Columns

How Modi's Political Aura Crumbled At Jantar Mantar

It was left to an incensed Gen Z to show the rest of India that enough was enough, and...

When Being Malayali Came With A VIP Pass

As they say some doors open because of who you know, and some, it turns out, open just...

Youth Protest: The Lasting Lessons

At the end of this journey, no matter now it ends, these youngsters will know something...

Pakistan Names New Nuclear Command Chief

Lieutenant General Syed Aamir Raza's loyalty to Field Marshal Asim Munir during the...

Political Parties Must Absorb An Important Lesson

Voters who exercise their franchise in favour of a particular political dispensation do...

Youth Protest Is No Longer About Paper Leaks

When dialogue fails, protest becomes inevitable. In a democracy, protest is often the...

CJP Protest: The Rise Of Fearless Youth

On camera, youngsters gave their names, where they'd come from, where they were...

If India Becomes A Doormat, The US Will Tread On It

The harsh truth is that the US is no longer a reliable partner, cautions Ramesh Menon.

From Courtroom Remark To Street Protests

Dialogue must be encouraged rather than adoption of hardline stands, violence and use...

Hormuz Crisis Exposes India's Energy Risks

Despite decades of efforts towards energy transition, oil will remain the critical...

Most Agriculture Ministers Hated Dr Kurien

At a function in Anand, ministers and the chief minister all in attendance, Varghese...

Did Israel's Mossad Try To Lure Ex-Iranian President?

A sensational New York Times report alleging that Israel's Mossad secretly groomed...

Why Has Government Not Responded To Wangchuk's Fast?

As Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike enters its 19th day, critics question why the...

Anxiety Grows Over SIR Verification

The population is gripped by anxiety against arbitrariness and the cruelty of a state...

The Doors That Never Opened

Some doors, it turns out, you can knock on for years and they still won't tell you...

Why Indians Thrive Overseas

India too can rise to the top if the 1.4 billion Indians back home are given better...

The Strategic Importance Of Gwadar Port For China

Gwadar is viewed as a critical pearl in China's maritime strategy as it would give a...

Gujarat, And Its Strange, Thirsty Prohibition

Prohibition never stopped anyone from drinking in Gujarat. It only made the stories...

America 250: Power, Despair And Hope

The question nobody seems to ask is why a democracy should be silent when many of its...

Why Disasters Like Wayanad Matter

Cyril Radcliffe drew India's border without ever visiting it. Turns out our...

Does India Want To Repair Iran Relationship?

India is navigating a complex diplomatic landscape, attempting to balance its 'forever...

Who Will Lord Ram Bestow His Blessings On In UP Polls?

The monsoon session of Parliament will set the tone for how the Hindu community feels...

The Baramati Meeting I Never Forgot

I had gone to Baramati to ask about loans. I came back having done a small, accidental...

Modi-Takaichi Summit Opens New India-Japan Chapter

Notwithstanding the economic complementarities and the host of agreements for deepening...

Khamenei Funeral Signals Shift In India-Iran Relations

It is an unusual choice to depute a retired general for the funeral of a revered...

Why Modi Wants To Curb NGOs Funding

Larger NGOs could no longer work with smaller ones, especially those organisations...

Why Modi Should Watch Takaichi's Japan

History may remember Takaichi Sanae not as the leader who simply accelerated Japanese...

Omar Abdullah's Challenge Revives July 2, 1984 Memories

Omar Abdullah has so far laboured hard to make best of a bad bargain.Even so, the...

India-Nepal Boundary Dispute Needs Solution

The boundary mess between India and Nepal needs a solution in a manner as mentioned by...

When Raakh Reminded Me Of Horrific College Memory

Ramesh is not in our class group photo. He had already vanished from school by the time...

Why Taiwan Is At The Heart Of US-China Rivalry

For the foreseeable future, the most likely outcome remains continuation of the status...

Delhi Fires Reveal A Grim Reality

We have built an economy that can deliver everything -- from iPhones to biryani -- to a...

Time India Embraces China And US

India's dual pursuit of a robust strategic partnership with Washington and a pragmatic,...

Bhagwat's Haldighati Claim Diminishes History

Maharana Pratap became a hero not because he won a battle, but because he continued...

Why Make Yoga Day A Ritual

We have Yoga Day. We have Hindi Day. We have, I am fairly certain, so many days, though...

BJP's New Game: Political Engineering

Ideology is dead; long live the numbers game that is being played with the sole...

Is All Well With US-Iran MoU?

Much will depend on how the protagonists use the current interlude to work proactively...

Why Indian Politicians Fear Youth Dissent

CBSE exams and unemployment are divergent concerns for the middle class and the poor,...

