Economic Survey 2021-22 spells optimism

The most awaited pre-budget economic survey, 2021-22 (ES22) indicated strong signs of recovery with better prospects of stabilization during FY23. Rising from a contraction of 7.3 percent during 2020-21, the economy is firmly poised to...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/7tFOd4cQh

Tax rebate requested by the real estate sector

The real estate business is one of India’s most important economic foundations. It adds 6-8 percent to India’s GDP and is second only to the IT industry in terms of job creation. With the Union...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/q08nhXQIm

How looking good on social media may impress potential investors

All businesses need investors, especially when they’re just starting. Whatever type or size of the investment you are looking for, you need to impress the potential investors. As a startup or a small business, it...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/tr7PG8n0h

Digitisation: The game changer for logistics landscape

There has been a flood of innovations and technological developments in the past few years but the logistics sector had been relying on manual processes up until recently. This scenario is slowly changing with the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/E1Mk7iDj6

Food for brain

Brain health is the ability to perform all the mental processes of cognition, including the ability to learn and judge, use language, and remember– the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Let food...

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Good news before budget: Exports are at record high. Big reasons are shift out of China & smart policies by Centre, states

There’s something to cheer before the budget – India’s goods exports are a record high $393 billion, after having stagnated in the $250-330 billion annual range for a decade. A robust revival in global goods...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/lInRq3MZ7

Madness In Melbourne: Rafael Nadal rolls back the years to deliver one for the history books

Rafael Nadal just shook the sporting world. In what can only be described as a stratospheric performance, the Spanish tennis ace came back from two sets down in the final of the Australian Open to...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/kVNKQpigY

Only jats, not jobs: Intense west UP campaign by all parties is on many things, just not on economic problems

Beginning February 10, the first batch of 690 assembly seats across five states will record polling. Attention is largely focussed on UP, where the assembly has 403 seats, or 58% of the total. The first...

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Wait for SC: Let the court’s committee find answers on Pegasus. Broader point: we need a national security law

Pegasus is back again as a political controversy, and given how these things play out, there will be plenty of sound and no light. The best and the logical choice to shine a light is...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/QTvpXzPY1

Critiquing Hamid Ansari’s civic nationalism thesis: That India abounds in plurality does not mean there’s no thread of cultural continuity

India is being taken over by a “new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism” as against the “well-established principle of civic nationalism, which seeks to present electoral majority in the guise of a religious majority,...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/poiNCD17j

Going into grid: Wordle mania has its ups and downs, depending on how good are your vowel movements

A word game involving five letters and six tries has philosophers, psychologists and other multi-syllabled experts surrendering, in their very first attempt, to excitement described by a four-lettered F-word: fuss. Some rave about the cognitive...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/bU9cJCFt8

Memory is not the preserve of your brain

By Narayani Ganesh Many are in the habit of making ‘to do’ lists, when we begin our day. At day’s end, or in between, we may review the list and tick off what has been...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/zcCKP04GS

To take on BJP duo, Congress needs a Priyanka-Pilot jodi

In business schools in the 1980s, the Avis marketing case study was legendary. The tagline went: “We are number 2. But we try harder”. This was the pre-Uber age when Hertz was the market leader...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/L0FjpuOAV

Credibility of SaaS in logistics industry

The Credibility of SaaS in The Warehousing Industry The Role of SaaS in Next-Gen Warehousing  Separated By Distance but United by Data: The Future of Warehousing with SaaS Indian warehouses are usually located in remote...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/Qgf285U4O

Union Budget 2022: Enhance digital learning as the pandemic continues

The third wave and the ongoing pandemic has aggravated various educational advancements that we see today. Be it the internet connectivity or the new age digital trends of virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence,...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/8qWBb2cg9

Wellness steps to take after a prediabetes diagnosis

Making some small changes can help you with managing your blood sugar — and could even delay progression of your diagnosis. If you’ve been recently diagnosed with prediabetes, you probably have a million questions running...

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The FMEG ecosystem hoping for a holistic and positive budget 2022

This is a year of optimism & newer opportunities for the Fast Moving Electrical Goods (FMEG) sector in India. A lot of sectors had a rumpled start in FY21-22 due to the pandemic, FMEG being...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/qGtuFywYn

Soldier to Commander: Live up to the Republic Day promise to women

Marching crisply and saluting the President of India, Lieutenant Commander Aanchal Sharma led the naval contingent. Lieutenant Manisha Bohra led the Army Ordnance Corps contingent. India’s first woman Rafale jet pilot, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KSIGJ6

Working out why we should work out: Exercise isn’t natural but it’s necessary

It’s the end of January, and many resolutions to exercise are trailing off. But don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal. We were not born to huff and puff on a jogging track, lift weights or contort...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r940SD

PM’s Punjab security breach: Lessons for SPG – The elite protection force should have vetoed the road journey through sensitive areas

The Special Protection Group (SPG), whose sole mission and responsibility is the protection of the Prime Minister of India, has been in the news recently for the lapse in PM’s security in Punjab on January...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3uoSUv1

Master the three monkeys: Mobile, money, mind

By Ram Krishna Sinha Monkeys are intelligent and agile but impatient and fidgety. Unmonitored or uncontrolled, they can create mischief or even havoc. In our modern day-to-day life, we are overwhelmed by three monkeys. Posing serious...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3u9BjqL

UP Elections: The myth of western UP as ‘Jat’ land

With elections round the corner in Uttar Pradesh, headlines are full of a new term “Jat’ land for western UP (the region between Saharanpur and Ghaziabad) for the past few days. What is surprising is...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KSa1uD

Why trains burned: Railway recruitment controversy is a symptom of a jobs crisis GoI must recognise & act on

Following violence perpetrated by anxious job seekers, Indian Railways has suspended the ongoing recruitment drive for non-technical popular categories (NTPC). IR has also set up a committee to examine doubts raised by some among the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3H8BMgt

‘Politics of development to politics of performance’: BJP Rajya Sabha member and ICCR chief argues the case for the Yogi government in UP

Caste and community issues continue to dominate public discourse around assembly elections in UP and other states. Identity issues do influence voter behaviour. But media as public educator also has the responsibility to orient such...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3H7fziP

Past perfect: Time, the great healer, turns the pain of long ago into the pleasure of today

There’s a picture doing the rounds on social media showing the lunch menu of a notable restaurant in the city now called Kolkata. The three-course bill of fare, which includes soup, a choice of main...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3o5FU9w

Why be reactive when you can be proactive?

