Forthright
Global politics has entered a new, volatile chapter where economic decisions have become the most powerful weapons of statecraft. Reports emerging after the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit suggest that India and China, two Asian giants with a long history of rivalry, are now prepared to join hands in imposing 100 percent tariffs on…
Politics, they say, is the art of persuasion. But for some leaders across the globe, persuasion is just another word for peddling lies with the confidence of a seasoned conman. At 78, Donald Trump has perfected this art in the United States. Meanwhile, in India, a 54-year-old adolescent who refuses to grow into statesmanship has…
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) opened its latest summit today with a subtle yet significant diplomatic shift. India and China—two Asian giants often locked in a bitter border standoff—appear to have agreed on a temporary truce of pragmatism. By setting aside their border dispute, they have signalled willingness to work more closely in other sectors…
It has become something of a passion for Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi: the moment RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat speaks, he must reply. If Bhagwat says the sky is blue, Owaisi will swear it is green. If Bhagwat sneezes, Owaisi catches a cough. The script rarely changes. This time, as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak…
Arvind Kejriwal is at it again. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder, once hailed as a crusader against corruption, has now been reduced to making irrelevant, attention-seeking statements that only expose his hypocrisy. Recently, he issued two “nationalist” demands: one, why the Modi government did not retaliate against the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs by slapping…
As leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) gather in Beijing on August 31, the mood across Eurasia will be one of consolidation. Once seen as a loose regional bloc, the SCO has matured into a serious geopolitical platform—China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Central Asian states, and now partners like Iran are redefining regional security and…
Former Planning Commission member and Congress loyalist Syeda Hamid has lit a firestorm with her astonishing defence of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Speaking in Guwahati, she declared, “What’s wrong if they are Bangladeshis? Bangladeshis are also humans. The world is so large. Bangladeshis can also be here. Not depriving anyone’s rights.” Such casual justification of…
As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) marks a century of existence this year, it finds itself at a decisive crossroads in shaping both ideological narrative and political power. From its humble beginnings in 1925 as a cultural organization devoted to the Hindu renaissance, the Sangh has grown into a formidable socio-political force, influencing policies, institutions,…
The just-concluded winter session of Parliament—among the stormiest in recent years—produced little legislative work but plenty of political theatre. At the heart of the Opposition’s protests was the charge that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had allegedly deleted lakhs of voters in Bihar, a move they termed “vote chori.” The ruling side countered that…
The Indian Parliament this week sent out a strong message: playtime is over. By passing a bill to ban the operating, facilitating, and advertising of online games played with money, the Lok Sabha has drawn a hard line against what many parents, educators, and policymakers have long feared—gaming addiction spiraling into a full-blown social crisis….