Can Proposed Nicobar Naval Base Protect India?

While the Andaman and Nicobar islands serve as a vital, stationary asset for projecting...

The Women Who Shaped My Life

The men in my family left early. The women stayed. And somewhere in between, they made...

Someone Else Owns India's Off Switch

A sovereign cloud, our own DNS root and Root CA, a defence-led research base that...

What Jawaharlal Nehru Did for India

Through his commitment to democratic norms, debate, dissent and constitutionalism,...

Attack On Sailors: Is India Rewriting US Playbook?

India's foreign policy establishment is adjusting with alacrity in real time -- an...

Trump Is Coming For Immigrant Brothers...

Immigrants' contribution to the US economy is disproportionate to their share of the...

Goodbye, Shastri Bhawan

As Shastri Bhawan nears demolition, one of Delhi's most iconic government buildings...

Major Jojy Joseph: A Hero Remembered Every June

Major Jojy Joseph led from the front. Laid down his life. In the service of the nation.

India's Myanmar Challenge And Hlaing's Promises

To get its act going in Myanmar, India would need very dynamic diplomacy and not the...

BJP Must Be Wary About Inducting Fleeing TMC Leaders

Both the political executive in New Delhi and the newly elected political dispensation...

Modi Has Transformed The Vocabulary Of Indian Politics

Few leaders since Independence have been able to establish such a direct connection...

Dropping Fertility: Chance For India To Be Pandavas

The falling Total Fertility Rate offers India a chance to become the Pandavas -- fewer...

India Is Lucky To Have Both Nehru And Modi

If one has to compare the tenures of the two prime ministers one must credit Nehru with...

Eradicating Cockroaches Isn't Easy

A wellspring fuelling the CJP tsunami is the high levels of youth unemployment.Millions...

Why India-China Border Still Simmers

While tensions have eased at several friction points and mechanisms for managing the...

Why Sea Chokepoints Have Become The New Battleground

If Iran and Oman choose to charge a fee for rendering services to vessels using their...

Trump-Xi Engagement Raises India's Concerns

The US-China rapprochement, however tenuous, is not without implications for India....

The Flight Had Landed. Where Had My Mother Gone?

A few frantic calls later, the answer emerged: She had missed her connecting flight in...

How Modi's Austerity Appeal Can Work

Insights from behavioural economics suggest that an ambitious nudge can be effective if...

Vijay Must Demonstrate His Govt Doesn't Engage In Theft

If TVK MLAs and ministers are perceived as clean, or demonstrably cleaner than their...

Rupee Fall Exposes India's Economic Weakness

We who were dreaming of being the third largest economy in dollar terms, have slid back...

US-China Rivalry Enters New Phase

The Beijing summit may have reduced immediate diplomatic uncertainty, but it did not...

Modi's Austerity Push Faces Reality Test

Following through announcements with enforcement of measures is key, as a run through...

Satheesan, Suvendu, Vijay Will Struggle...

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have been fiscally stressed for a considerable...

The Significance Of Rajnath Singh's Vietnam Visit

Vietnam is an emerging regional power and a closer relationship with Hanoi is closely...

Why Change India's Electoral System?

'Why are we deliberately taking apart an electoral system that has worked?''There is no...

Trump-Xi Rapprochement: Time For India To Be Cautious

India would confront a more entrenched China, a less dependable United States, and a...

Trump-Xi Bonhomie: Should India Be Uneasy?

Delhi must now purge the delusional hopes of being a 'counterweight' to China in the US...

Gandhis, Congress And The Kaikeyi Principle

The Gandhis have served both the Congress and India. But it has been 12 years since the...

Will China Now Attack Taiwan?

Chinese leaders, including its generals, will have to weigh whether they can win a war...

'Vote Jehad', 'Muslim League', What Next?

The only thing that might make the BJP stop trying to isolate Muslims completely will...

Why Gulf States Now Need India

India is the only significant power that all parties trust, or at least do not...

Why India's Israel-UAE Bet Looks Risky

Frankly, was it really necessary in the middle of a fratricidal war for External...

China Boosts Indian Ocean Ambitions, Should India Worry?

For India, China's Indian Ocean power projection, maritime domain awareness, dual-use...

Why The Energy Crisis Will Get Worse

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted some 20 per cent of the global flows...

Who Will Win Kerala's Game Of Thrones?

Already, within the week of the election results it became apparent that the Congress'...

Gulf War Crisis: Why India Will Take A Huge Hit

This is the time for India to plan forward fully, with the goal of Atmanirbharata, and...

While Security Forces Intercept Thousands Of Drones...

