For hundreds of millions of citizens, the pursuit of dignity and happiness remains an unfinished journey. Political parties are still busy interpreting freedom for the people, rather than simply giving it to them. As a result, the appearance of independence is strong, whereas in practice there is much more to be done. The India Together editorial.

A number of researchers in economics have started to look closely at political reservations. In one recent instance, Professor Rohini Pande of Yale University has found that reservations in state legislatures do increase influence in policy-making for scheduled castes and tribes. Tarun Jain reports.

Sometimes, caste matters only if one expects it to matter. New research suggests that affirmative policies based on caste identity may themselves be the obstacle to reform, rather than tools for achieving it. Tarun Jain reports on a study in UP that appears to confirm this thesis.

Widows in India have lived on the margins of society for decades but the intervention of NGO Sulabh International, led by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, has brought new hope and colour in their lives. Ramesh Menon reports on one of the first celebrations in their new-found lives.

Manjari Singh reports on the opening of the Lucknow branch of Sheroes Hangout, a café run and managed by acid attack survivors under the guidance of the humanitarian organisation “Stop Acid Attacks”

Winning the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha elections in India was easier than chalking down and executing what the new United Progressive Alliance has to do in terms of governance. Ramesh Menon looks at some of the challenges ahead.

For seven-year-old Sandhya and her siblings, totally dependant on their mother who ekes out a living by making beedis, the state government's relief package, announced nearly 18 months ago, is simply not enough. Many more suffer the same fate. P N Venugopal reports.

A recent Bombay HC ruling on the powers of the NCW, with regard to a case involving sexual harassment at the workplace, could have significant implications for gender justice in the long term. Revathi Siva Kumar looks at the facts of the case and the debate that it has stirred up. 

Once a medical approach is accepted, its use tends to spread across the population and income groups. We therefore need to start preparing for the advance of personalised medicine, writes Sujatha Byravan

In India, other states look at Kerala's record of firsts with envy. Dr Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate, has hailed it as a model. But Kerala, caught in a web of paradoxes, is not what it seems, writes Ramesh Menon.

Raging violence across the state continues to take the lives of young men in Manipur. For the young widows left behind, the struggle for survival is fraught with newly added responsibilities, for which many of them are ill-prepared. Thingnam Anjulika Samom reports.

Following his earlier acclaimed films, Rakesh Sharma has released two new Gujarati documentaries earlier this month. The films -- Sharma has even used RTI to collect government data -- expose unsavoury truths about farmers suicides as well as lower-caste rioters now in prison. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Kalpana Sharma looks at the implications of the Nisha Sharma episode for our society.

In any society, the process of change is painful, and in ours, women are being forced to pay the price for this, says Kalpana Sharma.

Why is it that whenever there is any talk of values, it is women's behaviour, their dress, their attitude that comes into question, even though there are more men than women in India? Societal values and morality should apply to everyone, men and women, says Kalpana Sharma.

Given the lack of any news about dowry deaths, dowry violence or dowry demands, one would have thought that the problem had disappeared. Far from it. In fact, it has become far more entrenched and taken new forms. Dowry is a symptom of a deeper disease that relates to how our society values women, writes Kalpana Sharma.

We can now celebrate the fact that India is one of the few countries around the world that recognises that domestic violence is a violation of the human rights of women. The law alone is not enough, but it surely strengthens the hand of those who want to establish these rights, says Kalpana Sharma.

The press is expected to play a vanguard role in making the legislature and the executive accountable. But is there a mechanism by which we can correct the errors, biases, and malpractices of newspapers and television channels, asks Ramachandra Guha.

How relevant is the argument of a threat to freedom of the press in cases where the financial interests of a media baron could ostensibly conflict with that of the public? The question resurfaced recently in Andhra Pradesh over the Eenadu-Margadarsi controversy, writes B P Sanjay.

For more than a decade now, Supriyo Sen has been making his way through awards bestowed for excellence in choice of subject and aesthetics of creative expression, the latest being accorded for Wagah. Shoma Chatterji looks back at his films.

