MS Shanker A Spinner’s Straight Talk: Venkatapathy Raju on HCA’s Decline and the Way Forward In my continuing series on the downfall—and the much-needed revival—of Hyderabad cricket, I’ve spoken to several former players and insiders. Each has offered a distinct insight into the rot that has gripped the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). But none have…
The myth of Pakistan’s military parity with India is crumbling spectacularly, and in full global view. In what can only be described as one of the most decisive displays of military dominance in the subcontinent’s history, India has not only retaliated against cross-border terror attacks but has taken the fight deep into enemy territory. Pakistan,…
When Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy declared that the state was bankrupt, he wasn’t joking. In fact, he seemed to revel in the rare political act of public self-pity—more fit for a stand-up routine than a Chief Minister’s address. On the eve of a potential strike by TSRTC unions, Revanth took the stage not…
By striking deep inside Pakistan under Operation Sindhoor, India has once again demonstrated that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, bold decisions are not just possible—they are inevitable. The targeted assaults on terror camps belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), operating with impunity under the patronage of Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar, caught the…
When the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convenes an emergency meeting and its outcome is not vague diplomatic jargon but pointed questions—like whether Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the Pahalgam terror attack, you know something has shifted. At long last, the UNSC appears to have called Pakistan’s bluff. The closed-door 90-minute session, held at Pakistan’s behest, ended…
At a time when India is preparing a decisive response to Pakistan after the ISI-sponsored Pahalgam terror attack, the Centre must not ignore an equally dangerous threat festering within its borders. West Bengal, under Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), has become a hotspot of lawlessness, minority appeasement, and administrative collapse. Also, demographic changes are taking…
Seventy-eight years of Independence, and here we are: still begging, bargaining, and brawling over caste-based reservations. You’d think after nearly eight decades, the nation would have moved from “upliftment” to empowerment. But no—the Congress, that grand old party of grander old ideas, is now flirting with the idea of 42% reservation for Backward Communities alone….
Over the past week or so, I’ve noticed some of my well-placed friends, many of whom I deeply respect and who stood by me in trying times — squirming over my columns. They find my editorials “too harsh,” my views “too direct,” and my refusal to conform “too dangerous.” I’m not here to fault them….
India is done bleeding. The era of candlelight vigils and empty condemnations is over. With 26 innocent Indians—Hindus, Muslims, and Christians—slaughtered in cold blood in a terror attack that dared to ask victims their religion before pulling the trigger, the message from Pakistan’s terror machine is chilling and clear. But this time, so is India’s…
For decades, the Congress party and its allies have treated the idea of a national caste census with contempt or cowardly silence. From Nehru to Indira to Rajiv Gandhi, successive Congress governments made sure the Indian state remained blind to the actual caste and religious composition of its citizens. Now, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi…