By Swami Sukhabodhananda What is anger? When do you get angry? Stop for two minutes, take a piece of paper and answer these questions. Some of the answers that I often get to these questions...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3s3h4sa

Padma Bhushan to the ‘Great Indian Brain Drain

Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet & Google CEO Sundar Pichai were conferred with the Padma Bhushan by the government on the eve of the 73rd Republic Day on Tuesday. Though it was...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3o5Qi0P

What’s next for Payments Industry in 2022?

The Future of Payments 2022 The transformation of the payments industry has continued to accelerate at pace in the wake of the pandemic. With more and more consumers now expecting the convenience and flexibility which...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KMzaHf

Ball not in court: Judiciary should stay away from some matters, like states’ debts & commenting on foreign powers

Two ongoing cases in India’s higher courts have thrown up interesting questions. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked GoI and the Election Commission to respond to a PIL that seeks restraints on pre-poll promises of...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3H8pUuI

RPN’s Congress exit a move in BJP’s OBC plan: He’s an east UP Kurmi & a bulwark against ex-BJP Swami Prasad Maurya, who’s now with SP

RPN Singh’s exit from Congress and entry into BJP has less to do with Congress and more to do with BJP. Another leader leaving Congress is hardly likely to make a difference to the party’s...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/345km5H

Don’t Abide With Me: So, what else should be Beating (a) Retreat? 😊

It’s been quite an Embattled Hymn of the Republic, this Ganatantra Diwas. First it was Mamata & Co crying ‘Phoul’ over tableaux choices. Then came the protest against the jawan jyoti no longer being individually...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3fXHSEz

Truth is the biggest immunity booster

By Meena Om Spiritually speaking, if we have a similar experience over and over again, it often means that we have not learnt the required lesson from it the very first time. Every incident takes...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KKO8gU

Global listing: A dream or reality for startups?

It’s a question often asked by policymakers: With its exemplary tech talent, vibrant entrepreneurial zeal and startup-friendly government policies, why can’t India produce global tech enterprises of the size and scale of Google, Apple and...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3o30jvP

Jayasri Burman’s sculptures revere River Ganga

Art exposure’s unique odyssey  of drawings, paintings and 4 sculptures by Jayasri Burman at Bikaner House in Delhi was rooted in the landscape of experience history and memory. The genesis of being in this exhibition must begin...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/35iMNgZ

Isn’t the Earth more blue than green, then why focus on the green economy first?

I was reading an article about climate change and how we might be able to delay, if not completely avoid, its life-threatening consequences when I came across two insightful quotes: “Until man duplicates a blade of...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nZDfy2

Hindustan & the five Stans: India’s outreach to Central Asian countries must rest on secularism and finding better trade routes

The invitation extended to the heads of state of the five Central Asian Republics – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – as chief guests at India’s Republic Day parade generated much celebratory recollection of...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tWysB9

Learning & refining: Public health responses to Covid are more sophisticated but gaps in research and data remain

On December 24, India recorded 7,189 new Covid cases and the daily positivity rate of testing was 0.65%. A month later, the daily caseload increased about 36-fold to about 2.55 lakh with a positivity rate...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r0SSHo

Court says it, again: For their own credibility, premier investigation agencies must try to wrap up probes fast

In an order that essentially urges central agencies to investigate cases expeditiously, the Supreme Court has granted bail to an alleged cattle smuggler behind bars for 14 months while CBI took its own time probing...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3fYCAbS

Use budget to shift behaviour of economic agents: Two key focus areas should be credit disbursal to MSMEs and farmers

In 1995, economist Robert Lucas was awarded the Nobel prize in economics for his seminal work in 1976 postulating that much of the textbook macroeconomic hypothesis could change because of shift in economic agents’ behaviour....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KHxu1G

Genocide gauntlet: A challenging accusation against India that all of us must face

Even as the Indian ambassador to the UN deplored the spread of ‘Hinduphobia’ in some parts of world, in a local TV interview the head of a US organisation called Genocide Watch claimed that the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33TMN6N

Symbolism of the chakra on our national flag

By Vikas Narain The design of our national flag was finalised after prolonged discussions. The blue-coloured chakra on it has been derived from the third century BCE Ashokan Lion Capital pillar, found in an excavation...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qYO0Cv

How’s Covid still here? It’s like Maradona throughBelgian defence, evading and dribbling through our fortifications

It will be only a few weeks, stay inside at home, stop the spread, and it will go away. Two years later, Covid is still here, multiple reboots and re-adaptations later, like the villain in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3IzckAZ

Some random thoughts for vaping in 2022

The 10th annual vape predictions is out in the market, and experts have told us what it means for the market this year. Let’s get to the first things first. Experts say last year’s high...

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The business benefits of supporting production landscape approaches

The United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration puts the spotlight on preventing, halting, and reversing the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed,...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33KPWpy

Smart elevator’s role in the development of smart cities

There has been a global movement towards smart cities, acknowledging the power of technology to make our daily lives easier and safer whilst providing customized experiences. Within the elevator industry, this movement has been represented...

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Cloudtail shutdown? A chance for homegrown sellers to fill the void

E-commerce has not only changed the way we shop in India, but also how we do business. It is no longer an alternative to physical marketplaces or kirana stores. Today, many erstwhile offline businesses are...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tRnhtD

Be earnest on the fisc: Budget must fund public investment. To calm deficit fears, FM should have an action plan

Dear Finance Minister: I know you are drowning in advice on what to do in the budget. I am wary of adding to your burden but am unable to resist the temptation. So, please bear...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GXmATk

Of netas and betas: Indian politics is notorious for spawning dynasties. Good news: some cracks are showing

Fortunes of many political families are on the line in the upcoming five state assembly elections and for a change these elections are seeing some family members on opposing sides of the political divide. After...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nR1wq0

Good culture wars: Intense debate around history and iconography reflects a diverse democracy

Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary yesterday saw different parties’ leaders like Basavraj Bommai, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Yogi Adityanath pay tribute to him across the country. In the evening it was...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FVEuEL

Poverty, wellbeing, hunger: Where do we stand? – India’s progress may have been affected by growth slowdown from 2016-17 to 2019-20

C Rangarajan & S Mahendra Dev This article examines the question – how best to measure poverty? It (a) looks at indicators and trends of some poverty-estimation methods and (b) stresses that poverty based on...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qSzZGw

No network: Now we really know what’s a fate worse than death

Nightmares no longer involve missing kids or cash – it’s always the phone. Even before we grope for glasses upon waking, our palm first possessively curls around the mobile. Screen lights up at sunrise. Checking...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/344jJsU

Happiness is available, help yourself to it

By Thich Nhat Hanh Every day we have many feelings. Sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sorrowful, sometimes angry, irritated or afraid; and these feelings fill our mind and heart. One feeling lasts for...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tP8Juw

Top five ways to diminish post-op knee surgery pain

Knee surgery hurts. The post-op pain causes not only muscle atrophy but often loss of range of motion with joint stiffness as well. The good news is that most of this pain is avoidable. Here...

