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By:

Anil D. Salve

21 March 2026 at 8:11:09 pm

A Drought of Wisdom in an Ocean of Information

We live in an age where information is everywhere. With a single click, we can access news from across the world, thousands of opinions, countless videos and endless claims. Knowledge has never been so accessible. Yet, in this overwhelming flow of information, something increasingly scarce is discernment-the ability to distinguish what deserves our belief from what deserves our doubt. Information and knowledge are not the same. Reading, watching or hearing something does not automatically...

A Drought of Wisdom in an Ocean of Information

We live in an age where information is everywhere. With a single click, we can access news from across the world, thousands of opinions, countless videos and endless claims. Knowledge has never been so accessible. Yet, in this overwhelming flow of information, something increasingly scarce is discernment-the ability to distinguish what deserves our belief from what deserves our doubt. Information and knowledge are not the same. Reading, watching or hearing something does not automatically make it true. We need the ability to verify information, understand its context, recognise its purpose and only then form an opinion. In the digital age, this ability has become one of the most important forms of wisdom. Social media has transformed the way information travels. WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms have made communication faster, wider and more accessible. But the same speed that connects society can also overwhelm it. Information often reaches us before facts do. A headline is read before the full story. A short video is watched without knowing what happened before or after it. A photograph is circulated without its original context. A message arrives with the familiar words, “Forwarded as received,” and within minutes it may reach thousands of people. By the time the truth catches up, the rumour may already have done its work. The problem becomes even more serious when misinformation is deliberately created and circulated. Rumours may be planted not merely to mislead individuals but to divert public attention from an important issue, create suspicion, damage someone's reputation or push society towards a particular narrative. A distraction does not always need to be completely false. Sometimes a small piece of truth is mixed with exaggeration, selective facts or emotional language. The result can be more powerful than an outright lie because it appears believable. This is how narratives are manufactured. Social media platforms can become powerful tools in this process. A repeated claim begins to look familiar, and familiarity is often mistaken for truth. A provocative post attracts attention. Thousands of reactions create the impression that “everyone” believes it. One emotional video triggers another, comments intensify the mood, and before facts have an opportunity to speak, public sentiment may have already shifted. This is where mob psychology enters the picture. A society can move from calm to anger, suspicion to trust, or optimism to fear with surprising speed. People who would ordinarily think carefully may react differently when they see thousands of others expressing outrage, fear or hostility. The individual begins to follow the crowd, and the crowd begins to reinforce the individual. The danger is not limited to negative emotions. The same mechanism can also be used positively-to mobilise people for social causes, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, public awareness and community action. Technology itself is neither wise nor foolish. Its impact depends on how information is created, amplified and consumed. The greatest danger, therefore, is not that we have too much information. It is that we may lose the habit of thinking while consuming it. We are increasingly becoming consumers of information rather than creators of thought. Everyone has access to information today, but access does not necessarily mean understanding. The boundaries between a rumour and a report, an opinion and a fact, popularity and truth are becoming increasingly blurred. A post does not become true because thousands of people have liked it. A video does not become evidence merely because it has gone viral. An opinion does not become a fact because it is expressed confidently. An idea does not become correct simply because it confirms what we already believe. This last point deserves particular attention. We often accept information not because it is accurate, but because it is comfortable. We are naturally attracted to information that confirms our existing beliefs and suspicious of information that challenges them. In the digital world, this tendency can be amplified by algorithms that repeatedly expose us to content similar to what we have already watched, liked or shared. Gradually, we may find ourselves living inside an information bubble where we hear many voices-but mostly voices that agree with us. That is not diversity of information. It is an illusion of certainty. Discernment does not mean doubting everything. It means thinking before believing. It means asking simple but powerful questions: Who is saying this? What is the evidence? What is the context? What may be missing? Who benefits if I believe it? And have I heard the other side? These questions may take only a few seconds, but they can prevent hours, days or even years of misunderstanding. This responsibility is particularly important for the younger generation. Children today are growing up in an environment of unprecedented information exposure. They can encounter more information in a few hours than earlier generations might have encountered in weeks. Therefore, education cannot merely teach students how to collect, remember and reproduce information. It must teach them how to question, verify, analyse and interpret it. A student who can write the correct answer in an examination may be academically successful. But a student who knows how to ask the right question is better prepared for life. The classroom of the future must therefore produce not merely informed students, but thinking citizens. They must learn that forwarding a message is also a form of responsibility. Sharing a post is not an innocent act when it can affect someone's reputation, create public fear or influence social behaviour. The challenge becomes even greater in the age of Artificial Intelligence. AI can generate information, images, audio and video with extraordinary speed and sophistication. The distinction between what is real and what merely appears real may become increasingly difficult. In such a world, human judgment becomes more valuable, not less. Technology can produce an answer in seconds. It cannot automatically tell us whether that answer deserves our trust. Some answers require experience. Some require context. Many require the ability to think independently. We have more information, more technology and more connectivity than any previous generation. Yet our real challenge is to preserve something technology cannot manufacture for us: the capacity to think for ourselves. The ocean of information will only become larger. The question will no longer be, “How much information do we have?” The more important questions will be: What should we accept? What should we question? What should we verify? And what should we reject? No technology can completely answer these questions for us. No number of likes can substitute for evidence. No viral trend can replace judgment. No majority can turn misinformation into truth. That responsibility belongs to human beings. Information can tell us what happened. Discernment helps us understand what it means, why it happened, what may be missing from the story and how we should respond. Perhaps, therefore, the greatest educational challenge of our time is not to teach people how to find more information. They already know how to do that. The greater challenge is to teach them how to pause-to pause before believing, to pause before reacting, to pause before forwarding and to pause before joining the crowd. Because sometimes the most intelligent response to information is not an immediate reaction, but a moment of reflection. The ocean is already around us. It is growing deeper every day. What we need now is not more information to swim through it-but the wisdom to know which direction to take. (The writer is the Principal of Podar International School, Ausa, Latur. Views personal.)

