Democracy by Confusion: How Maharashtra’s New Ward System Turned Voting into an Ordeal
When electoral innovation ignores the voter, participation becomes punishment. An Election Long Delayed, Then Poorly Delivered After more than three years of administrator rule in Maharashtra’s major municipal corporations, the 2026 civic elections were expected to restore grassroots democracy. The Supreme Court’s intervention in late 2025 finally cleared the logjam caused by prolonged disputes over […]
Abrupt Closure Of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute Of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME)
Celebrating Educational Sabotage: The Communal Hijacking of Vaishno Devi Medical College In a bizarre spectacle that underscores the perilous intersection of politics and education in contemporary India, members of the Shri Vaishno Devi Sangarsh Samiti in Jammu distributed sweets and blared triumphant music to hail the cancellation of the MBBS course at the Shri Mata […]
Somnath & The Uses Of History: What The Prime Minister’s Narrative Leaves Out
Mumbai,9Jan26: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently invoked the Somnath temple as a symbol of India’s civilisational endurance, marking a millennium since Mahmud of Ghazni’s raid, he was not merely recalling a historical event. He was articulating a particular way of remembering the past — one that treats Somnath as an emblem of uninterrupted Hindu […]
The Illusion of Autonomy :Why the VBSA Bill Risks Shackling Higher Education
Mumbai,9Jan26:My critique of Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan : The Illusion of Autonomy: Why the VBSA Bill Risks Shackling Higher Education .The recently introduced Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, has been presented by its proponents as a landmark move to “free” Indian universities. Writing in th Indian Express, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh […]
Trump Administration Tells Venezuela to Expel China, Russia, Iran & Cuba
Trump Administration Tells Venezuela to Expel China, Russia, Iran & Cuba Before Oil Production Can Expand NEW DELHI, The United States, under President Donald Trump, has issued an unprecedented demand to Venezuela’s new interim government: dismantle economic and strategic ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba, and agree to an exclusive oil partnership with the U.S. […]
The Illusion of Autonomy: Why the VBSA Bill Risks Shackling Higher Education
The recently introduced Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, has been presented by its proponents as a landmark move to “free” Indian universities. Writing in th Indian Express, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh argues that the Bill will usher in an era of “minimal structural encumbrance” and “maximum governance.” However, a closer […]
The Birth of the Indian National Congress and the Making of India’s Freedom Movement
On this day, December 28, 2025, we look back exactly fourteen decades to a crisp winter morning in Bombay. The setting was the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College and Boarding House at Gwalia Tank. There, 72 individuals—lawyers, journalists, and scholars—gathered to birth an organization that would eventually dismantle the most formidable empire in human history.As noted […]
The Architect of Quiet Transformation
vo aasmaan tha magar sar jhuka ke chalta tha”! “He was the skyBut he walked with his head bowed down”! The Architect of Quiet Transformation:A Tribute to Dr. Manmohan Singh One year ago, on December 26, India lost more than a former Prime Minister; it lost the personification of intellectual integrity and dignified statesmanship. Dr. […]
A Modernist Titan of Urdu Letters: Remembering Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (1935–2020), the towering Indian Urdu poet, author, critic, and theorist, reshaped Urdu literature by infusing it with modernism. On this fifth anniversary of his passing on December 25, his legacy endures as a bridge between tradition and innovation. Pioneering Criticism and Literary Revival Faruqi formulated fresh models of literary appreciation, blending Western […]
A Shared Devotion: Why Jesus and Mary Hold a Sacred Place in Islam
As the world marks the birth of Jesus this December, the festive lights and carols often mask a profound theological reality: the story of Christ is not exclusive to Christendom. For nearly two billion Muslims globally, Jesus (Isa) and his mother Mary (Maryam) are not peripheral figures; they are central to the Islamic faith, serving […]
