of local TMC leaders over Sandeshkhali incident allegations, in North 24 Parganas district, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Shikha Mukerjee | Magic mirror in overtime amid governance failures

Politics in Sandeshkhali: A Microcosm of India's Electoral Realities

26 Feb 2024 12:05 AM

Senior BJP leader LK Advani was conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. (PTI Photo/Manvender_Vashist Lav)

Bhopinder Singh | The politicisation of Bharat Ratna awards is getting more pronounced

India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, sees increasing political influence, raising questions of fairness and partisanship

26 Feb 2024 12:05 AM

Columns Page-5

Sunanda K Datta Ray | Compromise vital as India tries to expand global role

Dilip Cherian | 3rd term in sight, Modi govt pushes ahead with lateral entry appointments

Shikha Mukerjee | Modi’s ‘guarantees’ on India’s growth can be a mind-bender

Aakar Patel | How RSS, world’s largest NGO, led to Jan Sangh/BJP, world’s top party

K.C. Singh | Gaza bleeds as Israel lacks endgame, hits US politics

Kishwar Desai |UK warms to King as he fights cancer; welcome to virtual life with the royals

Sanjaya Baru | A widening gulf: India’s trade policy needs a fix

Pavan Varma | Bonds, not black money, gone: All eyes now on EC

Shreya Sen-Handley | Keep calm and carry on crying

Anita Katyal | Questions on role of Shukla in HP

Sanjeev Ahluwalia | The politics behind India’s rural and urban spending

Farrukh Dhondy | Shamima Begum a terrorist threat or victim of ISIS? Britain is divided

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Cong’s slide in Himachal sign of a deeper malaise

Dilip Cherian | Longer tenures for senior babus soon

Patralekha Chatterjee | Acute poverty falls in India, but not extreme inequality

Indranil Banerjie | Western hysteria mounts as Russia makes Ukraine gains

Aakar Patel | Desis in America show solidarity for secular India, Palestinian rights

K.C. Singh | Pakistan in a mess after polls, uncertainty ahead

Shikha Mukerjee | Magic mirror in overtime amid governance failures

Bhopinder Singh | The politicisation of Bharat Ratna awards is getting more pronounced

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