The AKKA Budget

Writer: Amey Chitale
Amey Chitale
Feb 1
3 min read

Nirmala Sitharaman opts for steadiness, backing manufacturing and infrastructure over headline-grabbing reform

Mumbai: The Union Budget, often tracked for bold announcements, strikes a steadier tone this year. Amid global uncertainty, it avoids dramatic policy shifts, favouring a measured path. Manufacturing and MSMEs remain at the core, with tourism, healthcare, and IT services positioned as growth drivers. True to its deregulation tradition, the government has opted for caution, carefully balancing fiscal priorities. Alongside industry, renewed emphasis on cultural heritage and medical tourism rounds out a balanced growth agenda.


As front loaded strategy Capex is expected to close at Rs. 10.95 trillion in current year and increases by 11 percent to Rs. 12.21 trillion next year. Railways, roadways, and defence together account for nearly two-thirds of the allocation. Grants-in-aid for capital asset creation have jumped from Rs. 3.08 trillion to Rs.4.92 trillion, largely benefiting states and reinforcing cooperative federalism. This underscores the strategy of driving productivity through renewed infrastructure.


Focus on MSMEs continues with launch a Rs. 10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, while the Self-Reliant India Fund will receive an additional Rs. 2,000 crore. Over Rs. 7 trillion will be made available through TREDS to ease liquidity stress. The government will enable professional institutes to create short-term courses for training ‘Corporate Mitras’ in Tier-II and Tier-III towns to support MSMEs with affordable compliance solutions.


On manufacturing front, the Rs. 10,000 crore Biopharma SHAKTI initiative will position India as a hub for biologics and biosimilars over next five years. Semiconductor Mission 2.0 expands into equipment, materials, and full-stack IP with industry-led R&D and training centres, while the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme has grown to Rs. 40,000 crore after surpassing targets.


Rare Earth Corridors and three new Chemical Parks will cut import dependence, complemented by Hi-Tech Tool Rooms, advanced construction equipment schemes, and a Rs.10,000 crore container manufacturing programme to strengthen logistics. Customs duty exemptions remain a lever, continuing for rare earth processing, battery manufacturing, and energy storage systems, with nuclear power project emptions extended till 2035 to reinforce clean energy growth.


Rural Prosperity

Targeting rural prosperity, the centre will develop 500 reservoirs and Amrit Sarovars to boost fisheries and promote animal husbandry for quality jobs. Coconut Promotion Scheme will benefit 30 million people, alongside cashew and cocoa programmes aiming for self-reliance by 2030. Bharat-VISTAAR, a multilingual AI advisory, will support smarter farming, while SHE-Marts will help rural women shift from credit-based livelihoods to business ownership.


Considering healthcare as a core of growth measures have taken to train and add 1 lakh Allied Health Professionals, train 1.5 lakh caregivers, and invest in Ayurveda, mental health, and medical tourism. Five Regional Medical Hubs will integrate healthcare, education, research, AYUSH centres, and tourism to drive jobs and value-based care. Traditional medicine will be strengthened through three new Ayurveda institutes, upgraded labs, and an expanded WHO Centre in Jamnagar to boost certification, research, and exports.


A High-Level standing Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat will review the banking sector. Public sector NBFCs like PFC and REC will be restructured to improve efficiency. The hike in STT on futures and options has unsettled equity markets, but it comes against SEBI’s finding that 97 percent of traders lose money in F&O. The move signals the government’s intent to caution retail investors against excessive speculation in this segment.


The textile industry, hit by US tariffs, gets a major boost through support for natural and new-age fibres, cluster modernisation, and integrated backing for handloom and handicrafts. The Tex-Eco Initiative drives sustainability, while Samarth 2.0 enhances skilling through industry-academia partnerships. Mega Textile Parks will advance technical textiles, and the Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj programme will strengthen khadi, handloom, and rural crafts, linking them to global markets and empowering artisans and rural youth.


Logistical connectivity is boosted with declaration of new east west Dedicated Freight Corridors, and 20 National Waterways to be operationalised over five years. Regional Centres of Excellence will train youth along these routes, while ship repair hubs in Varanasi and Patna will support maritime infrastructure.


Nirmala Sitharaman is fondly known as ‘Akka’ (elder sister) in her inner circles. While presenting her record ninth consecutive budget she has ensured that the acronym ‘Akka’ stood true. Here is the ‘Akka’ stands for her trust on the key areas – Ayush, Kartaya (duty), Kisan (farmer) and Avsar (opportunities).   


Record for Nirmala

Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday made history as she presented a record ninth consecutive Budget. This took her closer to the record of 10 budgets that were presented by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai over different time periods. Desai presented six budgets during his tenure as finance minister from 1959 to 1964, and four budgets between 1967 and 1969. Former finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee had presented nine and eight budgets, respectively, under different prime ministers. Sitharaman, however, will continue to hold the record of presenting the maximum number of budgets on the trot -- nine straight budgets under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

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