Breaking Views News - Page 22

IPL spot-fixing: The 'sourced' truth may not be real

Everyday, the newspapers and the TV channels are filled with stories – straight from the sources mouth - about a new revelation, an exclusive angle or a new break in the case. And everyday we wonder how true these stories are.

Three polls, one message: No alternative to Modi for BJP

The Congress may fall on its own sword of non-performance, but the BJP won't gain much in the next polls unless its projects Modi as its leader, suggest three different recent polls

Between India and China, even glacial change is progress

India signalled to visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that the border issue is of "core interest", and withheld boilerplate acknowledge of India's commitment to the 'one China' principle. These are not without significance.

Not just niceties, China and India need to focus on thorny issues

India's discourse with China has traditionally been trapped in the Mao-ist maze that defines how "friends" ought to conduct themselves. But Chinese statecraft has evolved, and India too must up its diplomatic game.

Li Keqiang's visit a chance to reboot India-China ties

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang begins his India visit today. If India plays its cards right, and protects its interests with finesse, the two countries have the capacity to reset their relationship.

IPL spot-fixing: Delhi Police's 'showcase trial' is self-defeating

Having done exemplary work in the spot-fixing investigation, the Delhi Police has yielded to the temptation to conduct a 'showcase' media trial, which could compromise its case before a court of law.

Despite the spot-fixing shame, the IPL show must go on

The scandal points to the need for cleansing the IPL culture, but it's no reason to pull down the entire edifice. The IPL is still a platform for talent-spotting, and retains enormous entertainment value that cannot be robbed by a few charlatans.

China's push for border deal: Why India must 'trust but verify'

Indian suspicions about Chinese grand strategems should not be allowed to impede any progress in the Sino-Indian border talks. But it is important to mark the boundary before committing to a freeze on troop and infrastructure build-up.

From here on, Sonia-Manmohan dyarchy is a slow train wreck

The "two heads" power arrangement between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming apart at the seams.

Pakistan turns a corner, but let's go easy on Aman Ki Asha dreams

The outbreak of unbridled Aman Ki Asha sentiments in India, following Nawaz Sharif's victory, points to unreasonably heightened expectations on the Indian side of the Wagah border.

Not Bansal or Kumar: Dear PM, you're the real sacrificial goat

When it comes to ring-fencing Sonia Gandhi from the taint of corruption that overruns the UPA government, everyone - even the Prime Minister - is expendable.

How the Sarabjit-Sanaullah episode diminishes India

The Sarabjit-Sanaullah episode shows that for all of India's attempts to project itself as an emerging global power, with a footprint larger than just the South Asian peninsula, it is unable to break out of its hyphenated relationship with Pakistan.

Early trends: Will BJP now introspect on Yeddyurappa affair?

When the BJP reflects on the outcome in Karnataka, it will likely draw the wrong inferences from its handling of the BS Yeddyurappa affair.

With an eye on Food Security Bill, Sonia stoops to conquer

With Sonia Gandhi reaching out to Sushma Swaraj in Parliament on Tuesday, the Congress finds itself in a win-win position on the Food Security Bill.

India, China stand-off in Ladakh ends but at what cost to India?

India and China have backed off from their eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the Himalayas. But there is reason to believe that India may have paid a high price by giving China the right to determine what happens on our side of the fence.

'Coercive diplomacy' is the key to beat China's Ladakh ingress

There is diplomatic space for India to exert itself against the Chinese incursion without resorting to military adventurism. But to exert the levers of coercive diplomacy, you need to know that you have a spine in the first place.

Rising from Sarabjit's funeral pyre, questions about peace

The more important question arising from Sarabji Singh's murder is where the India-Pakistan relationship is headed. As a mortal struggle for power unfolds in Pakistan, the signs aren’t good.

Sarabjit Singh, and the spies we left out in the cold

India owes a debt to the secret soldiers who fought its covert war against Khalistan terrorists in the 1980s. Sarabjit Singh’s battle for his life is as good a time as any for us to begin to acknowledge it.

Damned lies: How the coal scam has gutted the UPA govt

The prairie fire of the CoalGate scandal is spreading rapidly within the UPA government. And with each successive lie that stands exposed before the Supreme Court, the flames are edging closer to Manmohan Singh himself.

Living in denial is not how India should deal with China's incursion

Perhaps this incursion was intended by the new Chinese leadership to signal Chinese frustration at the lack of progress in the talks on the border dispute despite years of negotiations. If that is so, it reflects raw power, not sagacity.

Unanswered questions on China’s Ladakh incursion

India is in no mood to escalate the situation despite the Chinese provocation and the Indian efforts are geared to finding an amicable resolution to the standoff.

What Modi's 'guest appearance' in Karnataka says of him

In putting up a mere token appearance in Karnataka, Modi comes across as a play-safe politician who doesn't want to risk anything that might impede him in his 'Chalo Dilli' yatra.

India's dilemma in Ladakh: How do you deal with China?

There are a whole range of graded options for India to signal its mind without resorting to belligerence. There is no time like the present to exercise them.

Delhi child rape: Who cares for these Nowhere People?

The horrific rape of a six-year-old child in Delhi has brought people out on the streets again. But the hard reality is the poor do not get heard by the police or the media - till something "sensational" happens.

Behind the Bangalore bombing, a jihadist moonrise

No one knows, yet, who bombed the BJP’s Bangalore office, but irrespective of who the perpetrators turn out to be, the event will feed the ugly chauvinism across the region.

Boston blasts, and the strange world of America’s bomb cults

No one knows who carried out Monday’s murderous terrorist attacks in Boston. The killings, however, have cast grim light on the bomb cults flourishing on America’s margins—jihadist and neo-Nazi alike.

Boston blasts: Too many nutcases in a fractured society

A fractured society is the backdrop against which to evaluate the difficulties in securing people's safety during an open sporting event.

Child labour in Gujarat's cotton factories: Will Modi stop it?

If he really is a decisive leader, he must do something about child labour cotton ginning units.

Cracks in NDA as Nitish corners BJP on Modi

Nitish's move compels the BJP to either gamble on Modi - and risk a possible crack in the NDA alliance - or "play safe" by downplaying Modi, and risk alienating the party's hardcore support base.

Ambedkar jayanti: It's not enough for parties to just break bread with Dalits

Six decades after the Constitution abolished untouchability, politicians can’t hope to woo Dalits by calling on them for supper. The poor and landless demand their due.