"I wanted to show not just a few victims, but to help viewers understand the mechanics and the politics of trafficking and migration," says Ananya Chatterjee. Shoma Chatterji revies Understanding Trafficking.

For the sixth time in a row, the trade ministers of the developing world have been duped to believe that agricultural trade is for development. Despite making loud noises and fuming over injustice, the faulty framework that underlies the WTO remains very much in place, says Devinder Sharma.

The depressing sameness of the days for those locked-in as the epidemic rages, is relieved only by the 24X7 flow of electricity – the juice that keeps us all connected, informed, entertained and as summer...

I turn 50 this week!!! Yup! Half a century on this planet! Not exactly the sparkling celebration I thought I’d have, given the lockdown and social distancing, but it’s certainly going to memorable with its...

Aaaah! Rejoice… love is in the air…and it is beating the virus! Let’s unashamedly swoon over the parallel ‘love tracks’ of these two ‘Lockdown relationships’ — one featuring a 51-year-old, world famous, London-based scientist, the...

Pakistan has decided to lift lockdown to kick-start its tottering economy. The growth engine of Pakistan’s economic revival is powered by CPEC, flagship project of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI). It is tempting to conjure...

During an interview with TOI, world No. 3 Thiem spoke about his comeback plans and how he is keeping himself ready for the season, as and when it restarts.

French tennis chief Bernard Guidicelli admitted Sunday that Roland Garros, already controversially pushed back four months due to the coronavirus, could be staged behind closed doors.

In the last two months – after coming back from Amman, Jordan (where he secured Olympic quota in the 69kg category) – Vikas has been cooped up at his farmhouse in Bhiwani, Haryana, due to the pandemic-forced nationwide lockdown.

Overshadowing a large chunk of the 15th century, The War of the Roses raged in England for a shade over 30 years as the descendants of Edward III divided themselves into Yorkists (white rose) who traced their line back to Edward's youngest son, Edmund Duke of York, and Lancastrians (red rose) who traced their line back to Edward's second son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

Odia singer Antara Chakrabarty is spending her lockdown days by doing things for which she earlier didn’t get time due to her busy work schedule.

There exists no evidence to support the popular view that pirates wore a black patch over one eye.

Covid-19 lockdown: Migrant workers, family walk back from Ahmedabad to their native place in UP's Lalitpur

Google celebrates Mother's Day with a Doodle

After slamming door on Air India crews, Noida Authority takes back order

In 1994-95, as part of a national campaign, I travelled through hundreds of Indian villages, mofussil towns and cities, explaining how miracle-mongers make sly use of chemicals and herbs and exploit the ignorance of common people about certain natural phenomena to fool the gullible and win their unquestioning devotion.

Progressive Maharashtra is dotted with temples and dargahs that keep women out

These are the last-mile months to convince your boss that you deserve the coveted grade with some quick moves

As solar panels get cheaper, more people are embracing the sun. Some of them are not only reducing their electricity bills, they’re even selling the surplus to the state.

Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Saturday announced that the evaluation for class 10, 12 board exams will be done by teachers at their homes and 3,000 schools have been identified as exam centres to deliver the answer sheets to them.

ಮಗು ಡೌನ್‌ ಸಿಂಡ್ರೋಮ್‌ನಿಂದ(ವಿಶೇಷ ಚೇತನವಾಗಿ) ಹುಟ್ಟಲು ಕಾರಣವೇನೆಂದು ವೈದ್ಯರು ಹೇಳಿದರೂ ಹಾಗೇಕೆ ಹುಟ್ಟುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂಬುವುದು ಇನ್ನೂ ತಿಳಿದು ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಮಗು ಡೌನ್‌ ಸಿಂಡ್ರೋಮ್‌ನಿಂದ ಹುಟ್ಟುವ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆ ಇದೆಯೇ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಡೌನ್ ಸಿಂಡ್ರೋಮ್‌ನಿಂದ ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಹುಟ್ಟುವ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ ವಿಶ್ವದ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕಡೆ ಕಂಡು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ವಿಶ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಟ್ಟುವ ಮಕ್ಕಳಲ್ಲಿ ಶ. 3ರಿಂದ