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Beyond Bapu: Why Netaji’s Republic Day recognition is significant

The incorporation of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary on January 23 into the Republic Day calendar is possibly much more significant than is immediately apparent from the bland official announcement. For a start, it...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3IohwYi

Do Indian voters really prefer rule by a strongman?

Readers may be horrified that a new survey of YouGov, Mint a and CPR suggests that 51% of Indians are disillusioned with democracy and would prefer rule by a strongman, General or technocrat. However, be...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3IsQ0cm

How India’s founding fathers built an ‘Eastminster-style’ democracy

Examining the Constitution as it took its final shape in November 1949, Constituent Assembly member Kengal Hanumanthaiah dejectedly remarked: ‘We wanted the music of a veena or sitar, but here we have the music of...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3Iy5gER

Love…What’s law got to do with it

It could be called a shipboard romance. We were both students on the journey home by ship from Portsmouth, UK. The tall lanky Gujarati boy had been apprenticed in a professional course in London. He...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3fQP9Wo

Merging of flames is an attempt to delink from our colonial past

The decision to merge the Amar Jawan Jyoti Memorial with the Eternal Flame at the National War Memorial has sparked a needless controversy. It is a symbolic and inclusive gesture that must not be politicised....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33CBWye

Time to take responsibility for yourself because you matter

We corrupt our incredible journey of life with fear, regressive social conditioning, insecurity and stress. A large part of our stress is based on what “the world and people around us” think of us. We...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3Aodf4h

When will the Kashmiri Pundits get their land and security back?

Another anniversary of what I consider the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus from their own land has passed and though much has been gained by the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in trying to...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FUd9CJ

NEET, success in your next attempt

Yesterday I met a student named Laddu, who wants to become a doctor. He appeared for NEET 2021 and scored 427 marks out of 720. This was his first attempt. His parent cannot afford the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33DjDsB

The case for liberal democracy: India’s political system has always risen to challenges facing the nation

Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba Our founding fathers chose democracy when India became independent.  In this seventy fifth year of our independence, it is easy to miss how audacious, yet appropriate, that choice was. In...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tOt7f6

Win for daughters: But more needed to ensure women’s property rights

In another win for women’s right to inheritance of property, the Supreme Court has ruled that daughters will have equal rights to their father’s property even prior to the enactment of the Hindu Succession Act...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3AiWMhX

Reform civil service: Too few senior officers, too many departments

The Centre’s proposed amendment to central deputation rules for IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service officers to mitigate the shortage of personnel is being opposed by opposition-ruled states. The situation calls for reforms instead of...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nLRQgt

How to spot and stop a civil war: And why most people miss the signs

Most people don’t realise their nations are on the brink of civil war until it’s too late. Our psychologies prevent us from recognising internal threats or domestic extremism, says political scientist Barbara F Walter in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33zCwwH

‘We have created a bio bubble at Sriharikota’: Isro’s new chairman S Somanath shares plans to revitalise space activities with Surendra Singh

You are taking the reins at a time when pandemic-triggered restrictions have brought space activities almost to a halt. Isro was able to launch just one satellite mission last year. What are your plans to...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tKOLkA

The way to be free from worldly pressures

By Jaya Row Children play with masks. The more grotesque the mask, the greater is their amusement. The secret to their enjoyment is the fact that they know the mask is different from them. The...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GVV3BB

What does 2022 demand in terms of education.The trends to keep up with

The advanced education scene has developed drastically, and understudies should stay side by side so they can advance according to future patterns. They say change is the main consistent hub throughout everyday life and we...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/32k0xab

How to trade wedge and triangle Chart Patterns: Beginners Guide to the Stock Market

As the stock exchange accommodates new investors every day, the stark gap between the seasoned players and the neophytes often starts to get exposed. To avoid the short end of the stick in the equity...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33z9n4B

Stats of the nation: Not just death counts or data on malnutrition, India’s statistics are poor across categories

Two independent proceedings in the Supreme Court have brought the state of India’s statistical system into focus. The sharp divergence between some states’ official Covid toll and the higher number of compensation claims accepted by...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FQbH4s

Broken houses: MP, MLA suspensions have become cross-party blunt instruments of maximalist power politics

The Supreme Court’s warning that the Maharashtra assembly’s suspension of 12 BJP MLAs for one year represents a “danger to democracy” has a much wider resonance. Suspensions are now all too frequent, irrespective of party....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tE37mM

Germany will speak up for rules-based order: India is not only a democratic friend and strategic partner but also an important naval power

Ahead of German frigate Bayern’s arrival in India, Ambassador Walter J Lindner spoke to Sachin Parashar about the deployment of the warship in the Indo-Pacific following Berlin’s announcement of its policy for the region, India’s...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/32dqrML

OBC vs OBC: Other Backless Classes are not all that different

Our political party names cover almost the entire alphabet, but this election season, the ABC is all about OBCs. Everyone in the fray-for-all is bending over backwards to net the backwards in UP, even Punjab....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3ImWpFE

Man was created as a part of God’s own family

By Usha Paul Raj The Book of Genesis begins with an account of how the universe came into being. The Spirit of God was the Prime Being who pre-existed the universe. Nothing else was in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3o26OPJ

Trends That Will Drive Data Storage Innovation in 2022

It is no secret that we are living amid an unprecedented surge in enterprise data: by 2025, the volume of data created is expected to reach nearly 180 zettabytes, according to IDC. Last year, enterprise...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FFjRMR

Jabs & rights: Vaccine mandates are necessary in some cases but can’t be linked to delivering welfare benefits

The Centre’s clarification in Supreme Court that it hasn’t issued vaccine mandates for any purpose brings into sharp focus state governments and municipal bodies denying access to various places as well as various public services...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3IhuPd3

A brief account of Punjab’s multi-cornered contest: Today, competition for the space vacated by SAD and even Congress is unbridled

Punjab, which faces uncertainty with five-cornered assembly elections, has usually remained an outlier to the national trend, especially as seen in the cow-belt states. Because the roots of Punjab’s different political behaviour are religious and...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nCpBAW

Sarkari secrets: The government works in mysterious way its wonders not to perform

With the Omicron variant raging like wildfire around the world – and some countries, like Israel, giving citizens not just their third but fourth shots of vaccine – a lot of 60-plus people in India...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tA03Il

Ideal time for us to begin our own moulting

By Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Based on our experience of the past two years, there is one lesson we can definitely carry into 2022: that the need of the hour is a conscious planet. The pandemic...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FJSPns

How influencer marketing survived 2021

Digital media consumption is steadily increasing. Calculating the daily levels from 2012 to 2018, it increased from 5 hours 37 minutes per person to 6 hours 45 minutes. This further increased from 2019-21 with reported...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3525wxo

Real money gaming is not gambling: let’s bust a few myths

Since time immemorial, people have been engaging in numerous indoor games as well as gambling. From a cultural and sentimental standpoint, gambling has long been viewed as a vice and labeled as an unethical or...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3AceCTJ

Vaxxing the young: Jabs for kids in 12-14 group 2 months away. No word on 5-11 group. Is Covaxin alone enough?

