Blogs

India has made major strides towards expanding financial inclusion through robust digital public infrastructure, rapid innovation in the payments ecosystem, rising digitization and smartphone penetration, and transformative government initiatives such as the Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile (JAM) trinity. Yet, despite these advances, India continues to face a substantial gap in insurance penetration, one that is not merely…

A noted Supreme Court advocate argues that Bhagwant Mann’s proposed culling operations may rest on a dangerous misreading of the recent apex court judgment that never authorised mass euthanasia of street dogs in violation of Constitution & existing animal protection laws Triggered by the SC judgment on stray dogs passed two days back, the CM…

Can a former chief minister simply wear an advocate’s gown? The answer matters, otherwise, tomorrow, retired actors may claim surgical privileges because they played doctors Indian politics has produced many transformations. Revolutionaries becomeadministrators, agitators become constitutionalists, and occasionally politicians rediscover forgotten professions at strategically dramatic moments. But Mamata Banerjee’s recent appearance before the Calcutta high…

On a recent flight, a co-passenger was a stowaway seeking illegal entry into Italy I’d never been on a flight on which one of my fellow passengers was a stowaway, a ticketless traveller. The flight was to Milan, and Bunny and I were on it. The airline has as its mascot a chubby Maharaja with…

A new political party called the Cockroach Janta Party sounds funny, but maybe it actually makes sense! Cockroaches have many “skills” that politicians might admire. They have long feelers to sense danger, quick legs to escape trouble, and they are super hard to get rid of. Even when people try really hard, cockroaches keep coming…

Storytelling is inseparable from human consciousness. Let AI not render them apart The ability to speak about fictions, as bestselling philosopher Yuval Noah Harari says, is the most unique feature of Sapiens language. Nations, gods, money, human rights, corporations…fiction has enabled us to imagine things, and to do so collectively, en masse. Human civilisation is…

International Day to End Obstetric Fistula shines a spotlight on one of the most devastating yet preventable childbirth injuries affecting women across the globe. While maternal healthcare has advanced dramatically in many countries, obstetric fistula continues to rob thousands of women of dignity, health, livelihoods, and social acceptance. For many, the term itself remains unfamiliar….

PM Modi’s five-nation tour from May 15–21, 2026, marks an important landmark in India’s contemporary diplomacy. At a time when the international system is witnessing prolonged conflicts, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, supply-chain disruptions, and economic uncertainty, the tour demonstrated India’s emergence as a confident, pragmatic, and forward-looking global power, shielding India’s interests while laying foundation for…

Technical education produces trained professionals that are responsible for technological advances and sustainable development. The relevance of technical education is evident from the fact that many Indian families aspire for their children to become engineers and technologists. The trend continues, even today, but the number of seats is not as scarce as it used to…

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s plan to revamp school management system is indeed laudable. One hopes it works well at the ground level also. Guidelines concerning School Management Committee (SMC) released on May 6 provide, most importantly, for involvement of local community and teaching staff to tackle various issues arising from time to time. There…