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.
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.
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.
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.
The verdict certainly is an impediment to the quest for self-respect, individuality and self-esteem of its citizens.India could have set an example with positive affirmation of this right as only Nepal and Taiwan have recognized same-sex unions in Asia.
Townships in our hilly regions are mushrooming in a grossly unplanned and unscientific manner, generating excessive pressure on the rock surface, which can manifest in catastrophes.
Pakistan’s CWC Act 2000, Pakistan Bio Safety Rules 2005 and Pakistan Export Control Act 2004 are the evidence of Pakistan's sincerity to the implementation of CWC and BWC. Because of the dedicated efforts of science and policy leaders in Pakistan, the country is on the road to becoming a regional role model in ensuring biosafety and capacity for biosecurity.
One of the most important things that MSS did was to get recognition for agriculture and agricultural scientists. He streamlined the recruitment process, got them government awards, and raised their status in the eyes of the government and the general public. This helped improve the morale of agricultural scientists.
At the root of this fall is the belief among the BJP that assertion means aggression; that hitting out is the best form of defence; that violence is in our grain and must be met with double the violence; that the 'other' must be put down; that the grammar of leadership is masculine in form, shape and action.
The use of the word India is not a colonial legacy in any way; the word was there much before the British East India Company came here for trade and plunder. This word also was used by anti-colonial movements. This is how the country was known in the world.
Canada gives a lot of importance to freedom of speech and action and some extremist elements see this freedom as license to orchestrate separatist movements in other countries from Canadian soil. This situation has caused serious problems for other countries like Sri Lanka and India.
India's prowess in ML and AI is a beacon that must shine on all corners of the nation. Closing the digital divide through digital literacy and improved technological access is more than a responsibility—it's an investment in India's growth narrative.
India's restive Northeast appears heading towards more turbulence with the situation in Manipur and the central government not moving beyond bland statements.
After much euphoria over green hydrogen and other alternative energy options, biofuel has gained worldwide attention with the launching of the GBA in New Delhi. While this is a good initiative, there are many hurdles in the way, and any thought that biofuel would become a total substitute for fossil fuel amounts to wishful thinking at this stage.
The entire burden of population control in India has been borne and continues to be borne by women. And this is especially the case with sterilisations.
Not much has been done by lawmakers to reduce black money in elections. ONOE is not likely to make a dent to that effect, though that is its ostensible purpose.
Why did it take five months of violence to appoint Col Sanjebam who lives in the heart of Imphal even while projecting the worst is over? Why was this done without Manipur Police asking for such an appointment? Why was he posted to the police department, not as a military advisor to the Chief Minister?
No one in ISRO said ‘I’ did it. The ISRO leadership gave full credit to leaders, past and present. They showcased the team spirit that is so crucial for the mission. In the words of the ISRO chief: “This is not our work alone. It is the work of a generation of ISRO leadership and ISRO scientists … This is incremental progress.”
The webs we weave in agricultural policy have entangled us from which unshackling has become very difficult. India needs massive reforms to make markets function better, much less intrusion of the State and more freedom for the farmer to participate in the market process and profit from it.