The first two Covid waves saw Indian students suffering one of the longest school closures in the world, and now Omicron has pushed them back into a chaotic patchwork of schools open or closed per...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3IjDMml

Economy & elections: State-level inflation, unemployment don’t make headlines. But voters think about them

Inflation and unemployment usually feature among a medley of issues that animate ground-level campaigning in elections. Headlines, on the other hand, generally focus on caste, religion and defections. Important as the latter are, post-poll surveys...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tGdtmh

India must give Taiwan a helping hand: In dealing with Taipei, New Delhi should remember its mistakes when China annexed Tibet

After swallowing Hong Kong, redrawing the South China Sea’s geopolitical map and encroaching on Indian and Bhutanese borderlands, an expansionist China is itching to move on Taiwan. This island democracy is a technological powerhouse central...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FAe9LZ

Take one for the road: The GPS lady plunges me into abject misery and then I love her anyway

If there is anything that intimidates me it is the disembodied voice of the GPS lady. There we are roaring down the highway and she is saying stay left, stay left for two kilometres and...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nA78EW

Soul consciousness wards off vices and viruses

By Brahma Kumari Shivani ‘I am a teacher’…‘I am aggressive’ … ‘He is an Indian’ … ‘She is so rich’ … ‘My colleague is lazy’. From the moment we are born, we are taught to...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tzuyhu

Decoding senior care ecosystem in India

India is going through a demographic shift – from being a young nation, India is seeing a sharp rise in its elderly population. It is estimated that, by 2030, 12% of India’s population will be...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qByMmS

Important move seeking a comprehensive review of India’s criminal laws by the Home Ministry

Union Home Minister has recently written a letter to stakeholders including the Chief Justice of India, Members of Parliament and Chief Ministers of various states for a comprehensive review of India’s criminal laws (primarily Indian...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FwlVGJ

Prohibition kills

By consuming spurious liquor, 11 persons had died by Sunday afternoon in the headquarters of Nalanda, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s home district. This is not the first time such a tragedy has occurred in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3I43Q4G

Sam Rajappa: A master of Queen’s Eng­lish in Indian journalism

On Sunday, many journalists like me woke up to the sad news of the death of Sam Rajappa. A mentor to some, a teacher to many, and a political writer of flourish to all, Sam...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3I8tVj2

Karamchari to Karamyogi: Meritocracy has transformed cricket, streaming & PE. A lesson for civil service reform

Covid is a human tragedy but accelerated three meritocracy revolutions – IPL, streaming platforms and private equity (PE) – for cricketers, actors and entrepreneurs. These revolutions feel independent but are powered by the same force;...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KeU69v

Castes & costs: Message of UP ticket distribution across parties is caste is king. Costs of this are piling up

As various parties announce their candidate lists for polls in India’s most populous and hence most politically hefty state, Uttar Pradesh, it is clear that caste is the overriding factor for candidate selection across the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tz18Ag

Wheels within wheels: Government diktats are not the same as good policy for clean energy or safety

A market economy does not remove the need for a government to use a framework of incentives to influence the direction it takes. In this context, climate change is perhaps the most serious global threat...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nwAP9V

Captain who wouldn’t be dictated to: Virat Kohli built a team with a singular vision & took it as far as he could

The very best leaders are ones who can work within a system and change it. Good ones can cope, manipulating what they can and accepting that some things are just beyond their control. Accepting that...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/327wjHu

Angry boys: Male gaze is an academic construct but male glare is a social media mania 😜

In the 1980s, coy-ed was the earliest formal lesson children received in the gender divide. Boys who broke the “no yakking in class” rule would be sent to the girls’ row. Though all children look...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3fwYbaV

Overcome challenges with faith and patience

By Radha Kumar The third wave of Covid-19 pandemic is upon us. As we try to find a way out of all the resulting uncertainty, the words ‘shraddha’ and ‘saburi’, faith and patience, frequently associated...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/34Wl4CO

Daily Gun Violence in the United States. Is the American media to blame?

Stories of random, constant shootings in America do not shock the veins as much as they did in my childhood when my introduction to gun violence was predominantly through classical western movies. A few days...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/328E1RK

Is this BJP’s ‘don’t look up’ moment in UP?

What the upcoming polls in UP and Punjab have to do with the season’s most debated Christmas release. I’d just come back from a charming birthday celebration on a tiny patch of garden, bang in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3ttu9Nt

Politics will dominate this year’s budget

Last year, India got an economist’s budget. But with five states going to the polls soon after the Budget, radical reform is unlikely this time An “election budget” is typically one before a general election,...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3txykbm

Both AAP, TMC eyeing national stage but one party has an edge

Two state parties — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) having its government in Delhi and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) having its government in West Bengal — are trying hard to expand their presence beyond their...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GBO8xs

Novak Djokovic, and the self-entitlement bug that’s going around

When the sniggering No Vax memes started appearing, it was game over for tennis great Novak Djokovic. No matter what happens in the Australian Open tug of war, World No 1 Djokovic has already lost...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3tqrJzk

Love, loss and a few precious grains of happiness

The word ‘loss’ is clumsy. Adequate for weight, investments and clothes that don’t come back from the dhobi. It doesn’t convey the decaying of hope, of holes that emerge within your mind, like you are...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3Gx4hnC

The law of wasted efforts

Today is my father’s birthday and he is locked up in the big brother reality show in Italy. I’ve been watching parts of it and I can’t imagine him actually enduring all that for the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3rlpQBk

Meditation that takes you beyond all limits

By Ashok Vohra According to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, ‘Mankind was not born to suffer, mankind was born to enjoy. The purpose of life is to expand happiness.’ Human beings can get rid of their suffering,...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33AlH4m

Amidst the escalating great power contest for cyberspace, President Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy gears up for cyber security challenges

In 2022, among many strategic flashpoints and security issues, cyberspace is going to be one of the contested spaces where the world powers’ strategic rivalry will be intense. Despite being the world leader in artificial...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3rgrc01

