Aravalis

Competitive Populism vs Economic Development: When Forests are Monetised to Fund Revenue Expenditure

A democracy that is cutting down forests for votes risks mortgaging its ecological future for an electoral present. Welfare is essential; appeasement is corrosive. The difference lies in fiscal discipline, transparency and respect for citizens, who are not beneficiaries, but are owners of the republic. If we do not draw that line now, next year’s burden will demand another forest.

As Nepal Goes to the Polls, Deepfakes and AI Manipulation Undermine Democracy

The smartphone that freed a generation is now being used against it. The platforms that carried the protest are now carrying the smears. The digital spaces where young Nepalis found their political voice are today flooded with manipulated images, fake audio, and AI-generated lies targeting the very candidates their movement made possible. The weapon and the wound are the same object.

Nepal’s Gen Z Seeks Alternative Politics, But Fragmentation a Concern

Politicians, who were silent, complicit, or even instigative during last September’s tragedy, are trying to rebrand themselves on social media to be palatable to “Gen Z” - Nepal’s youth population that was instrumental in overthrowing the last government, leading to comparisons with Bangladesh’s ‘Monsoon Revolution’ of 2024 and Sri Lanka’s Aragayala of 2022. 

'Honour’ Still Tries to Silence Women With Community-Sanctioned Enforcement

What links these cases — Pakistan, Britain, India, the Netherlands — is not geography or faith, but backlash. ‘Honour’ is used as a pretext to kill not because women are obedient, but because they are not. It is activated when women seek education, choose partners, leave abusive homes, testify in public, or simply insist on being treated as full human beings.

 

More on Perspective

Is India at all serious about fighting pollution?

But how does one counter the Swiss-based air-quality monitoring group IQAir which reports that India was the third most polluted country in the world after Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2023 and Delhi was the “most polluted” capital in the world?

Can India emerge as an alternate supply chain to global industries?

Essentially the world is looking for alternate supply chains which began with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues even today with growing trade tensions between the two camps.

The CAA is yet another instrument in the divisive politics of India's ruling dispensation

The largest persecuted groups in recent times have been Tamils (largely Hindus) in Sri Lanka and Rohingyas (largely Muslims) in Myanmar. Why have they been left out from the list of the ones who will be given shelter citizenship here in India under the CAA?

India's looming water crisis: Need to raise public awareness on water conservation as a national priority

India has only 2 percent of the world’s freshwater supply but 17 percent of the world's population. The present predicament of people in Bengaluru, skipping work to stand in long queues for a bucket of water is a sobering reminder.

The Dalit community in Pakistan battles fear and discrimination

While Dalits in India face atrocity, abuse and exploitation, in Pakistan there is "discrimination and distancing in the social and economic domains," Khangarani said. 

India's basmati rice exports at risk over Red Sea attacks

India’s basmati exports are significantly affected as over one-third of production is shipped to West Asia, Europe, North Africa and North America via the Red Sea.

INDUS-X 2024 marks a new high in India-US defence industry cooperation

India-US defence cooperation has made fair headway leading to  INDUS-X which has initiated the information network and regulatory mechanisms to deepen defence technology collaboration that is poised to strengthen the bonds of US-India partnership, innovation and deterrence.

Promotion of faith-based knowledge is undermining scientific temper in India

The Indian Science Congress has for the last many years been accepting papers that have no scientific basis and are based on mythology. Pained by this all prominent scientists came together and issued a statement calling upon the government to stop the undermining of scientific methods and thinking

India's 8.4 per cent GDP growth: More than what meets the eye

The overall contribution of agriculture to GDP growth this year will be below 1 percent as per the latest estimates. This is worrying for various reasons, most importantly for what it means for the livelihoods and incomes of rural families.

Is Manipur lurching towards civil war again?

Manipur appears to be veering toward massive armed attacks against the tribals – both the Kuki-Zo and Naga, with the state administration remaining ambivalent.  This is a dangerous development - civil war in a state bordering Myanmar which itself is experiencing rising violence.  

Are India's government employees justified in going on strike?

While the government employees belong to organized class, there are an estimated 300 million people in India who belong to the unorganized class living on daily wages or are self-employed without economic and social security. 

Gandhi’s extraordinary idea of trusteeship of wealth at a time of vulgar ostentation

In a chapter titled “Choice before Capitalists”, Gandhi writes, “At present, there is no proportion between the wholly unnecessary pomp and extravagance of the moneyed class and the squalid surroundings and the grinding pauperism of the ryots in whose midst the former are living.”

South Asia's lack of integration: Is a union of minds at least possible? | South Asia Monitor

At present, there aren’t even any direct flights between Pakistan and Nepal, even as Kathmandu promotes itself as the meeting place of South Asia, noted journalist Kanak Mani Dixit.

India's defence modernisation goes apace; but are China, Pakistan getting the right messaging?

While the Army, Navy and Air Force are doing whatever is required to maintain their battle effectiveness, there is a dichotomy that prevails in how New Delhi is dealing with China and Pakistan.

Temple inaugurations are not decolonization; Indian culture is much broader

India did not get subdued by colonial culture in totality. What we are facing today is the promotion of religiosity and conservatism. Since politics is stalking the streets in the garb of religion, India's traditional syncretic culture is coming under attack from conservative and orthodox values.