India is understood to have told Pakistan that it is ready to lift the ban on cotton exports if the latter resumes its onion exports through rail and land routes. Official sources in the Commerce Ministry said this was conveyed to Islamabad by the External Affairs Ministry. “The Indian side has conveyed to the Pakistani counterparts that it was ready to revisit the cotton export ban and ceiling issues, if the...

In the end, Gangula Tadangi succumbed to tuberculosis. The Kondh Adivasi’s life could have been saved if he had made it to the hospital on time. But he was in judicial custody at Koraput district jail in southern Odisha for allegedly “waging war against the Indian State”. During his last moments, Tadangi, 25, is said to have whispered something in Kondh. But nobody could make out anything because no one...

Since 1947, successive governments have missed innumerable opportunities to put the country on the path of sustained, inclusive growth. Time and again, quixotic ideology has led to meaningless debates, antediluvian policy and inexplicable strangulation of capacity buildup in both physical and social infrastructure. Even today, while the gap between current and projected national demand and supply is well acknowledged, the government continues to drag its feet in creating the policy...

State's appeal against High Court order dismissed The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the judgment of the Kerala High Court prohibiting public meetings by the roadsides in the State. A Bench of Justice D.K. Jain and Justice H.L. Dattu dismissed an appeal filed by the State government against the judgment of the High Court and a subsequent petition seeking a review of the judgment. The Bench said it was not inclined to...

Two years after the Tatas moved out of the Nano compound in Bengal, Singur is set to return to the forefront of a political tug-of-war next week. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will address a public meeting in the area on January 9, and Trinamool Congress will follow suit a few days later. But on the ground, the defiance has mellowed to a murmur. Landowners have given up hope of getting...