Foray into Digital: Tips to launch your online learning academy in 2022

So far, the eLearning domain was limited to institutions and funded startups who could venture into spending big on creating eLearning programs and in the technology needed to enable such ecosystems. Several studies already predict...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KaExQh

The challenges faced by the modern fitness industry in India, and the side effects

On the surface of things, technology has helped bridge many gaps. In more ways than one, technology has been able to democratise and make various life experiences accessible, which may have been difficult to do...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3Grww7m

Hyperautomation: The key to digital transformation

Over the decades, the concept of automation has evolved from a mere buzzword in the boardroom to a gamechanger for organizations across many industries. Having witnessed the fruits of automation, businesses are now utilizing hyperautomation...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nr3A7N

The changing face of Bharat owing to the boom of the EdTech sector

One of the main facets of the Indian education system is that it has remained based on an archaic model that only had slight changes or upgrades in the past few decades. However, Covid-19 could...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3fsW1Ji

How modern technology is improving the overall efficiency of operations in the food supply chain

Throughout the years, technology has proven to be quite beneficial in every very sector. Acceptance and widespread use of a technology-driven food supply chain has resulted in increased efficiency, with a longer shelf life till...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33utccW

Top AI Trends to expect in 2022

We live in an AI-driven world. Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a significant impact on the strengthening and transformation of industries all over the world. As we go deeper into a digitally altered society, artificial...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33cmMj1

Thyroid Awareness- Myths and Facts

The thyroid is a butterfly shape gland situated in front of the neck. It produces thyroid hormones called T3 and T4 under the effect of Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) which is secreted from the pituitary. T3...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GrbOo8

US report on the South China Sea provides early indications of a change in its approach

A new report of the US State Department on the Beijing’s extensive territorial claims of “historic rights” in the South China Sea (SCS) has rejected them as being “plainly inconsistent with international law”. Crucially. the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KcAjr8

Women vs the marriage fatwa: Children become adults at 18. Deciding when to marry is the basic human right of all adults

Folklore has it that in the medieval ages the king’s consent was required for people to cohabit. The expression “fornication under consent of king” whose abbreviation translated into a more popularly used word to depict...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FsO9SR

Battling the wave: Omicron-led surge must make govts recalibrate approaches on data and vaccination

The Omicron-powered third wave has swelled blindingly fast but thankfully – so far – without the second wave’s accompanying devastation. The national test positivity rate has jumped to 12.1%, and it has breached 25% in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3KbV8my

Naya Pak? Nah: Islamabad’s national security policy seems rational. But the Pakistani state isn’t

Today, Pakistan will unveil its first codified national security policy that reportedly seeks peace with India and no hostility for a century. It doesn’t even rule out normalisation of trade and economic ties without waiting...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FmWNlL

Learning from 2021, EC gets it right in 2022: Guidelines for state polls are tough on parties and clear on tasks for administrators

Covid combat measures for upcoming state elections announced by the Election Commission are one of the smartest interventions ever made by this constitutional body. If we focus attention only on EC’s rule on virtual  election...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qpGxMJ

Savings account: Buying into bargain deals can prove to be a very expensive habit

Every now and then Bunny and I look for ways to save money. And it seems there’s no end to the ways that one can do so. We run out of toilet cleaner liquid and...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GuVu5y

Immerse the mind in holy waters of Viveka

By Anandmurti Gurumaa In a typical world, while going about the daily chores, one seldom feels the urge to delve deeper, to comprehend the true purpose of human life. However, a revolutionary change dawns when...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3I2knpF

Things to ask your Dermatologist

“I have fixed an appointment with a dermatologist for my acne. I hope it works out.  Oh, wait!  But I have also had marks and scars. The cherry on the cake? My uneven skin tone and dry...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HYSPS7

Global Pharma looks to India: Instant and timely delivery of new and innovator drugs now possible

It goes without saying that the global pharma industry has been subject to the waxing and waning of Covid-19 in recent years. And the Indian pharma has been no exception. Yet, for a country which...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3Gjk89j

India-Pakistan ties could do with a constituency of pragmatists

The tortuous bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan may take an intriguing turn on the heels of two discrete events. In December, Pakistan’s civil and military leadership reportedly approved the country’s first integrated National Security...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qnU47o

2022: Year of the tiger

I recently watched Death to 2021, a comedic sketch on Netflix describing some of the most eventful moments of the year 2021. It started with the dreaded Covid episode, the political landscape of the western...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33c55jq

Driving cloud and digitization in India for 2022 and beyond

In India, businesses have considered cloud adoption a technology priority, but the pandemic has created a perfect storm of digitization across the country. We are seeing reinvention cross almost every industry due to cloud. This...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33n1TBf

Building cyber-resilience in 2022 & beyond

Last year, enterprises and individuals came together to build solutions such as leveraging social media for connectivity or making work-from-anywhere a reality and success. While the new normal changed the rules of cybersecurity globally, the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3rfxUU2

Dear sleep

You are my best friend. You take me into your bosom, right when I start to over think about my unachieved goals and future plans. Yes, I agree that you were way friendlier during my...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33u5OvZ

Indian accelerators building a bridge between Indian startups and global shores

The phrase “The World is Flat ” couldn’t have been truer ever more-so than now. While COVID has had its share of impact on supply chains and economies, it has also opened up avenues for...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3fx4J9P

GoI does well to keep out of Vodafone’s operations

Ravinder Takkar, managing director and chief executive of Vodafone Idea, on Wednesday stated that GoI is clear that it doesn’t want to run the company even after it formally becomes the largest shareholder. The clarification...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33c7DxZ

Omicron, AI, Cheshire/Schrödinger’s cat, Maya/Medusa coming together to show us a new way?

As I am very fond of finding a title first and then start my article, after typing out the above, I am sitting and admiring it like a cook who has thrown too many tasty...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zMXdkk

Chinese Foreign Minister in Sri Lanka suggests a forum of Indian Ocean’s Island nations: Need to actualise the Quad commitments

China’s Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi’s visit to Sri Lanka on the last leg of his first trip this year that included three African countries and Maldives, needs to be assessed objectively rather...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3K1sAfJ

The monk with an activist spirit: Resurrecting Swami Vivekananda for today’s India

Even amidst a new surge of Covid infections all around, public attention in India was drawn in recent times to certain excesses of the so-called Hindu ‘nationalists’ — disturbing developments that have enhanced the chill...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/34JUnBa

Voda won’t die, but good outcome unlikely: GoI’s DoT created the crisis, and GoI equity won’t make the telco sharper

The threat to Vodafone Idea’s existence has all but vanished. However, the new reality is hardly good news for any stakeholders involved, whether the government, consumers and even Vodafone Idea. The blame must fall on...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r2QmPy

