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Monday, October 13, 2025
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National Interest

Minimum Trump, Maximum Modi—US is gutting bureaucracy, India is turbocharging it

Trump is the insurgent, who sees career civil servants as evil. For Modi, the career civil servant represents continuity, change and loyalty.

Trump has brought the N-word back in fashion

While we’ve all been focused on free trade, globalisation, Ukraine, and Gaza, Trump has already killed and buried the idea of non-proliferation for ever. Nukes are back as a deterrent.

One person’s Deep State is another’s Non-State actor. And Shallow State is where the real power lies

Deep State has now become the engine of conspiracy theories across democracies. America was the first, and India is catching up fast. Many European democracies are on the bandwagon too.

Kejriwal era of ideology-free politics ends. Contradiction of being in INDIA & targeting Congress base

Kejriwal and the AAP are devastated, but not finished. They still have a big state in Punjab, the municipal corporation in Delhi and 43 percent of the vote, even in defeat.

In defence of Murthy & Subrahmanyan: Success isn’t 9-to-5, and no one’s forcing you to work longer

It’s easy to beat up on the corporates. But a society that does not give its entrepreneurs, wealth & jobs creators love and respect, is doomed to be frozen in a low-middle-income status.

Middle class is addicted to Modi. Slowing growth, stalled reform & oppressive taxes don’t matter

Indian middle class seethes at growing phenomenon of political parties taking their tax money and spraying it among the more numerous poorer classes to buy their votes.

There’s a new ‘ism’ in town. Left, Right & Centre are losing to it

In the new world, the only idea that cuts across enough vote banks is populism. Its beauty, charm and success lies in its ease of use, in how little it demands from your head or heart.

An open letter to Prof Muhammad Yunus

Hasina took away your bank and you’ve served revenge. Here’s the test: now that you have public office, it implies public trust. Can you have it and do nothing with it? And if you would, what will it be?

Manmohan Singh has a legacy beyond 1991. Nuclear deal with US shows his strategic vision

Manmohan Singh’s success lay in making a decisive and historic shift towards the West. It was also audacious, in my book even more so than the 1991 reform, given how little support it had within Congress and UPA.

Bhagwat blows the whistle on mandir-masjid frenzy. Asks if a crow can sit atop a temple & become an eagle

When RSS sarsanghchalak is calling a halt to rash of ‘masjids built over mandirs’ claims, it could stem from realisation that it’ll be impossible for BJP govt to maintain order if issue goes out of control.

On Camera

No Mamata Banerjee, women’s safety isn’t a curfew issue

For Indian women, the smallest unit of control becomes the family; the largest, the State. Both speak the same language.

Niti Aayog recommends fully decriminalising 12 offences under new I-T Act to ‘foster more trust’

Recommendations appear in Niti Aayog’s Tax Policy Working Paper Series–II. It says there is a need to shift away from fear-based enforcement to trust-based governance.

India, UK sign £350 mn deal for Martlet. What are these Lightweight Multirole Missiles

In service with the British military since 2019, it is also known as the Martlet missile. Ukrainians have also deployed these missiles against Russian troops.

CJI, IPS, IAS & Homebound: A wake-up call 75 years in the making

Education, reservations, govt jobs are meant to bring equality and dignity. That we are a long way from that is evident in the shoe thrown at the CJI and the suicide of Haryana IPS officer. The film Homebound has a lesson too.