The Quad’s economic imperative: Participating nations should cooperate and benefit beyond the security framework May 7, 2021, 7:30 AM IST
Chairman & CEO of KPMG India, Arun M Kumar has served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the US Commercial Service in the Obama Administration.
The leaders of Quad nations came together this March (virtually) for a meeting that was veritably 17 years in the making. Launched as a humanitarian response to the December 2004 Tsunami that killed and displaced millions across South and Southeast Asia and Africa, the Quad now met in the wake of another calamity – this time a worldwide one, the Covid-19 pandemic. Appropriately, they pledged to combat the pandemic together through vaccines. This sets an example of concerted action to advance a framework for a free and prosperous Asia Pacific, built on a bedrock of democracy and cooperation.
Sickly state, healthy democracy: Elections held during deadly pandemic surge expose India’s real flaws and strengths May 5, 2021, 8:26 AM IST
Ruchir Sharma is the author of the upcoming ‘10 Rules of Successful Nations’
Those of us who see these as dark times for Indian democracy can take heart from the recent elections, not only because of the way regional parties stood up to the Centre’s ruling party machine but also because of the highly unusual nature of their win in the key battleground state.
In surviving the BJP onslaught in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee also beat overwhelming odds. She became only the 10th CM to win a third term in more than 200 major state elections held since the mid-1970s when India became a true multi-party democracy. BJP had many advantages – from voter hostility towards a long-serving incumbent to the brute power of its heavily financed machinery – but still fell short.
Trinamool fortress stands: How Mamata managed to withstand the siege laid to her citadel by BJP May 4, 2021, 7:50 AM IST
By Shibashis Chatterjee and Sumit Ganguly
The West Bengal election results have demonstrated that despite the battering rams that BJP brought to bear against the Trinamool Congress fortress, the edifice, though a bit pockmarked, still stands strong. Its ability to withstand the concerted attacks from BJP requires some explanation, because TMC under CM Mamata Banerjee had entered this election sandbagged with weighty problems.
At the outset, after a decade in office, it faced the threat of anti-incumbency. Under her watch the state hasn’t clocked significant economic growth. In fact, during her second term in office the state saw an average growth rate of 5.5% against a national average of 7.1%.
The big national takeaway: Mamata Banerjee’s overwhelming victory provides a model for BJP’s political opponents May 2, 2021, 9:33 PM IST
The writer is Research Associate at the Centre for Policy Research
It is hard to construct a clear national picture from the results of five assembly elections. BJP would be disappointed by its failure to win Bengal, given that it invested so much political capital in the state, but would take heart from the comfortable victory of its alliances in Assam and Puducherry. The Left has been decimated in Bengal, but has overturned a four-decade trend to emerge victorious in Kerala. If there is one big story from these elections, it is the continuing electoral slide of Congress, which has received drubbings in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, and has been wiped out of Bengal.
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FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
A life of valour and sacrifice: On his 400th birth anniversary we retrace Guru Tegh Bahadur’s dharmic path April 30, 2021, 9:13 PM IST
The writer is General Secretary, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
In Indian history, Guru Shri Tegh Bahadur’s personality shines resplendent like a bright constellation. He was born in Amritsar to Guru Hargobindji and Nankiji on Krishna Panchami in the Baisakhi month. As per Nanakshahi calendar, today is Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 400th birth anniversary.
Guru Tegh Bahadurji was born into a tradition that challenged Mughals of Central Asia that had occupied vast tracts of Indian territory. He is a symbol of tenacity, sacrifice and his life is a wonderful example of physical and mental valour. In fact, Shri Tegh Bahadur’s life stands out as one of the greatest experiments in character-building. By reining in one’s negative instincts, even ordinary men can follow the path