Gritty glamour: ‘Glamping’ and other opulent options for luxury with a difference

Recently a friend went for a vacation to a wildlife sanctuary and stayed in a tent, for which she shelled out Rs 65,000 a night. Sixty-five thousand bucks per diem for the privilege of living...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3ne9poX

The Swami who stood for harmony of religions

By Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar Swami Vivekananda always stood for harmony of religions. He spoke about acceptance of all religions as true and appealed to religious and spiritual leaders to shun all forms of religious...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zLhIOk

Don’t Fall For This Trap: Imran Khan is no one to lecture us, but majoritarianism in India needs to be checked

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has actually had the temerity to criticise the current Indian government for its silence on the anti-Muslim hate speeches by some speakers at the Dharam Sansad in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar last...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HV2n0y

Turmoil over Delimitation Commission’s Proposal Part – 2

Dissecting Delimitation Controversy The decision of the J&K Assembly in 2002, to freeze the delimitation of constituencies till 2026, by amending Section 47 (3) of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, was challenged by Professor...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zMXvHZ

Middle of Nowhere

“You can find yourself in the middle of nowhere – or in the middle of nowhere you can find yourself.” This was said as a voiceover in the famous SUV Advertisement that showed the vehicle...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HWCrBK

Do you think straight A’s always mean a good future? Think again

For years, the Indian CBSE curriculum has been a stage in life where students set sail in a vessel that only sails based on performance. The concept of acquiring essential skills such as critical thinking...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zRj7mn

A regret that I have

If I could go back in time, there are plenty of things that I wish I could change about my childhood. But still, I am fine accepting all of it, except for that one thing....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GgS5rb

Use of online mental health spaces to increase inclusivity in workplace

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health. It has taught us that we cannot keep ignoring conversations around our mental health concerns.  Our mental health is affected by a variety of things...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r8NfFP

We don’t even know how many doctors currently practice in India

Dr. Robert Baid McClure has the registration number “1” in the Maharashtra Medical Council list, when you search the Indian Medical Registry on the National Medical Commission (NMC) site [1]. He died aged 90 in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3GgCU1b

India’s political parties have a feudal approach in a republic

In the five states that will elect new assemblies over the next few weeks, the Covid vaccination certificate will not carry Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture. A similar practice was followed in 2021 during the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r8yfaZ

Winning the wellness war

When you fall off the track, get up, and get right back on. Don’t reprimand yourself, we are human and will make mistakes. It’s how we course correct that will help us win this war....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HUevPq

Active minds are healthy minds; what keeps you happy, keeps you fit

The one thing Covid-19 has done is bring the issue of mental health out into the open. It’s moved from being a “taboo topic” to now being in the limelight. Individuals and organisations are not...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33jLopy

‘Unreality’ of fact, ‘reality’ of fiction

In an interview a few months ago, when asked why he chose to write fiction in an age when there was so much misinformation being propagated both in mainstream as well as social media, Salman...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qgF8I0

Learning from D-SIBs in managing risks

Reserve Bank of India declared SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC bank in India as Domestic – Systematically important Banks (DIBs) for 2021, based on annual review signifying their criticality in financial stability.  Consequently, they need...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r0b6aY

Developments of K-12 education in the country and what needs to be addressed

For generations, education has been imparted in an instructor-led format for school students. The teacher being the centre point inside the four walls of the classroom and leading the dissemination of learning. This scenario started...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3JZbajC

Let NEET be, regulate course fee to help poor students take MBBS

When chief minister M K Stalin convened a meeting of all legislature parties on Saturday to buttress the demand for repealing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the lone voice of dissent was that of BJP...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/31HdUkB

How social reforms died in India

In this day and age! This is how anyone with modern sensibilities would react to the report that the so-called upper caste students of a school in Uttarakhand refused to eat the midday meal cooked...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q9sKJQ

Sonu Sood writes: Suddenly, the world has no strangers

It’s two years into an ongoing pandemic. The sense of urgency has only increased. When I found my calling on April 15, 2020 at a traffic junction in Kalwa, on the outskirts of Mumbai asking...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3f7eSJZ

Why is afternoon the least recognised part of the day?

The afternoon attracts no poetry. It lies as a forgotten part of the day, a forlorn bridge between the bits that excite our imagination. We might be morning or evening people, but no one talks...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3nbXOXx

`Covid-appropriate’ Trust

Generally speaking, in our system of governance, compliance of rules and regulations in a common man’s day-to-day life, be those are related to taxes or traffic, is premised on their strict enforcement by the state...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q5rSWO

Turmoil over Delimitation Commission’s Proposal Part- 1

Prime Minister Modi, in a meeting held on June 24, 2021, with political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, had made it clear that, for the political process to begin and elections to take place in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r44V5w

The hub of world culture

The world over, every city’s cultural calendar has been hit because of the pandemic. Schedules and dates have either been changed, postponed or cancelled entirely, owing to the uncertainty that comes with each looming wave...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/31DuqBY

Data for wellness: Re-imagining health data governance

A data revolution is underway in healthcare, and it has been given its strongest headwind by the pandemic, where data from contact tracing apps and other tracking systems helped shape and strengthen a multidimensional response....

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q75f4a

Outlook 2022: 6 customer engagement trends to look out for in emerging markets

In the past year, the world welcomed 222 million new online users, a figure expanding at a rate of 4.8% each year. As businesses re-strategized their communication efforts to reach out to their customers on...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q7ZAuC

Faces and such times

Even as the Health Ministry’s mega scheme of digital consults, e- advice with a stress on rural areas, there is some good news on self- kindling models once the smartphone is in innovative hands. Mostly...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q7ZxPs

Globalisation of inflation and monetary policy making

The CPI in India in November 2021 was close to 5%, while the core inflation was above 6% and WPI above 14%. Not only in India, but globally inflation is high. In the US, it...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/33gcZrE

COPD and age: Understand the co-relation

The third leading cause of fatalities worldwide, with 3.23 million deaths in 2019 alone, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is widely prevalent in areas with severe pollution and low Air Quality Index (AQI). Initially, it...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q4JDW9

Speaking truth to power

On December 14 last year, the mega Chardham Pariyojana (CDP) received the Supreme Court sanction to widen the existing road to 10m tarred surface, DLPS-width (double lane paved shoulder), in the fragile Himalayan valleys.  On...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3JW5jM0

Key features of Indian foreign policy under PM Modi

In July 2014, at an international conference in Vietnam, a group of foreign policy experts from the western countries desired to know what would be the nature of India’s foreign policy under PM Modi. It...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HLOl0V

