Don’t Kid Yourselves

Why Indians won’t have more babies just because Bhagwat & other notables want them to  At various points over the past decade, headline makers have urged Hindus to have ten, eight, five, and four, children per couple. RSS chief’s recent exhortation to all Indians – not just Hindus – to have three kids, is the…

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The new pickpocket is invisible and always polite

For centuries, theft had a physical grammar. It depended on proximity, force, stealth, or distraction. A stolen purse, a cut chain, a vanished wallet; crime announced itself through absence and shock. The victim knew something had been taken, and usually knew when. In the digital age, that grammar has changed. The modern pickpocket does not…

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Budget 2026-27 prioritises manufacturing and tourism for quick gains, sidelines social issues

Budget 2026-27 trails the growth path like the earlier ones presented by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. However, in view of the volatile international environment due to geopolitical tensions and tariff wars, the strategy is to first pluck the lowest hanging fruits. Hence, the sectors focused are those where the gestation period and quantum investments…

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From paper files to predictive AI: India’s disaster finance reset

India’s 16th Finance Commission and Budget 2026 signal a decisive shift in how the country funds disaster management—moving away from post-crisis relief towards data-driven prevention, AI-enabled risk intelligence, and climate-resilient development. For decades, disaster management in India followed a familiar script: calamity strikes, relief is mobilised, compensation is disbursed, and attention soon shifts elsewhere. That…

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The names of air?

We live in a world inhabited by people with names like Anaya, Alaya, Ahaana, Aarav, Vivaan, Revaan, Rian and Saanvi, to name just a few. There is a distinct phonetic universe that they reside in, and it is one that bears little relationship with the past. One thing that jumps out about how names have…

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Free Thinking

Deal with Trump signals fundamental shift in India’s trade philosophy from ‘won’t buy’ to ‘will sell’ America matters, for it’s where the most money is. This year, Americans will buy clothes worth $370bn – more than the value of all cars sold in India. As of 2023, India’s share of this ginormous apparel market was…

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Rahul Gandhi’s tactics of destructive mentality

Prince Rahul Gandhi has, as usual, begun leveling accusations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this time by citing a reference from an unpublished book by former Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Naravane. Pointing out the government’s mistakes is undoubtedly the duty of an opposition leader. However, under the pretext of performing this duty, Rahul…

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The February Cinderella love

In February, love flows like a bubbly river that sings and dances its way to be one with the infinite ocean. It keeps moving despite the rocks, fallen trees and the steeps to meet its ultimate destiny. It loses itself to be unfathomable. Every drop of it echoes the vastness of the great waters. Such…

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A quiet joy I did not see coming

When I first heard the news, my reaction was muted. Of course, I felt gratitude. Pride, even. But I did not yet grasp the scale of it. However, I did not understand, emotionally, what this moment would become. That specific understanding arrived later, and it arrived through people. In the days that followed the Padmi…

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