Blogs

Mumbai will know today who’ll run the city. What they already knew – and this will be true irrespective of results – is that this election was more than a contest between the BJP-led Mahayuti and the UBT Sena-MNS-led Shiv Shakti. Instead, it represented a fundamental shift in the Marathi political psyche. The battle lines…

Technology can tell us about the passing of loved ones, but why wait for that? Use it to say hello  Where there is a market, supply will follow. That an app monikered ‘Are You Dead?’ exists, that moreover it’s spreading in popularity from China to US, tells us something about how society is changing better…

Bengali is one of the sweetest of languages – and there’s a reason for that  I’ve often been struck by how sweet the Bengali language sounds, particularly when it sings its inimitable Rabindra Sangeet. It’s a language seemingly full of rounded vowels which roll off the tongue, unimpeded by the angularity of consonants. But linguistics apart,…

India needs more transparency. For that, CIC and other information commissions must cooperate Ask not why Indian Railways charges you what it does. That’s the message Central Information Commission – a body set up to ensure “smoother and greater access to information” – has sent across to the public through a recent order. The applicant…

I will be visiting India from January 15 to 17. This will be my first visit in roughly six years since 2019, when I took part in the first Japan–India 2+2 Meeting in New Delhi as Japan’s minister for foreign affairs. I am looking forward to once again experiencing the vibrant energy of today’s India….

The Indian Army today presents a striking paradox. At the tactical edge, it is moving faster than at any point since the post-Kargil reforms—experimenting, restructuring, and embracing drones, data and decentralised lethality.  A major force restructuring, a new rocket brigade and a northern truce— led by Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, is good on restructuring,…

Trade blocs used to be built on ports, pipelines, and tariff schedules. In January 2026, the real borders are quieter: royalty rates, injunction risk, export classifications, cloud access rules, procurement eligibility, and the contractual right to iterate. IPR has stopped being the legal “afterword” to innovation and become the front-page instrument of economic security. Not…

किया करते हो तुम दिन-रात क्यों , किस बात की चिंता? तेरे स्वामी को रहती है तेरे हर बात की चिंता। These simple yet profoundly consoling lines of a popular bhajan  encapsulate a philosophy that saints, mystics, and seekers across ages have tried to explain in countless ways : the philosophy of Surrender. At its…

Phones to cars, software is the key product differentiator now. India should focus on taking the lead in this space Today, software is more important than ever. It runs our phones, cars, and even home devices. Years ago, someone said “software is eating the world,” and now that feels very true. We use apps for…

If India can host the world with perfection once, why does it fail so consistently when it comes to sport? The Indian Open Badminton — one of the premier events on the global badminton calendar — is shaming India for the second year in a row. Last year, the side stadium adjacent to the main…