The ancient Dharmashastra, repeatedly caricatured and selectively invoked, has become a permanent fixture of modern India’s political and ideological battles. AI generated image Many people who might have seen Rakshith Shetty’s Sapta Sagaradaache Ello will remember the heroine’s famous dialogue: “Manu, you are my ocean.” How beautifully appropriate this sounds today! Our esteemed Indian academicians, CJP protestors, our beloved youth icon Rahul Gandhi Ji, and our Nishu Ji see

As the Indus Waters Treaty collapses under the weight of arbitral boycotts and upstream infrastructure competition, South Asia’s river basins are fast becoming the region’s defining geopolitical flashpoint. For over six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 stood as a singular, almost miraculous anomaly in the turbulent geopolitical landscape of South Asia. Brokered by the World Bank after nine years of painstaking diplomacy, the treaty successfully withstood three major w

From Teutonic fortresses to modern missile garrisons, the contested geography of the Baltic has made Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, a recurring European flashpoint. Russian naval and missile forces make Kaliningrad a strategic hinge on NATO’s eastern flank. In 1736, Swiss polymath and mathematician Leonhard Euler sat down to solve a quirky civic obsession that Königsberg was renowned for: how to stroll across all seven bridges of the historic capital of the East Prussian city e

India’s battle against Naxalism is fast moving beyond the gun to the more shadowy battlefield of ideas. The tendency of some educated people who describe themselves as intellectuals to provide ideological justification for violence, disorder and anti-establishment activities is often viewed as a manifestation of “urban Naxalism”. In his Independence Day address from the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broadened this idea by introducing the term dimaagi Naxalism or “Nax

For India’s film stars, the leap from screen fame to political power has been a journey of triumphs, reversals and occasional second acts. From Thalapathy on screen, Vijay has taken political centre stage as Tamil Nadu's current Chief Minister. For an Indian film star, politics can look deceptively familiar. Both trades depend on visibility, crowds and the ability to turn a personal following into collective enthusiasm. But the resemblance ends there as the actor works to a s

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has moved beyond tax reform to become the economic engine of India’s ambition to become a developed nation. AI generated image Nine years ago, the GST replaced a maze of taxes, cesses and state-level barriers with a single national framework. Since then, it has altered how goods move across the country, how businesses enter the formal economy, how governments track economic activity and how the Centre and states share fiscal responsibilities.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi A nation that has built formidable capabilities in space exploration, infrastructure, defence and technology has long possessed the raw ingredients to become a sporting powerhouse. Yet, beyond cricket, India’s record on the global sporting stage has remained an enduring paradox. The world’s most populous country has millions of young athletes, immense physical talent and a hunger for recognition, but the journey from promise to podium has often proved far

FIFA 2026 has shown that the World Cup has transformed into a contest between footballing philosophies. Football has always preferred the mythology of individuals. Every World Cup is remembered through its defining hero: Pelé in 1970, Diego Maradona in 1986, Zinedine Zidane in 1998, Lionel Messi in 2022. Yet behind every great champion lies the architecture that produces excellence. As Spain’s methodical 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final demonstrated, the modern World C

From Britain to Nepal, economic discontent is rewriting the rules of democratic politics. Although the United Kingdom and Nepal occupy opposite ends of the global economic spectrum, they offer a remarkably similar political lesson. One is a former imperial power, the world's fifth-largest economy, a G7 member and nuclear state with centuries-old democratic institutions. The other is a small, landlocked Himalayan nation still classified by the United Nations as a Least Devel

From Mao’s informants to Xi Jinping’s digital panopticon, China’s Communist Party has transformed surveillance into its most potent instrument of political survival. “We know how much the internet has changed America, and we are already an open society. Think how much it will change China. There’s no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet. Well, good luck. That’s sort of like trying to nail Jello to the wall.” So spoke President Bill Clinton back in 2

From Lagaan to Dhurandhar, eight movies that dismantled old certainties and transformed Indian cinema over the past quarter-century. On June 15, 1896, less than seven months after the Lumière brothers astonished audiences in Paris, moving pictures arrived in Bombay. Few could have imagined that the novelty shown at Watson’s Hotel would evolve into the world's most prolific film industry with Mumbai at its center. For much of the twentieth century, Indian cinema developed acco

From Alpine resorts to India’s sacred hilltops, gravity-defying funicular railways are quietly transforming the way people climb mountains. For centuries, climbing a sacred hill has been regarded as part of the pilgrimage itself. Devotees have trudged up thousands of stone steps to temples perched on mountain tops, accepting the physical exertion as an expression of faith. But modern India is now discovering that devotion need not always be accompanied by exhaustion. Across M

The fight over Donald Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee reveals deeper tensions over immigration and presidential power AI generated image While the urge to chase the American dream has remained unchanged for most Indians from past few decades, the Trump card that helps fulfil the dream too has remained unchanged. That’s the H1B Visa. However, what has drastically changed is America’s outlook towards the same talent that they once craved for when the concept of the Silicon Valley was

From the Cockroach Janata Party to the JP Movement, the history of Indian political mobilisation suggests that public attention alone is rarely enough to secure lasting power. India’s digital revolution has transformed the pace of political mobilisation. Today, social media can create movements overnight, elevate obscure figures into national conversations and generate millions of followers within weeks. Yet the ability to convert online attention into real-world political po

While the Mumbai–Pune Missing Link project will cut travel time, its real story lies in the tunnels and engineering ingenuity that overcame one of India’s most challenging landscapes For most motorists, the Mumbai–Pune Expressway is one of modern India’s great infrastructure success stories. Since opening in 2002, it has dramatically reduced travel time between Maharashtra’s political and financial capitals while becoming a critical artery for industry, logistics and commerce

As conflict in West Asia continues unabated, India finds itself confronting the rising cost of economic patriotism AI generated image On 10 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood before a crowd in Hyderabad and asked Indians to change how they live. Avoid foreign travel for at least a year. Work from home where possible. Stop buying gold. He called it economic patriotism. A war involving the United States and Iran had disrupted oil supply routes, driven up the price of every

From Raja Bhoj’s famed seat of learning to a modern legal flashpoint, the Bhojshala dispute reflects India’s enduring struggle over its heritage and cultural identity. AI generated image The Madhya Pradesh High Court’s recent ruling declaring the Bhojshala to be a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati has brought the millennium-old heritage site back in focus. Located in Dhar, often described as the cultural capital of the ancient and medieval province of Malwa, the Bhojsha

At Kuala Lumpur’s Rain Water Festival, music, tourism and urban order blend into a portrait of a modernising nation. After landing at Kuala Lumpur airport, the very first thing that catches your eye is its grandeur, neatness, and discipline. Despite the flow of people, there was no chaos. There was ease and spaciousness. Most importantly, there was no sign of the rush to overtake or get ahead of one another. The purpose of visiting Malaysia was to cover a unique and extraordi

China’s environmental awakening has brought cleaner skies and greener industries, but the costs of decades of ecological devastation remain immense. Mao Zedong was not a farmer. Though born into a peasant family, he had little farming experience. It was political struggle that interested him. This struggle would come to define his whole life; struggle against everything he thought was holding China back from becoming the Marxist utopia it was destined to be. In 1917, as a you

As daughters and sisters stake their claims, succession in Indian political families is getting increasingly contested. Dynastic politics has long been a defining feature of Indian democracy. Since independence, parties have often witnessed leadership transitions along familial lines, most notably the Indian National Congress. Over time, this tendency deepened, and nepotism became a recurring critique of the system. In recent years, however, dynastic politics has evolved into