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Many Brahmapurams waiting to explode if we don’t learn to manage waste

India is a country of 140 crore people, but it has failed to get the basics right when it comes to waste management. Kochi’s Brahmapuram waste treatment plant disaster is a case in point.

18 Mar 2023

Keeping tradition in mind, redefine secularism in Indian terms

British coins feature the queen’s likeness and letters in Latin that stand for ‘By the Grace of God, King and Defender of the Faith’.

04 Mar 2023

Imperative to rein in AI and make it function like a good workhorse

At a recent literary festival in Delhi, one of the members of the audience asked a question that sent shivers down my spine.

18 Feb 2023

Our textbooks should teach about the greatness and flaws in history

Despite all the hullabaloo about history being rewritten by the Right-wing government. It appears that the only place the so-called ‘nationalists’ are rewriting history is in their WhatsApp factories.

04 Feb 2023

Equal opportunity, not freebies, will save the poor

The minimum wages in every sector need to be reworked to a higher level. This will hurt the middle-class pockets more, but it will stop us from exploiting the destitute.

22 Jan 2023

No one wins when willing to lose it all for that elusive life

The earth has made another rotation around the sun. A random day in the middle of the winter that does not herald any change in weather or anything else is celebrated with considerable fanfare.

07 Jan 2023

Need to change the way we work to reduce occupational stress

Why are many of us feeling so stressed out in life? If you are reading this column, chances that you are financially well-off than most Indians are higher.

17 Dec 2022

Young and jobless: Why Indian education needs a revolution

The same irony can be seen in the job markets too. India is booming with start-ups, generating lakhs of jobs every month, while unemployment touches record levels.

03 Dec 2022

Localised solutions the only way to tackle pollution

If one travels through the cities in the Gangetic plains during winters, it is a scene straight out of an apocalypse film. The wheat and paddy fields lay covered in a dim haze.

19 Nov 2022

In theatre of the absurd, life and corruption go as usual

When was the last time any prominent ruling party politician of any state or Central ministry resigned on moral grounds, let alone was tried and convicted for corruption?

05 Nov 2022

Human sacrifice in the name of ritual is a spell that must be broken

This is not the first time that ritual human sacrifices have taken place in our country, nor is this going to be the last.

21 Oct 2022

The long road to building roads for humans, not cars in India

We are at the bottom of the list, even among total vehicles per 1,000. Yet, when it comes to accidents, we claim the first rank with 11 percent of global deaths in road accidents.

08 Oct 2022

We can’t stray from street dog menace by ignoring lost lives

The four states with the highest incidents of street dog bites are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat. Kerala doesn’t even figure in the top 10 in the number of dog bites...

24 Sep 2022