There is nothing wrong with questioning the government. In a democracy, scrutiny is not only legitimate but necessary. But when political opposition turns into a reflexive rejection of every piece of good economic news, it ceases to be scrutiny and begins to undermine confidence in the very nation whose governance they aspire to control. The…
Why would Prime Minister Narendra Modi ask citizens to avoid buying gold unless it is genuinely necessary? At first glance, the appeal may appear unusual. Gold is deeply embedded in Bharat’s social and cultural fabric, and millions of households regard it as a safe store of wealth. So why caution people against buying more of…
Pakistan continues to crib, sulk and complain. Governments and generals may change, slogans may change, but one habit remains constant: blaming Bharat for Pakistan’s own failures and trying to convince the world that Pakistan remains a power to be reckoned with. The reality is far less flattering. Pakistan is economically fragile, politically unstable and increasingly…
For years, a section of the Western media seemed almost incapable of writing about Narendra Modi or his government without seasoning the story with predictable doses of cynicism, criticism and, at times, outright disdain. Bharat’s economic rise was questioned, its democratic credentials were repeatedly put under the microscope and virtually every policy decision of the…
Why has the ongoing US-Iran confrontation suddenly gone strangely quiet? The thunderous rhetoric has faded. The threats have softened. Washington is no longer shouting from the rooftops, while Iran’s spiritual and political leadership appears equally reluctant to keep the microphone switched on. What happened? The simple answer is that geopolitics is not cricket. There are…
When disaster strikes a neighbour, there are two kinds of countries: those that calculate the diplomatic advantage and those that simply ask, “How can we help?” Bharat has traditionally belonged to the second category—and its swift response to the catastrophic floods in Nepal is a reminder of what genuine neighbourhood solidarity should look like. The…
The Congress party appears to have discovered a new national obsession: demanding explanations for what the Indian armed forces may or may not have done during Operation Sindoor. Its latest target is former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, whose off-the-cuff observation about the possibility of a Bharatiya drone striking the Kiran Hills area…
There are some development stories that do not make the headlines, yet they tell us more about a nation’s transformation than a hundred political speeches. What is happening in the cold, barren and unforgiving terrain of Ladakh is one such story. It is a reminder that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the idea of…
The latest turbulence surrounding the US H-1B visa programme should force Bharat to confront an uncomfortable question: why are so many of our brightest young minds still convinced that their future must begin somewhere else? The answer cannot simply be a government advisory telling students to think twice before flying to America. Nor should New…
Chidambaram is no ordinary politician. As a former Union Minister and a legal luminary, he is fully aware that the idea of simultaneous elections is neither alien to Bharat’s Constitution nor an unprecedented experiment. The first four Lok Sabha elections—in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967—were held alongside State Assembly elections. The real question, therefore, is…