Painting India as illiberal is the new liberal tactic to tar Modi govt

It is possible that the outrage of some retired notables and a section of the editorial classes over the extreme grandstanding of some lesser-known sadhus at Dharma Sansad gatherings would have been more calibrated had...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zCJ1Ky

For a less toxic future, we should stop mixing religion and politics

It has taken Vice President Venkaiah Naidu to break the political executive’s silence on the growing normalisation of hate speech in public. Naidu’s statement that hate speech is against Indian culture has come not a...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3n57lQc

Why poll panel should return to single-day voting

Covid cases are rising exponentially in India with the third wave causing one lakh infections per day. The US has crossed one million cases per day, and India is likely to exceed that soon. Should...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q8IkWo

Omicron shows why data, vaccine sharing are crucial in Covid fight

We underestimated SARS-CoV2. History has taught us that for respiratory viruses that are transmissible, can spread as asymptomatic infections, have a genome made of RNA, and can enter into a completely unexposed population, the threat...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3thHAzU

Films Division has become redundant now

There were five members in the expert committee on rationalization of film media units and review of autonomous bodies chaired by Bimal Julka. I was one of them. We had recurring meetings with the concerned...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3n87D99

Setting the stage for 2022’s workplace: Key trends

Technology has been the key enabler for people as they define how to communicate and collaborate. As leaders steadily realize the reality of a digital workplace, organizations across the globe are continuously evaluating how technology...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3F6voEw

The proof is in the pedagogy

One college shows why OBE (‘teach without teaching’) is the new buzzword in higher education When Chackochan J Njavallil, an associate professor of the commerce department of Marian College (Autonomous), Kuttikkanam, addressed the newly-enrolled M...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q6BnVO

Why are the stars silent?

Are the Malayalam film industry and LDF government doing enough to protect women artistes and their rights? Come February 17, it will be five years since a wellknown actor was abducted, sexually assaulted in a...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/32TXoOS

What is a Covid ‘case’? This needs redefining in light of Omicron, to avoid an artificial shortage of hospital beds

With the Omicron variant surging globally, this is the time to reexamine the strategy for tackling Covid-19 as a disease at the global level. I will examine this in two steps. First, why are we...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zzvseS

A mixed bag: GDP estimate shows recovery is not yet broadbased

GoI’s advance estimate of the 2021-22 GDP shows that the economy has bounced back to the pre-pandemic level. GDP is expected to grow by 9.2% to Rs 147.53 lakh crore, or about $3.2 trillion. In...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3F83xUx

The 1-in-31 issue: House committees reflect larger male bias

Women MPs surely should have a strong say on the proposed Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to raise the legal age of marriage for women to 21. But, as has been widely...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3JOfQsL

Will justice be fairer with AI? Artificial intelligence can speed up legal systems or subvert them

The 2002 Hollywood film Minority Report warning of AI-mediated predictive policing found real world resonance in the 2016 ProPublica expose on algorithm bias in risk assessment tools evaluating the possibility of recidivism in offenders. But...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zCFKuP

Why India needs a fiscal council: Budget process is too arbitrary and it needs another layer of scrutiny

On December 13, 2021, the Union Minister of State for Finance in a written reply to the Parliament ruled out setting up of a fiscal council as recommended by the FRBM Review Committee. The reasoning...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3n6bwLF

The Guru who only knew how to give

By Inder Raj Ahluwalia His entire life a saga of selfless sacrifice, nobleness of thoughts and actions, and supreme belief in justice and dharma, Guru Gobind Singh was a guru and apostle. In his life...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3r0ZcNZ

Indian Navy in 2021 expanding horizons, pushing boundaries

Seas permit free flow of commerce and ideas. India is essentially a maritime nation and the last decade has witnessed substantial expansion in India’s dependence on her maritime environment. Our unique geographic location bestows upon...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3q4V0gE

Write laws for Bharat: Bills discussed by Parliament and court judgments must be simply written and easily translatable

In 2021, the Indian Parliament enacted or amended 41 laws. These ranged from laws which regulate having children through surrogacy to those that promote transportation of cargo via rivers. During the same time, the Supreme...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3JMW7JM

Up the vax game: India should consider relaxing conditions for both third dose for adults and kids’ jabs

That the precautionary dose will not be a mix and match programme resolves worries of supply constraints. Nearly 90% of vaccine recipients have been jabbed with abundantly available Covishield, and even under-performing Bharat Biotech should...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3zzFGvZ

Probe thoroughly: Punjab govt’s 3-member committee on security lapse during PM visit must give clear answers

The Punjab government has set up a three-member committee to probe the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign visit to the state on January 5. The committee has been given a deadline of...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HKw8kj

Infrastructure powerplay at the India-China border: From Hotan in Aksai Chin to Nyingchi near Arunachal, Beijing’s dual-use infra poses major threat

India and China have been involved in multiple stand-offs on the disputed LAC in eastern Ladakh for the past 18 months. Both countries have also forward deployed their forces on the entire India-China border. Latest...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/32VI9Vw

On the cards: New Year greetings and other good wishes from far-off friends who visit by proxy

Last week Bunny and I were pleased as punch when our friends from the UK, Karan and Surbhi, and Roopa and Dan, unexpectedly dropped in to wish us a happy New Year. What with the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qRN2ac

Gautam Gambhir writes: Delhi gets a ‘thekedar’ instead of chief minister

Our national capital may be lagging behind in several parameters of development. It may not have enough houses for the growing number of people or new flyovers and parking spaces to manage traffic. It may...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3F6MOkE

Yet another Covid virus and other critical happenings

The world is getting fed up with lockdowns. We in India, have many less Covid cases than America and UK , even though we have a huge population of 1.4 billion if the census was...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HwtXku

Modi’s security breach: Channi stoops to a new low

The shocking breach in PM Narendra Modi’s security during his visit to Punjab on January 5 revealed that it was not only avoidable, but also a pre-planned move to belittle and corner the towering BJP...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3f0ITec

Manoj Tiwari writes: Can this nation afford to lose a duly-elected Prime Minister?

