The Congress may be celebrating a bypoll victory in Kerala’s Palakkad constituency, but beneath the surface, the party is in deep and irreparable turmoil. One electoral win does not hide the festering crisis within, especially when one of the party’s most articulate, internationally admired, and electorally viable leaders—Shashi Tharoor—is showing all signs of drifting away….
In what increasingly resembles a tragicomic farce, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have stumbled into yet another international embarrassment—this time over a so-called ceasefire between Israel and Iran that exists only in his imagination. Trump’s announcement that both Israel and Iran had approached him to broker peace was met with incredulous silence from one…
Twelve days, a few hundred Iranian missile silos reduced to dust, and a Middle Eastern ceasefire—welcome to modern peacekeeping, Trump style. Forget Geneva conventions and UN diplomacy. Who needs shuttle talks and backchannel negotiations when you have B-52s and “fire and fury”? Donald J. Trump, the man who once threatened North Korea with “total destruction,”…
So now the world is worried. Condemnations are pouring in after the United States joined Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites. Suddenly, the chorus for “restraint” and “diplomatic solutions” grows louder across Western capitals. But where was this outcry when Iran was rapidly enriching uranium, aiding terror groups, and issuing death threats against Israel and…
In a stunning escalation that could redefine the geopolitical balance in the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump has officially confirmed that American forces have joined Israel in launching coordinated strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. In a televised address, Trump praised the precision and success of the operation, hailing U.S. military leadership for executing what…
Two southern Chief Ministers—Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu’s M.K. Stalin—have crossed a constitutional red line by issuing public statements on India’s foreign policy. In a federal democracy like India, foreign affairs are exclusively a matter for the Union Government. While state leaders may privately express disagreement, going public with condemnations—especially on sensitive international matters—is…
MS Shanker In my ongoing mission to uncover the reasons behind the decline of cricket in Telangana, particularly under the mismanagement of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), it is becoming disturbingly clear that the rot has gone from bad to worse. At the heart of this decay lies the infiltration of political opportunists into positions…
Vanka Pratap: A Voice from the Inside MS Shanker In the continuing series on resurrecting Hyderabad cricket, we turn the spotlight this week on former Ranji all-rounder and one of the more vocal figures in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) ecosystem—Vanka Pratap. A gritty cricketer-turned-administrator, Pratap is no stranger to the political undercurrents of Hyderabad…
By all available measures, former President Donald Trump’s troubles—both on the home front and across volatile global theatres—are not just growing, they’re compounding at a pace that even his loyalist base can no longer ignore. The latest U.S. decision to evacuate non-essential diplomats and military families from multiple locations in the Middle East is a…
Thirteen lives lost. A 12-year-old girl was crushed to death in the chaos. Dozens more injured. All because the Congress-led Karnataka government chose optics over order, political spectacle over public safety. And now, as the Chief Minister and his deputy shamelessly distance themselves from responsibility, the question must be asked: how many more must die…
