Editorial
Message from Mumbai: On hate crimes and legal action
Purveyors of hate, misogyny and xenophobia have been on a boundless revelry in India, online and offline, with near total impunity and often times with support from politicians and the police. In the midst of such pervasive police apathy, the swift action by the Mumbai police in tracing and arresting three persons linked to the latest incident involving a fake online ‘auction’ of Muslim women gives hope that all is not lost. The Mumbai police action also contrasts with the inaction of the Delhi police, who come under the Union Home Ministry, and the Noida police in Uttar Pradesh, a BJP-ruled State, in a similar case last year. Whether the three arrested were indeed the creators of the app remains a question of investigation and the limited police version at the moment is that they were promoting the platform, at a minimum. The Commissioner of the Mumbai Police has said the probe is continuing and anyone involved in the crime, directly or indirectly, will be arrested and prosecuted. It
Editorial
Third time lucky?: On economy and the third COVID-19 wave
India’s post-COVID economic recovery remains delicately poised at the turn of the new year — the third successive year under the shadow of the pandemic. With the Union Budget for 2022-23 less than four weeks away, the latest set of numbers capturing different aspects of the economy present a mixed picture with persistent pressure points. COVID-19 restrictions are already denting India’s services exporters’ order books, even as merchandise exports have hit a record high in December. Worryingly though, imports grew even faster last month than exports, keeping the merchandise trade deficit at an elevated $22 billion, just a tad less than the record $22.9 billion in November. The eight core sectors had a disappointing November, but GST collections from that month were reasonably healthy at around ₹1.3-lakh crore, albeit a three-month low. GST compensation cess revenues touched a record high in November, but customs duty collections dipped to a five-month low. The Purchasing Managers’
Editorial
Inadequate response: On income criteria to identify EWS quota
The submission by a Government-appointed committee to the Supreme Court that the annual family income of ₹8 lakh is “a reasonable” threshold to determine if someone belongs to economically weaker sections to avail 10% reservations in admissions and jobs does not seem to hold water. The submission rejected the notion that the Government had “mechanically” adopted ₹8 lakh as the cut-off because it was used to identify the OBC creamy layer, by asserting that the income criterion was “more stringent” than the one for the OBC creamy layer. This justification, based on a few more criteria that exclude some income and occupational parameters from the OBC creamy layer, however, is not convincing as the Court’s key question remained unanswered satisfactorily. The Court had said that the OBC category is socially and educationally backward, and had therefore additional impediments to overcome, and had asked whether it “would... be arbitrary to provide the same income limit both for the OBC and
Transition in peril: on military crackdown in Sudan
The military should end the crackdown in Sudan and pave the way for democracy
Widening the safety net: On rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for health-care workers
The need to test other vaccines as an additional dose in adults is overwhelming
Safety at all costs: On implementation of safety protocols in fireworks industry
Governments should ensure implementation of safety protocols in the fireworks industry
Needless provocation: On China ‘renaming’ Arunachal places
India, China must adhere to past agreements to keep the peace along the border
Prepare for the worst: On Omicron response
Policymakers must take the Omicron threat seriously and increase testing
Killing the licence: On NGOs and funding
The Government must give a more transparent account of its actions against NGOs