Is this a tragedy which was averted? Or all the ‘ho halla’/ ‘din’ that has taken over the social media? Media platforms taking away the core question in this tragic situation? How such a security...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3eTA6uy

Still very disunited states: On Capitol insurrection’s first anniversary, there are ominous signs for American democracy

In a quote popularly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, including by many current US lawmakers and politicians, the country’s 16th President is said to have warned that “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3pZCqa2

Govts, be smarter: Current Covid surge needs to be handled with tools other than arbitrary restrictions

Into the third year of the pandemic, governments the world over now have the benefit of experience to shape responses to a surge in infections. In India, the second wave during the 2021 summer was...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3EWLmRK

Young & hateful: Bulli Bai accused are a larger message on what social media jungle & toxic politics can do

In welcome progress in the ‘Bulli Bai’ case, within days Mumbai cyber police has made arrests spread from Bengaluru to Rudrapur and Kotdwar. This time virulent sexual harassment is being addressed with the investigative urgency...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/338fiNe

Can people’s behaviour change for better? The trick is to get individuals involved, get them to think, not talk at them

By Piyush Verma and Sumant Narain “Today, there is a need for all of us to come together and take Lifestyle For Environment (LIFE) forward as a campaign.” This was Prime Minister Narendra Modi at...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3eSOXFA

Ten Commandments 2.0: Here’s an updated Moses for a life that is no bed of roses

Since NY resolutions survive only as long as a female mayfly, let’s try the 10 Commandments carved on two tablets of stone and reportedly handed to Moses by God Himself. This prompted a joke in...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3HFxHQy

Great ecstasy comes from doing something useless

By Osho You don’t know the usefulness of the useless. In fact, the useful is only useful so far. It has a certain utility, but the useless has no limitation to it. What is the...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3pWGjfA

Confronting emergency with RT-PCR in Covid-19 pandemic: Discovery and implementation

Coronavirus disease identified in 2019 (Covid-19) is a global pandemic and the emergency is not under control in two years. It is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus- 2 (SARS-CoV-2, referred...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/333VElx

A trip to magical Melghat

OUT OF MUMBAI It may not have been the best of times to venture upstate. But for eight friends in Mumbai–4 couples–the year-end was a perfect opportunity to break the tedium of home-boundedness, explore new...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3mSosV9

China, not America, is India’s foremost ally, says China’s leading paper

In an editorial dated 26 December, 2021, Global Times, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese government has made a startling statement: “If India were to choose an ally, it would be China first and foremost,...

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Jamini Roy’s Last Supper at DAG NY

Amongst the early masters in DAG’s Wonder of India suite at NY is a Last Supper by Jamini Roy. In the telling testimony of this  Biblical moment, Roy created his Christ series with a sense of...

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On my way to college

On my way to collage and back home, I take the same bus every day. At the bus stand I wait for ten-fifteen minutes for the bus to arrive, almost everyday. Now I am so...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3qKEhhW

Don’t eat anything your great-great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food

Last week, I wrote and spoke about the data behind adding at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables to our daily food routine to increase our healthspan and lifespan. Audio version of the blog...

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Census 2021: At least don’t delay it in 2022

From 1881 when India conducted its first full Census to 2011 when it conducted its last decennial census, the exercise had never been deferred. But 2021’s exercise was postponed citing the Covid-19 pandemic and latest...

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Distributed Incubator – Rethinking the startup agenda in pandemic backdrop

For states like UP aspiring to be alternatives to Bangalore, Covid-19 has created an opportunity A company I founded was shortlisted by a prestigious London based incubator in 2019. But we could not commit to...

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Influencer marketing: How has the concept evolved since its inception?

Slowly but eventually, we have arrived at a place in this digitally transforming world from where there is no returning – as marketing has always found its way around into any piece of content, whether...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3G5vYUB

Introducing ‘power’ skills

Having worked in marketing for more than 25 years, I can spot the need for a rebrand when I see it. On today’s agenda: ‘soft’ skills. With attributes like teamwork, communication, problem-solving, empathy, and adaptability...

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A narrative that has hurt the religious feelings of Hindus who believe in Hindutva

A religious controversy had erupted on 11th November 2021 over senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s alleged comparison of Hindutva with Islamist terror outfits ISIS and Boko Haram in his book “Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in...

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Prosanta Roy’s pleasure boat at DAG NY

THE WIND is up, I set, my sail of songs, Steersman, sit at ‘the helm. For my boat is fretting to be free, to dance in the rhythm of the wind and water. The day...

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Catch and convict: Don’t let the Bulli Bai perpetrators escape like those in the Sulli Deals case

In progress in the ‘bulli bai’ case until yesterday, Mumbai police initiated a probe, Delhi police registered an FIR, the hosting platform GitHub blocked the user behind the ‘bulli bai’ app, Twitter suspended an account...

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Blueprint for a life God wishes for us

By Sant Rajinder Singh  As we reflect on how we can better our lives in the new year, here is a blueprint to help us lead the kind of life God wishes for us. Our...

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Is the government trespassing our personal lives by determining the age of marriage?

On 20th December 2021, a very crucial bill known as “The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021” was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Ms. Smriti Irani, Union Minister for Women and Child Development,...

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What is an ISBN Number?

If you love reading books, or you sell or buy books then you must have noticed a number of the books. That number is called ISBN number and you will find it in every book....

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2022: Expect a double-decker ride

The onset of the New Year may be a marker for numerologists to hail for having ‘Four’ ‘twos’ in a calendar year. No askance to good news no matter how transient. The lovely double decker...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3EN27yo

Digital Financial Services – Risks for consumer

In 2015, CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a global partnership of 34 leading organizations that seek to advance financial inclusion) identified various risks faced by mobile money user, which include inability to...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3pJxoOv

A new political party for farmers’ class interest

It would be good for Indian politics if a pan-India political party representing farmers’ interests were to be set up. Caste is a regressive feature of Indian social life and while it is claimed that...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/3FLGvUI

What are you unlearning this year?

We all look forward to new beginnings, growth, learning and adding to our lives. Has it ever struck you that in order to add value to your life, you might need to subtract? We are...

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Upma

Upma is my favourite breakfast item.  It is relished by many people and regarded as healthy as well as tasty. The word ‘upma’ in language, grammar (Alankar),   stands for simile or comparison. I would...

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Top 10 things to keep in mind when tackling winter-triggered sedentary diseases

Did you know that the winters can give rise to sedentary lifestyle diseases?  Everybody knows that winter is also the flu season, but influenza isn’t the only thing that you have to worry about. In...

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Boosting immunity of pregnant women

Pregnancy is a stressful condition for the mother and also for her growing baby. The body undergoes changes to accommodate the fetus as its own and also acts to ward off infections. Thus the immune...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/31iZoPQ

The future of rollup e-commerce business in India: What trends we can foresee in 2022?

Inevitable as it was, the e-commerce roll-up wave finally hit Indian shores in 2021 with multiple roll-up startups getting founded, funded and acquiring brands all across the categories.  While the amount of activity going on...

from Times of India Opinion https://ift.tt/32K2RaC

MedTech AI playing their role in Oncological TreatmentPresident & CEO, GE Healthcare India and South Asia and Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare

We are currently witnessing one of the most significant shifts in healthcare with an increasing number of medical devices and equipment, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to support therapeutic and enable precision healthcare....

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