Columnist-M.S.Shanker

India’s Space Leap

When ISRO’s LVM3-M6 thundered into space carrying the United States’ BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite, it was tempting to see it as just another successful commercial launch. That would be a serious underestimation. What unfolded was not merely a rocket ascent but a strategic statement: India is no longer just offering affordable access to space—it is…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Modi’s Trade Resolve

If there was any expectation that India would lose its economic nerve amid the uncertainty emanating from Washington, Narendra Modi’s third term has quietly but firmly laid it to rest. The return of Donald Trump to the White House, with his familiar unpredictability and veiled threats of punitive tariffs—sometimes as high as 50 per cent—has…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Silence Rewarded

The AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam was never merely about helicopters. It was about how political power, foreign money, and compromised institutions intersected at the very top of India’s governance structure. Yet, more than a decade after the scandal first broke, the case today stands as a disturbing indictment—not just of political actors, but of the…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Dhaka at the Brink

Bangladesh today stands at a dangerous crossroads—where political vacuum, ideological radicalism, and external manipulation converge to threaten not just its internal cohesion but regional stability itself. The brutal lynching and burning alive of 30-year-old Hindu man Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh amid anti-India protests is not merely a law-and-order failure; it is a grim marker…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Kapil’s Blunt Truth

Kapil Dev Nikhanj has never been known to mince words. India’s first World Cup–winning captain built his legacy not just on performances, but on straight talk. So, when Kapil recently questioned the very idea of a “Head Coach” for Team India, suggesting that the role is closer to that of a manager, he wasn’t being…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Dhaka’s Provocation

What is unfolding in Bangladesh today is not a spontaneous democratic uprising but a carefully stage-managed implosion—one that has cynically weaponised misled youth, radical street power, and diplomatic intimidation. The reported plans by provocateurs to attack the Indian Embassy in Dhaka mark a dangerous new low, exposing how lawlessness and mob coercion have replaced constitutional…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Political Treachery

There is something profoundly disturbing when political leaders begin treating India’s armed forces as collateral damage in their war against the government. On Vijay Diwas — a day meant to honour sacrifice, courage, and national resolve — former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chouhan chose to perform a political low that should shame even a party…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Nitish: Time to Restrain

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is once again in the news—but regrettably, not for his governance credentials or administrative record. Instead, a recent public interaction has triggered an avoidable controversy after he was seen adjusting, or pulling down, a minority woman’s hijab while handing over an employment certificate under his government’s job guarantee promise. The…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Viksit Bharat First

The Union government’s decision to replace MGNREGA with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) – VB-G Ram G Bill, 2025, has triggered predictable political outrage. The loudest protest, unsurprisingly, is not about livelihoods, wages, or accountability—but about the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name. This reaction, while emotionally charged, avoids the real…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

C5: A Strategic Joke

Donald Trump’s foreign policy has never been accused of subtlety. But his so-called “Core 5” (C5) proposal—an alleged attempt to replace the G7 with a new power club comprising the US, China, Russia, India and Japan—takes strategic recklessness to an entirely new level. It is not a blueprint for a new world order; it is…

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