Opinion

The escalation of violent protests and arson in Bihar over alleged irregularities in recruitment in the Railways is yet another symptom that shows the Indian economy is going through a terrible churn, and the effects on the populace are devastating. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai-based independent think tank, estimates that the country's unemployment rate rose up to 7.9% in December, and the figure has passed 8% this month. CMIE's figures show that urban unemployment rose to 9.3% in December from 8.2% the previous month, and rural unemployment crept up to 7.3% from 6.4% in this duration. India's unemployment rate has been surging over the last few years — the steepest rise began in 2017-18, when it was 4.7%, going up to 6.3% in 2018-19 and, finally, 7.91% in Dece...

With five states going to the polls next month, political parties are vying desperately with each other to woo voters through freebies — in cash or in kind. Most of the grand promises, if implemented, are likely to drain the fast-depleting financial resources of states such as Punjab. Calling it a serious issue, the Supreme Court has sought replies from the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition seeking directions to freeze the election symbol or deregister a party that promises or distributes 'irrational freebies' in the run-up to the polls. The apex court has expressed concern that the freebie budget is exceeding the regular budget, depriving the stakeholders of a level playing field. The SC Bench has also taken the ECI to task for failing to come up with stringe...

It is ironic that even former right-wing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had rejected a Knesset (Israeli Parliament) bill which proposed to give the government greater power to control and suppress online content. This was in 2016, and the bill was introduced by Netanyahu’s Likud party rival, Gideon Sa’ar. Some analysts argued that Netanyahu had feared that a law aimed at suppressing Palestinian freedom of speech online could be exploited by his enemies to control his own speech and incitement. Now that Netanyahu is no longer in the picture, the bill is back, and so is Sa’ar. Gideon Sa’ar is currently Israel’s justice minister and deputy prime minister. While his boss, Naftali Bennett, is moving rapidly to expand settlements and to worsen already horrific realities for Palestin...

Social media has become an integral part of each individual’s life as it is accessible through smartphones, computers, and tablets. In a democracy it is healthy to have social media platforms to express opinions freely, but this freedom of expression when misused becomes an intrusion and a social problem. In a democratic set-up, the judiciary is supposed to safeguard the fundamentals rights of citizens and ensure no one is exploited, cheated, victimised or subjected to any kind of violence by either government authorities or someone in society. Through the principles of justice, equity and good conscience, the courts ensure fair trial and fundamental rights. It is, however, very unfortunate when some third party (other than courts) tries to play the role of judge, jury and executioner. Mai...

More and more parents are making the lives of their children miserable If producing kids is the only qualification to be a parent, then animals are greater parents than human beings. Parenting means to feed, protect, shelter, love, and most importantly, to educate the little ones. When we are young, we have less responsibilities. As we grow up, our responsibilities multiply. We need more money, fame, name, social status. Marriage is never an easy thing, so how can producing kids be easy. Think before producing kids because it is a big responsibility, rather the biggest responsibility. I am not against traditions and customs; what you want to do but please think before doing it, lest you fill someone’s life with tears for the sake of your joys. When you become a parent, it is your responsib...

Law serves as a norm of conduct for citizens. It provides order and equity between the three branches of government. Without law there would be chaos and it would be survival of the fittest and every man for himself. The law is important because it acts as a guideline as to what is accepted in society. Without it there would be conflicts between social groups and communities. The law also allows for a way to adapt to changes that occur in society. Society is a ‘web-relationship’ and social change obviously means a change in the system of social relationship, where a social relationship is understood in terms of social processes and social interactions and social organisations. Thus, the term, ‘social change’ is used to indicate variations in social institutions, social processes and social...

THE pandemic has thrown the school system out of gear across the country and there seems to be no end to the ordeal of the young students, parents and teachers. Different states have, over the past nearly two years, tried out their own variations to attend to the challenges, but the results have been mixed. There is a broad consensus though that projecting online learning as a substitute to physical attendance puts a vast majority at a clear disadvantage. The digital divide is stark and its repercussions have been brutal. Amidst the third wave, the day Maharashtra reopened schools while making it clear that there was no compulsion to atend, two villages in Haryana's Fatehabad district announced that considering the learning loss to students, they have decided to defy the state government's...

NO one should be surprised by the claim made by former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor that an Indian businessman tried to lure him into the murky world of match-fixing in 2019. In a detailed statement he posted on social media on Monday, Taylor said that in the October of that year, he was offered $15,000 by an Indian businessman to merely travel to India to discuss potential sponsorship deals and the possibility of a T20 competition in Zimbabwe. Once in India, he says, he used cocaine during a party with the businessman and his associates. He claims that the men then coerced him into agreeing to indulge in match-fixing, warning that they would make public a video of him using cocaine if he did not agree. He says he said yes only to get away from India but never actually got involved in m...

The turnip, locally known as ‘Gugej’, is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The turnip is thought to have originated in middle and eastern Asia and is grown throughout the temperate zone. Turnips are vegetables with a creamy white colour and a purple top. Both the turnip and its leafy greens are tasty and nutritious. It is the oldest cultivated root vegetable and consumed both by man and animal. Turnips are round or swollen in shape with a distinct flavour, colour and varieties. The most common type of turnip is mostly white-skinned apart from the upper 1 to 6 centimetres, which protrude above the ground and are purple or red where the sun has hit. This above-ground part develops from stem tissue, but is fused with the root. The i...

After completing a degree in engineering we generally look for jobs that are related to engineering and thus limit ourselves to a career in engineering. A mechanical engineering student looks forward to become a mechanical engineer and a civil engineering student looks forward to become a civil engineer, and same applies to other students who are from other branches. After all, in an engineering degree we spend 4 years studying things related to engineering. But, in this article, I will tell all the engineering students something that is quite different from our conventional thinking. Apart from core technical proficiency, engineering teaches us many other skills, such as presentation skills, content writing, working as a team, how to treat different people during different situations, pro...