A nation on a walking stick
In this season of foreign policy and nuclear insecurity two changes have gone unnoticed, particularly in terms of the profound social, economic and demographic fallout they are bound to have. The Union Cabinet has raised the retirement age of government employees to 60 years. As if on cue, the minimum age for a person to contest an election has been reduced to 21. So what's the big deal, you might ask.

Victims of apex court apathy
The Supreme Court is failing in its duty to provide a nationally efficient judiciary to the citizens. This has been happening even while the Supreme Court has been extending its direct hold over the key units of the national judicial system -- the high courts and the district courts.

Divine delirium
The Prime Minister's solemn assurances that there will no repetition of the traumatic events of December 6, 1992 are welcome. But those assurances need to be backed by timely action. The very fact that the Ayodhya temple has regained a high profile is a sign of growing qualms in the country. The omission of the temple from the government's National Agenda has not set doubts at rest.

  Fever pitch
  Chronicle of a riot foretold