Daily Hindu Editorials

💥Maharashtra’s farmers win hearts and minds; their issues must be addressed everywhere The gruelling six-day march of nearly 200 km from Nashik to Mumbai by thousands of farmers, with the aim to gherao the Maharashtra Assembly and sensitise the government to their problems, was remarkable. The manner in which they conducted themselves — without disrupting the lives of other citizens and refraining from aggressive sloganeering — is not how India’s myriad protesters typically behave. And, while urban India usually has little patience for agrarian problems, many Mumbaikars not only backed the stir but also pitched in to help with food, water, medical aid, and even footwear. While Opposition parties as well as BJP ally Shiv Sena backed the farmers and tribals in an attempt to isolate Devendra Fadnavis’s administration, he managed to emerge unflustered and deal with the issue effectively. The farmers were persuaded to complete the final leg of the march early on Monday to avoid inconven...

👊The Theni tragedy begs an inquiry by the Tamil Nadu government into warning systems The forest fire in Tamil Nadu’s Theni hills that claimed the lives of 11 trekkers and severely injured many others is a heart-rending tragedy, with many of them being women who were out to celebrate International Women’s Day. Questions are naturally being asked whether the Forest Department failed to stop treks during the February-June fire season, and whether the response to the early distress alerts was slow. It appears that the difficult terrain gave many of those caught in the fire line little chance, and proved challenging for the State’s rescue operation launched in coordination with the Central government. The residents of the hills played a commendable role in aiding the effort. Yet, several families are left scarred as they try to cope with the loss of loved ones. The tragedy has highlighted the lack of emphasis on safety in the way such events are organised. Indeed, if there is any lesson...

💭Rauff Hakeem Xenophobic forces have mobilised themselves and seem to have identified a new enemy in post-war Sri Lanka, says the cabinet minister Rauff Hakeem is the Minister of City Planning and Water Supply in Sri Lanka’s national unity government and the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, a prominent Muslim political party. A lawyer and a senior parliamentarian, he represents Kandy district, which recently witnessed violent attacks by Sinhalese mobs that claimed at least two lives and destroyed many mosques, Muslim-owned shops and homes. The episode has left the island’s Muslim minority, who make up about 10% of the population, in shock. Speaking to The Hindu at Dharussalam, his party headquarters in Colombo, Mr. Hakeem situated the violence within the larger political scape of Sri Lanka after the civil war ended in 2009, with the armed forces crushing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as well as in the global context of growing Islamophobia. Excerpts: 👉How do yo...

💥The Macron visit underlined the growing strategic convergence that draws India and France together With French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to India, the India-France Strategic Partnership launched in 1998 seems finally to have come of age. In these two decades, both sides have gradually enhanced cooperation in diverse fields covering civil nuclear, defence, space, counter-terrorism, education, research and development in science and technology, culture, urban development, climate change, trade and economics and people-to-people contacts. The slew of bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding signed, the detailed ‘joint statement’ and accompanying ‘vision statements’ on cooperation in space and the Indian Ocean Region, the boat ride in Varanasi, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warmly reciprocated diplohugs indicate that the relationship has received a momentum that gives it critical mass and greater coherence. 👉A shared world view As a country that has...

💥 India needs to shore up public sector capacity for making medicines India is rightly acclaimed to be the pharmacy of the world, with its huge private sector capacity for producing branded and unbranded generic drugs. Much of this growth took place after India opted for process patenting over product patenting in 1970. This changed to a product patent regime in 2005, providing sufficient time for growth of the generic drug industry in the private sector. However, this period has also seen the decline and near disappearance of public sector capacity for manufacture of drugs and vaccines. That is a cause for worry. 👉 Beyond profit motive Public sector capacity for manufacture of essential drugs and vaccines is very much needed to ensure that our population is not denied access to drugs that the Indian private sector is unable to produce or supply at affordable cost. These include drugs where compulsory licences may need to be issued by the government for patent protected drugs o...

💥 India needs to invest more widely and deeply in scientific enterprise Last month, theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku tweeted: “The economics of space travel have changed. It cost about $100 million to produce The Martian with Matt [Damon]. But the Indians sent their probe to Mars for $70 million… They should give an Oscar for the best supporting rocket!” The tweet attracted about 123 comments that ranged from outrage that Indians should spend this much on space probes rather than on education or hospitals to “I am proud to be an Indian.” These reactions alert us to a deeper question: are Indians investing enough in science, and how should this investment be apportioned? As per data provided by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, India invests about 0.8% of its GDP on research and development, and supports 156 researchers per million of population. The figures for China are 2%, and 1,113, respectively. China’s investment is now comparable to any developed country, w...