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Editorials
]COP 15 and the climate-biodiversity link
While climate summits attract political, public, and media attention (rightly so), biodiversity summits have failed to garner the attention they deserve. This is unfortunate because both issues are inter-connected: Healthy ecosystems make better carbon sinks to absorb CO2 pollution, and these, in turn, are vital to keep global warming down to acceptable levels.
Updated on Oct 11, 2021 03:12 PM IST
By HT Editorial
On LAC, China’s intent is clear
India must strengthen partnerships across the Indo-Pacific to stand up to China’s belligerent stand on Line of Actual Control
Updated on Oct 11, 2021 06:54 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Air India: The right reform
The sale of AI is good for the government, the consumer, and possibly for the Tatas because, free of much of its debt, AI, even in its present shape, may well turn in an operational profit
Updated on Oct 10, 2021 07:23 PM IST
By HT Editorial
A shot in the arm for NGT and citizens
The Supreme Court said the National Green Tribunal does have suo moto powers and can take up environmental issues on its own
Updated on Oct 10, 2021 07:16 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The killings in Kashmir
India has a hard task ahead. Boost security, nab terrorists, ensure communal peace. Figure out a Kashmir strategy that combines democracy, dignity, and rights for all
Updated on Oct 08, 2021 08:50 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Formulating a robust forest conservation law
On October 2, the Union government released a consultation paper on amending the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980. Environmentalists have criticised it on various grounds. These are serious criticisms, and for formulating a robust forest law, the government must address them before moving further.
Updated on Oct 07, 2021 03:57 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Where Delhi and DC agree, disagree
Strategic imperatives bind the two nations. The government has taken a political risk in deepening ties with DC. Washington must not export its own battles with Moscow to the Indian theatre and it must keep an eye on the bigger challenge.
Updated on Oct 07, 2021 02:52 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The diversity of the Indian economy
Some sectors are thriving, with supply-side issues; other sectors are struggling, due to a demand crunch
Updated on Oct 06, 2021 06:53 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Air pollution: Frame a joint response
The Centre, Delhi and neighbouring states must figure out a joint response to help farmers stop stubble burning
Updated on Oct 06, 2021 06:53 PM IST
By HT Editorial
When Facebook crashed
The Facebook outage is a reminder of the fragility of the digital ecosystem, which in past decades has seen power increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few.
Updated on Oct 05, 2021 04:25 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The two-finger test: A gross injustice
The test involves a doctor inserting two fingers in the vagina to detect if the hymen is present, to test the vagina’s size and laxity, and the sexual history of the victim — all of which are completely irrelevant in a case of sexual assault
Updated on Oct 04, 2021 07:54 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Lakhimpur Kheri: The cauldron boils over
Hold those guilty of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence accountable. Reach out to farmers. If there is a time for statesmanship to resolve this issue, it is now
Updated on Oct 04, 2021 09:58 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Farm laws: The onus is on the SC
With elections due early next year in two states whose farmers are part of the protests, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, it is unlikely that a political solution to the crisis will be found before mid-2022, if then. The SC would do well to resume hearing petitions challenging the legality of the farm laws — it is among the important cases, including the challenges to the abrogation of Article 370 and on electoral bonds pending before it — and, for starters, perhaps convert its observations on blocked roads into an order.
Updated on Oct 03, 2021 03:05 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Waste management: Push the 4R principle
While significant investment is necessary in collecting and transporting solid waste, as SBM 2.0 promises to do, it is important that the government and civil society push the concept of refuse-reduce-reuse-recycle much harder. This is not a new concept for India; it needs to be refreshed and popularised among citizens for a sustainable and waste-free future.
Updated on Oct 03, 2021 02:58 PM IST
By HT Editorial
How to tackle erratic monsoon
Recent years have indicated that the patchiness or unevenness of even a normal monsoon is now a trend, not an aberration. Climate science bears this out — the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report specifically mentions erratic monsoons. Better forecasts, climate crisis-mitigating tech, and new crop varieties are the need of the hour
Updated on Oct 01, 2021 03:37 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Why the BJP is smiling today
The churn in the Opposition suits the BJP’s narrative of Narendra Modi as a stable hand at the wheel for 2024
Updated on Sep 30, 2021 09:35 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The contours of the new midday meal scheme
The extension of the scheme to pre-primary students and the development of nutritional gardens can help enhance children’s mental and physical growth
Updated on Sep 30, 2021 08:14 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Rethink fuel prices — it is a negative stimulus
To be sure, both the Centre and the states are gaining a fiscal windfall from taxes on fuel. In the interest of a sustainable economic revival and preventing inflation and, more importantly, keeping inflation expectations from increasing further, both the Union government and the states must agree to reduce taxes.
Published on Sep 29, 2021 04:13 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The ideological battles
Will the Opposition take the Bharatiya Janata Party on from a centre-Right or centre-Left position? This ideological confusion in the Opposition is both a sign of BJP’s hegemony and perhaps explains the failure to challenge it.
Updated on Sep 29, 2021 04:07 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The incoherence in the Congress
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation is a classic example of flawed decision-making of the high command of the Congress party
Updated on Sep 28, 2021 07:37 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Germany’s political churn is significant
In Germany, a closely contested election has seen the Social Democrats (SPD) pull marginally ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
Updated on Sep 28, 2021 07:37 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The future of global tech
Following their first in-person summit in Washington, Quad countries — Australia, India, Japan and the United States (US) — announced a set of principles that will guide how they design, develop, govern and use technology
Published on Sep 27, 2021 04:53 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The battle within the Opposition space
As other parties smell the Congress’s weaknesses, they are attempting to fill the vacuum — be it in the form of the steady election campaign the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is running in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa or the TMC’s attempt to poach disgruntled Congress leaders in a bid to unite them under a federal umbrella or in the form of movements (for instance, the farm agitation) setting the narrative on an issue.
Updated on Sep 27, 2021 07:40 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The right to sit must be the beginning
The lack of access to seating works as a strong impediment to women’s participation in India’s workforce
Updated on Sep 26, 2021 07:53 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The message from Modi’s visit
The India-US strategic relationship remains robust, Quad is here to stay and there is clarity about the challenge
Updated on Sep 26, 2021 07:52 PM IST
By HT Editorial
2021: Focus on census, not caste
Given India’s multiple challenges at the moment, the Centre is right about moving ahead with the 2021 census, without caste enumeration
Updated on Sep 24, 2021 07:50 PM IST
By HT Editorial
In poll-bound states, the challenge for the Congress
In Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand, the party faces stiff challenges ahead of the next year’s assembly elections. To be taken seriously in 2024, the Congress needs to get 2022 right.
Updated on Sep 23, 2021 08:27 PM IST
By HT Editorial
The battle against air pollution
The World Health Organization’s new metric on pollution levels highlights the scale of India’s challenge. India must focus on cleaning up its power, industry, and transport sectors, set up interim targets, and plan a more nuanced regional approach to provide the clean air to its citizens.
Updated on Sep 23, 2021 08:28 PM IST
By HT Editorial
Assam’s quest for rhino conservation
In the face of the poaching challenge, the Assam government’s decision to publicly burn horns sends out a strong message that the body part has no commercial and medicinal value, and that India values its wildlife heritage
Updated on Sep 22, 2021 08:31 PM IST
By HT Editorial