Occasionally, the silence of the night shift would be shattered by an ear-splitting...

What Suvendu Adhikari Must Understand

The electorate did not vote for the BJP as much as they voted against the TMC. This is...

Courts And The Hate Speech Dilemma

Courts cannot be the only hope for those fighting hate speech. Countering its effects...

What's Rajendra Arlekar Up To?

By asking Vijay to produce letters of majority support before inviting him to form the...

Were The West Bengal Elections Fair?

The extent of doubts over the fairness of this election can be assessed by juxtaposing...

What I Expect From A BJP Govt In Bengal

The BJP must respect Bengal's pluralistic ethos and with this historic mandate give the...

What BJP's Historic Bengal Win Means For India

Hopefully, the BJP will realise that it's the right time for parivartan (change) in its...

Vijay Is The New Chennai Super King!

Unlike films that end with the underdog becoming winner and being sworn in at a public...

Why Am I Being Demoted, Asks Pluto

'If planets are, as many of your own geophysicists argue, bodies shaped by their own...

Vote Is My Only Weapon, Blunted As It May Be

I wonder if I can rest assured -- before the election ink on my finger fades -- that my...

When US Presidents Abused India!

If Trump doesn't like India, that is his choice. But to use such distasteful language...

Let's Appreciate The BJP's Honesty!

The BJP, especially in its current edition under the prime minister, is clear that it...

Can West Bengal Regain Its Lost Pride?

If West Bengal does not begin to reclaim its lost pride, the state would have lost --...

Japan Arms Policy Shift Sparks China Ire

Beijing has been wary of Sanae Takaichi's efforts to boost Japan's military profile...

Why Does US Want Pakistan To Mediate With Iran?

The United States' historical strategic alignment with Pakistan, dating back to the...

Why Trump Enforced A Blockade In Strait Of Hormuz

The US blockade on Iranian ports is aimed to curb Iranian energy exports, thereby...

Pahalgam Terror Attack: Hard Lessons For India

We, Indians, forgot that for Pakistan, Kashmir dispute and blood feud with India is the...

'Pakistan Has Been Betraying Everyone'

If Trump wants peace with Iran, Pakistan will offer to help. If Trump seeks Pakistan's...

Iran: Why Trump Must Take A Leap Of Faith

There are enough people at the top decision-making level in Tehran who are still...

Easter Attacks: Will Sri Lanka Ever Nail The Guilty?

Sri Lanka's response to the Easter attacks has been slow and politically contested,...

Has Baazigar Modi Fired His Best Shot?

What is missing in the BJP's armour is dominance over 50 percent of the electorate:...

Trump, Iran Inch Closer And Closer To A Deal

Trump has said he would be present at the signing ceremony in Islamabad.Don't be...

Why Did India Not Stop The War?

India is one of the few nations, and perhaps the only nation, that has good relations...

Bhutan's Huge Crypto Gamble

Is Bhutan merely experimenting with digital finance -- or is the Himalayan kingdom...

India Missed Diplomatic Edge Against Pakistan

Iran was the chance to arrange a concert of nations, to actually be a...

Dhurandhar And The Politics Of Storytelling

The Dhurandhar movies will undoubtedly shape the minds of the audience much more than...

India's Republic Faces Ambedkar Test

'A genuine tribute to Dr Ambedkar does not lie in selective invocation. It lies in...

This War Surpassed All Limits Of Uncivilised Behaviour

One of the most uncivilised characteristics of this war has been the total disregard...

Trump Is Notoriously Prone To Mood Swings

Chaffing under public ridicule in the US as well as internationally for having 'lost'...

Trump Has Forced The World Into New Reality

America's population and its media and its democratic structures seem fine with this,...

Islamabad Talks: Look Out For Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf

Trump seems to have estimated that Ghalibaf is a pragmatic politician who is receptive...

Truce Is A Bitter Pill For Trump To Swallow

The logic of war plus the gathering storms in US politics as the midterms loom large...

How Small Parties Could Swing Puducherry Results

Small parties have the capacity to play both ends against the middle. Puducherry could...

Iran War: Pakistan Was Flimsy, Face-Saving Fig Leaf

Nobody takes Pakistan seriously and therefore Pakistan's sudden mediating with almost...

Will Iran Be Browbeaten By Trump's Threats?

Far from it; the country's resistance to the US, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit...

Must Read! US Eyes Iran Assault: High Risks Ahead

Although extensive air attacks have been carried out to destroy most of Iran's defence...

The Most Vicious Phase Of The War Is About To Begin

The big question is whether Trump is any longer in command of the situation. For all...

When Pak Army Chief Backed Peace With India

As he settled down to his job as army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa -- who died last...