News
New digital age and importance of privacy of data
New digital age won’t be as much fun if we don’t talk about privacy. Privacy should not be limited to headline grabbing revelations about surveillance, Snowden and Sony; these conversations need to be mainstreamed to every citizen-consumer.
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PM needs to focus on infrastructure for growth
While India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today, a major obstacle for sustaining its real GDP growth has been the lack of adequate infrastructure, which can support the growth process. Low levels of public investment have made India's physical infrastructure incompatible and without improving the rate of infrastructure investment, the overall growth rate would remain modest.
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Religious fundamentalism: Six major questions
This may appear to be an oversimplification, but a month after the January 7 Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris, there are six major questions we need to ask ourselves. Are terror killings acceptable? No, whatever be the cause. The second is the right to freedom of expression. A definite and loud yes. The right to criticise?
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World War II: Time to mark India's contributions
Little noticed in the joint statement issued by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier this week in Beijing along with her Chinese and Russian counterparts was a brief paragraph urging all nations to mark the 70th anniversary of Allied victory in the Second World War.
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Obama visit: The economic fallout
The visit of US President Barack Obama to India for the 66th Republic Day was laden with 'symbolism' which can be decoded as 'US is ready to acknowledge India's rising economic power'. India is after all the third biggest economy in the world and is poised to grow at 7 to 8 per cent according to International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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Global nation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept his promise to the overseas Indian communities during his visits to the United States and Australia on making it easier for them to travel to India and participate in its national life. In issuing an ordinance this week to merge two separate schemes — Overseas Citizen of India and the Person of Indian Origin — Modi has implemented a decision that was first announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011. With much greater sensitivity to the diaspora and its needs than the Congress leadership, Modi was quick to make Singh's proposal his own.
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We need intelligence upgrades
The business of intelligence is as old as history and expected to thrive in the future as well, despite its conflicting images from time to time. As long as the state has its ambitions and fears, intelligence collection will continue. Wars may have an end but in the business of espionage there is neither an end nor any winners.
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Mumbai terror attack: Six years later, are we ready?
Six years ago most of us sat and watched a carnage in Mumbai being enacted on our TV screens. It seemed like a bad dream as we watched terrorists in action and nothing could have brought home the impact of terrorist action as those endless hours. We heard, unbelieving, some of our media giving running commentaries as the commandos launched their search and destroyed their mission. This was war and we knew where it came from.
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India must adjust to the rise of China
The decision to invite US President Barack Obama to be the chief guest at the 66th Republic Day marks out in the clearest terms Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strategic outlook. Having personally had to deal with the Chumur episode during the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping in September, Modi is familiar with just how the assertive leader of China is seeking to redraw the geopolitical landscape of Asia.
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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: A new banking alternative
By all accounts, poor infrastructure is the biggest stumbling block for achieving higher economic growth. Lack of roads, highways, power, ports, airports and water has acted as the main deterrent to attracting foreign direct investment, especially in the South Asian region.
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