-Scroll.in Because the exercise was doomed to fail in its primary objective of rooting out black money, the government kept changing its aims. We have travelled a long way from November 8, 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi told us that the black money held in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes would become “worthless pieces of paper”. Now, we are told by the finance ministry that the government expected...

-Hindustan Times After Tamil Nadu’s pioneering Amma canteens, many states have started community kitchens, such as Karnataka’s Indira Canteens. This is a welcome development. The first coverage of the recently inaugurated “Indira canteens” in Karnataka that I noticed were two reports on television channels. Both were poking fun (justifiably) at Rahul Gandhi’s goofy speech at the launch. Sadly though, neither commented on the rationale or importance of the Karnataka government’s initiative. This...

-Livemint.com The caste networks will disappear when the market economy starts to function efficiently The caste system is arguably the most distinctive feature of Indian society. The Indian population is divided into four hierarchical classes, or varnas, with a large sub-population of untouchables excluded entirely from the system. Within each of these classes, and among the untouchables, are thousands of castes, or jatis. The central rule in Hindu society is that individuals...

-The Indian Express Gorakhpur was only the acute manifestation of the chronic malady that ails our health system Outrage is a natural reaction to the terrible tragedy that cruelly crushed the lives of many innocent children in Gorakhpur. However, outrage is a wasted emotion if it is not accompanied by honest introspection to identify all contributory causes and followed by a cluster of corrective actions. The deaths of these children were caused...

-Scroll.in The prime minister’s Independence Day speech was more of a laundry list of achievements, with few new announcements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Tuesday was not only his shortest Independence Day address so far, it also had little by way of major announcements. Aside from a few one-liners calling for Indians to change their attitudes and for a different approach to Kashmir, Modi’s annual speech from the Red Fort...