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PAGE 555

The Congress in Punjab

Imposing a power-sharing formula, despite chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s concerns, is a risky strategy

It is an open secret that Mr Sidhu’s sources of strength were Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (ANI)

editorials

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:31 AM IST

ByHT Editorial

Tokyo's heart missing from Olympics

The airport itself wore a weary and deserted look--rows of empty seats, no big banners. To be sure, one reason behind the well-organized process in place was to ensure the airport did not get crowded. Still, it seemed eerily discomforting for one of the busiest airports in the world to be so quiet.

A woman wearing a protective mask walks with an umbrella to shield from the sun walks in front of a Tokyo 2020 display at Tokyo Metropolitan government building at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Tokyo(AP)

sports

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:31 AM IST

ByAvishek Roy

China’s expanding influence in the UN system

The study has been authored by Kartik Astha and others.

China is in a dominant position in several critical multilateral bodies, in both personnel and funding and expanding influence in the UN, its related bodies, and influential non-UN multilateral bodies.(REUTERS)

International Affairs

Published on Jul 20, 2021 07:26 PM IST

ByGateway House

Amit Panghal's opportunity to surpass who inspired him

It's the last few days of the preparatory camp before the boxers leave for Tokyo and world No 1 Amit Panghal is making the most of it.

sports

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:32 AM IST

ByAbhishek Paul

India-US trade relations need a reset. Dispel misperceptions, strike a new deal

Since 2016, the US administration has been increasingly undertaking trade actions against India, including tariff and non-tariff barriers and anti-dumping duties

opinion

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:25 AM IST

ByJahanwi Singh and Neha Raman

Scrap sedition. Stop UAPA’s misuse

With a scathing indictment of its relevance and flagrant misuse, the Chief Justice of India has, finally, joined the chorus against the sedition law

From 2016 to 2019, there were 5,922 arrests under UAPA, but it resulted in only 132 convictions, a pitiable rate of 2.2%. (Representational image/ANI)

opinion

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:26 AM IST

ByYashovardhan Azad

Can pandemics be securitised?

The study has been authored by Rajiv Pathni.

Since the rollout of vaccines against Covid-19—which is regarded as what will lead the way in arresting the pandemic a number of new variants of the virus have emerged.(AFP)

Public Health

Published on Jul 20, 2021 04:32 PM IST

ByObserver Research Foundation

The state of the rural economy

India’s rural economy is much more than the farm sector. There exist both headwinds and tailwinds to the rural economy at the moment.

Farmer seen at the grain market in Multaniya village, Bathinda, Punjab(Sanjeev Kumar/Hindustan Times)

business

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:27 AM IST

ByRoshan Kishore, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Decoding the legality of ‘authorised’ surveillance in India

Provisions in the Indian Telegraph Act and the IT Act authorise the Union and the state governments to intercept all types of electronic communication

The law empowers designated officials to put a device under surveillance on being satisfied that “it is necessary or expedient so to do in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence”.(HT Archive)

india news

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:26 AM IST

ByUtkarsh Anand, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Kharif sowing so far lags last year’s by 11%

The June-Sept rain-bearing system, which waters 60% of the country’s net-sown area, is deficient by 8%, IMD said

Women harvesting kharif crop in Kota region. (HT File)

india news

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:28 AM IST

ByZia Haq, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Bench and the bubble: cricket's pandemic tale

Increasing workload and a spiralling need for specific skills had already prompted the team think tank to pick and nurture format-based specialists, but the pandemic has expedited the need to keep on standby full-strength teams for every series in the near future.

Shikhar Dhawan's Team India during 1st ODI against Sri Lanka(REUTERS)

cricket

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:28 AM IST

BySomshuvra Laha, Kolkata

How three foreign coaches changed our javelin throwers

Neeraj Chopra imbibing new techniques is an example of foreign coaches raising India’s standard.

sports

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:30 AM IST

ByAvishek Roy, New Delhi

India team-selectors communication gap raises questions on team manager

Unlike in the past, the role of Team India’s administrative manager on a cricket tour has shrunk with several responsibilities handled with specific departments.

cricket

Updated on Jul 21, 2021 06:29 AM IST

ByAmrit Mathur

Covid-19: Prepare for the third wave

There are three possible scenarios, but in each, India needs to boost oxygen supplies and focus on vulnerable geographies

Lack of a trained workforce may become a constraint in the third wave. A supplementary pool of medical and para-medical students, aapda mitras, National Cadet Corps cadets, and Home Guards with a science/biology background can be trained to work under medical guidance (PTI)

opinion

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:18 AM IST

BySandeep Poundrik

On China, the end of delusion and persistence of stalemate

While New Delhi wants the boundary issue to be resolved first, China wants to focus on other areas of cooperation and is in no hurry to move forward on the contentious issue

The disengagement around the Pangong lake areas in February, following a series of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the standoff, was supposed to generate conditions for resolving other outstanding issues, but Beijing seems to be in no real hurry to move forward. As a consequence, problems remain unresolved in disputed areas such as Depsang, Demchok, Gogra and Hot Springs. (PTI)

opinion

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:18 AM IST

ByHarsh V Pant

Four deaths, the right to life, and the Jayaprakash Principle

The government’s prerogative to prosecute is not to be questioned. Nor the court’s to punish. But this much can and needs to be said: No undertrial or convict should be rendered vulnerable and susceptible to disease or morbidity with the condition reaching the point of becoming fatal. He or she must, on sickness being verified, get medical aid promptly and professionally with the prospect of supervised release.

