To posit the ban on beef as something imposed only by a Brahmin caste on society is unfortunate. There is a strong case for providing all animals the protection from an over-expanding animal husbandry industry and excessive meat-eating
There can be no two opinions about the horrific act of a man being killed for allegedly possessing beef. But arguments in the beef controversy have not been consistently liberal
After beef and book bans, we now have the Catholic Secular Forum demanding a play ban because its lead actors are "not Christians". Our penchant for banning comes comes from our tendency to protect the minority instead of the individual
The elevation of Indian Sundar Pichai as CEO of Google shows that meritocracy works in America. But in India, we are still stuck with promoting ideas and policies that promise mediocrity and sub-optimal outcomes
Rajiv Malhotra's book Indra's Net has be criticised by some for failing to provide adequate attribution for some ideas. But more important than these allegations are the core ideas he presents in the book. The author says there are 7 big ideas
All said and done, there is a case for retaining the death sentence in the rarest of rare cases, provided the phrase "rarest of rare" is defined clearly and transparently. What is worrisome about capital punishment is its occasional arbitrariness.
Rajiv Malhotra, target of a campaign over inadequate attribution to western Indologists in his book Indra's Net, explains that he is not here to play by the rules set by western academicians for their own purposes.
Accusations of plagiarism against Indian American author Rajiv Malhotra are a smoke-screen for a generalised attack on Hindu intellectuals.
Here are some of the most memorable moments from the <em>Firstpost Salon</em> with Shashi Tharoor.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has applied for an Indian passpost and then went on to say he is not an Indian by birth. He is right, but for reasons unrelated to what he stands for.
One wouldn't have known it, but the BJP MP from Sultanpur has a poet inside him.
The Left-Right classification of BJP and Congress and leaders in India is a blind copy from European definitions that make no sense in our context.
Historian Ramachandra Guha believes that the Indian Right has produced more ideologues than intellectuals. But he probably excludes many who could be called intellectuals by defining "intellectual" too narrowly
India can provide a good government with 12 percent tax-GDP ratio. For this, we can abolish all taxes barring income tax and GST.
Why this book on investing is more down-to-earth and worth investing in
When everyone else does it, it's called networking. In the Rajaratnam case, they're calling it 'ethnic clubbing'
WPP chairman Martin Sorrell sees a good future for India, with Indian professionals in demand as Indian brands go global - and as the balance of power in advertising shifts to India, China, Brazil.
Everyone, from the Indian government to the American one, wants to engage with NRIs. But that's just a polite way of wanting their money. Too bad, says Fulbright scholar Minal Hajratwala. They are missing out on the real goodies.
The Sai Baba transformed the small village of Puttaparthi into a bustling town. Puttaparthi is anxiously waiting to see if the crowds will return now that its crowd-puller-in-chief is gone.
When Mukesh Ambani built his 27-storey mansion in Mumbai, critics carped about how he could live in such brazen splendour surrounded by so much poverty. Well, it turns out that a year after his grand housewarming party the tycoon doesn't actually live in Antilia. He just serves canapes there.
The debate over the value of an IIT education set off by Narayana Murthy needs to be widened. Our entire educatin system is Jurassic and needs overhaul if it is to meet the challenges of the future.
Competition raised its ugly head on Tuesday when ToI attacked television news. The question is, how does ToI fight against all of TV news without besmirching Times Now?
Both Steve Jobs and Apple have travelled a great distance from their origins as icons of righteous capitalism. They both now have been reduced to symbols of consumerist cool, much like their iPad.
When Ogilvy created the Blackberry on Vodafone television commercial, they would never have imagined how prescient they were.The commercial was created to say that the Blackberry was for everybody.
While Indians are the most inquisitive lot, it will take some time before India plays a leadership role in innovation.
The path to the lucrative cash-endorsements enjoyed by later cricket greats, from Kapil Dev to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was paved by a man who peaked five years too early.
In Delhi today you see carpetbaggers who have no particular attachment to anything, except the principle of making money at any cost. The rising stench of corruption and fall in public ethical standards is a pointer to future decline.
IIPM and its celebrity director have filed a defamation lawsuit spurred by the publication of an excerpt from an upcoming book that takes a critical look at their business practices.
The Reddy extravaganza is a jolting reminder of how many of our wealthiest business families remain tightly wedded to the past, thumbing their nose at over two decades of social change.
Ever wondered why there are so many Beat the Heat ads? Or cute "talking" babies? That's because advertising, like physics and chemistry, has its own formulae.