Blogs

Monopolies are bad, but whether, and when, to break them up are questions with no easy answers When is a business too big for public good? It’s not a rhetorical question. We’ve just been through a week when an airline with almost 65% market share practically grounded the whole country. In the same week, the…

By Sonal Srivastava In the past few days, photos of chaos at Indian airports following IndiGo flight cancellations have flooded social media. Some users have shared images of airports online with the text, “Yeh airport hai ya railway station?” – is this an airport or a railway station? In saying so, they have conveniently forgotten…

Some risks arrive as sudden shocks: black swans. Others, like a grey rhino, move slowly and advance in full view, long before they hit. China’s “initiative on green minerals”, unveiled by Premier Li Qiang during the G20 summit in Johannesburg, falls in the latter category. By rallying 19 mineral-exporting countries around its finance and mineral…

Weeklong disruption across IndiGo’s network has exposed a structural truth India has ignored for far too long – passengers have no power. Airline industry knows this well. This crisis was the predictable outcome of a system in which airlines face no financial penalty for failure, and a market so concentrated that passengers have no option…

A court in Kerala has said actor Dileep is not guilty of helping kidnap and attack a woman actor. But the government will appeal, so the case isn’t over. It has already taken many years, and no one knows how many more it will take for a final judgment. People say “justice is blind”, but…

Acquittal in rape case over poor prosecution is another reminder justice for her can wait A Kerala trial court freed actor Dileep of conspiracy charges – hiring goons to abduct and sexually assault a woman actor and filming the crime. State will appeal. Wheels of justice will continue to grind for no one knows how…

Doc is pulled up for his fetish for proper records As the patient sat down, I looked expectantly for the treatment file. But Gen Z Govind was carrying only his brand new mobile phone and the unreasonable expectation of an immediate cure for his chronic illness. I asked tentatively, “Are you carrying your previous records?”…

Tragedies like that in Goa nightclub remind us that many businesses & all govts are callous when it comes to safety norms The terrible fire at a nightclub in Goa’s Arpora that killed 25 people – trapping many of them in the kitchen – again spotlights the criminal negligence of safety norms in this country….

They don’t actually have nine lives. They are crowding to ace this one  The CAT was out of the bag at 8.30am. However, by 7am the place was already crawling with traffic, and gruff noises – even caterwauling. Some cars had arrived well before others and squatted in premium spots, others tried to avenge this…

In the end, hope did not triumph over expectation at COP30. The actions of petrostates and the fossil fuel industry at the UN climate change conference scored over the interests of vulnerable populations. At the same time, the positive actions of scores of governments and hundreds of big businesses and small companies give the hope…