On February 22, 1944, Kasturba Gandhi died of grave illness in prison in Poona. The House of Commons was informed on March 2, “…She was receiving all possible medical care and attention, not only from her regular attendants but from those desired by her family.” To this, Gandhi, responded: “The deceased herself had repeatedly asked the Inspector General of Prisons for Dr Dinshaw Mehta’s help… Again the regular physicians Drs Nayar and Gilder made a written application for consultation with Dr B C Roy of Calcutta… The Government simply ignored their written request and subsequent oral reminders.” (HTPHOTO)

opinion

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:19 AM IST

ByGopalkrishna Gandhi

An attack on citizens

Pegasus-based surveillance is unacceptable. If the Indian government has done this, it is a betrayal of the constitutional compact with citizens. If another government has done it, it is a cyber attack on India and its citizens. Either way, there must be a truly independent judicial enquiry to get to the truth and hold those responsible for this violation of fundamental rights accountable.

If the allegations of widespread surveillance are true, they represent an unacceptable and illegal invasion of the right to privacy, right to liberty, and the right to dignity of all those targeted; the series also throw up deeply disturbing questions about the source of the hack and represents a subversion of India’s constitutional democracy. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

editorials

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:14 AM IST

ByHT Editorial

Housing is critical for the environment

A safe and climate-sensitive shelter can provide income, security and a future for inhabitants. For poor women, the home plays a critical role in their earning activities, making it a productive asset. In a post-Covid-19 and climate-crisis-hit world, it means better security and health, too, for occupants. Most importantly, legal rights to a house mean that the owner has an identity that the State recognises.

A 2020 Niti Aayog paper, titled Housing Conundrum, showed the housing market has a skewed demand–supply management. Housing backlogs coexist with stressed assets and vacant housing stock. The development of affordable housing is constrained by economic and spatial issues. Land use plans are unable to keep pace with rapid urban population increase and land development. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

editorials

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:14 AM IST

ByHT Editorial

Ishan Kishan, Prithvi Shaw and India’s route to a brave new T20 world

The fearless batting by the two in the first ODI win over Sri Lanka in Colombo provides India a far more attacking batting line-up in the tournament in October-November.

Indian batsmen Prithvi Shaw (L) and Ishan Kishan (R)(HT Collage)

cricket

Updated on Jul 19, 2021 10:58 PM IST

ByRasesh Mandani, Mumbai

Property feuds, extortion feed gangs of Delhi

Organised crime continues to thrive in parts of the Capital, and manifests itself in shoot-outs and calls for protection money

Gunfights have become more common between the police and criminals in the Capital. In the last three days, there have been three shoot-outs between police and criminals.(AFP/For Representative Purposes Only)

cities

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:13 AM IST

ByPrawesh Lama, Soumya Pillai, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

OPEC+ ups output but fuel prices to stay high in India

Government and industry officials said OPEC+’s decision to gradually increase production is not enough to meet growing fuel demand of major economies.

The move by OPEC+ is more to save the producers’ cartel, which appears to be a compromise reached between the two factions – the one that wanted to continue the squeeze for raising oil prices further and the other that pushed for raising output(HT Photo)

india news

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:12 AM IST

ByRajeev Jayaswal, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

State of working India 2021: The pandemic’s impact on the economy in India

The study has been authored by Amit Basole and others.

Women and younger workers have been disproportionately affected due to Covid-19 pandemic, the study said.(AP File Photo)

Public Health

Published on Jul 18, 2021 06:37 PM IST

ByAzim Premji Foundation

Sustainable Agriculture: What we know and how to scale up

The study has been authored by Niti Gupta and others.

Green Revolution has ensured India’s self-sufficiency for our cereal needs and has touched most Indian farmers, its long-term impacts are now visibly evident.(Swagata Yadavar/Indiaspend)

Climate Change

Published on Jul 17, 2021 09:12 PM IST

ByCouncil on Energy, Environment and Water

Winning the Covid-19 Battle in Rural India: A Blueprint for Action

The study has been Malancha Chakrabarty and Shoba Suri.

The second wave has also hit the rural areas of Gujarat. The state reported 90 deaths in 20 days from one village alone, Chogath, which has a population of 13,000.(AP)

Public Health

Published on Jul 17, 2021 09:10 PM IST

ByObserver Research Foundation

Higher, faster, stronger: A tribute to the Indian Olympian

As you cheer for India at the Tokyo Games, spare a thought for every athlete’s journey to the Olympics. They deserve our support not just once in four years but at every stage of the struggle

(Shutterstock, Imaging: Hindustan Times)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 04:26 PM IST

ByKunal Pradhan

The Games prove it is still possible to unite: Abhinav Bindra

India’s only Olympics gold medallist, now retired shooter Abhinav Bindra talks about what it’s going to be like for the Indian contingent at Tokyo, if the isolation is going to be a benefit and the extra years that athletes got to train

The Games are more than just a sporting event; in a disrupted, fraught world, the spirit that is so unique to an Olympics is needed more than ever, says Bindra. (Sanjeev Verma/ / HT Archive)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 01:54 PM IST

BySharda Ugra

The gold standard: Prepping for the Olympics

In larger numbers and a wider range of disciplines — weightlifting and sailing, boxing, shooting, archery, badminton and more — India’s athletes are boosting the country’s chances in Tokyo. Meet the contingent keeping the dream alive

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 01:08 PM IST

ByRudraneil Sengupta

Finding new purpose in a new normal: Life Hacks by Charles Assisi

The pace of change has been brutal. No way of life has been left untouched in the pandemic. Is it time then to re-examine the role of work?

The pace of change, of life, has been brutal. It has all taken a toll, made us fraught, fretful and over-emotional. And yet most of us don’t recognise it for what it is: the fallout of trauma. (Shutterstock)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 01:11 PM IST

ByCharles Assisi

Dropping zeros everywhere: The Wknd Puzzle by Dilip D’Souza

A favourite old chestnut of mathematicians, for today

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 01:12 PM IST

ByDilip D’Souza

Meet India’s undisputed frog prince

Sathyabhama Das Biju, dean of the faculty of science at the University of Delhi, has discovered 105 species of amphibians in India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia and Thailand. It all started in 2003, when he first described the odd-looking Indian purple frog, a once-in-a-lifetime find that shot him to herpetology fame

Amphibian biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju’s research is responsible for discovering 105 species of amphibians so far. He is seen here with a golden backed frog in the Western Ghats. (Courtesy SD Biju)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 01:07 PM IST

ByNatasha Rego

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HT Premium

Imposing a power-sharing formula, despite chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s concerns, is a risky strategy

The airport itself wore a weary and deserted look--rows of empty seats, no big banners. To be sure, one reason behind the well-organized process in place was to ensure the airport did not get crowded. Still, it seemed eerily discomforting for one of the busiest airports in the world to be so quiet.

The study has been authored by Kartik Astha and others.

It's the last few days of the preparatory camp before the boxers leave for Tokyo and world No 1 Amit Panghal is making the most of it.

Since 2016, the US administration has been increasingly undertaking trade actions against India, including tariff and non-tariff barriers and anti-dumping duties

With a scathing indictment of its relevance and flagrant misuse, the Chief Justice of India has, finally, joined the chorus against the sedition law

The study has been authored by Rajiv Pathni.

India’s rural economy is much more than the farm sector. There exist both headwinds and tailwinds to the rural economy at the moment.

Provisions in the Indian Telegraph Act and the IT Act authorise the Union and the state governments to intercept all types of electronic communication

The June-Sept rain-bearing system, which waters 60% of the country’s net-sown area, is deficient by 8%, IMD said

Increasing workload and a spiralling need for specific skills had already prompted the team think tank to pick and nurture format-based specialists, but the pandemic has expedited the need to keep on standby full-strength teams for every series in the near future.

Neeraj Chopra imbibing new techniques is an example of foreign coaches raising India’s standard.

Unlike in the past, the role of Team India’s administrative manager on a cricket tour has shrunk with several responsibilities handled with specific departments.

There are three possible scenarios, but in each, India needs to boost oxygen supplies and focus on vulnerable geographies

While New Delhi wants the boundary issue to be resolved first, China wants to focus on other areas of cooperation and is in no hurry to move forward on the contentious issue

The fearless batting by the two in the first ODI win over Sri Lanka in Colombo provides India a far more attacking batting line-up in the tournament in October-November.

Organised crime continues to thrive in parts of the Capital, and manifests itself in shoot-outs and calls for protection money

Government and industry officials said OPEC+’s decision to gradually increase production is not enough to meet growing fuel demand of major economies.

The study has been authored by Amit Basole and others.

The study has been authored by Niti Gupta and others.

The study has been Malancha Chakrabarty and Shoba Suri.

As you cheer for India at the Tokyo Games, spare a thought for every athlete’s journey to the Olympics. They deserve our support not just once in four years but at every stage of the struggle

India’s only Olympics gold medallist, now retired shooter Abhinav Bindra talks about what it’s going to be like for the Indian contingent at Tokyo, if the isolation is going to be a benefit and the extra years that athletes got to train

In larger numbers and a wider range of disciplines — weightlifting and sailing, boxing, shooting, archery, badminton and more — India’s athletes are boosting the country’s chances in Tokyo. Meet the contingent keeping the dream alive

The pace of change has been brutal. No way of life has been left untouched in the pandemic. Is it time then to re-examine the role of work?

A favourite old chestnut of mathematicians, for today

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