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Thursday, March 5, 2026
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Opinion

Indians laughing at their countrymen in Dubai are a disgrace. We have much to learn

While some Indians were spewing hatred, the government of Dubai got on with the job. The city coped with the crisis magnificently because of the quality of its leadership.

The story of India’s forgotten Afghans — horse-traders, mercenaries, kings

The relationship between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent was built over five centuries by people who were entrepreneurial, mobile, literate, and commercially connected.

Empires inflicted a century of regime change on Iran. Each wanted a compliant, powerless nation

The lessons of earlier American regime-change efforts should be obvious. The dismantling of Iran’s regime could lead to the breakdown of state authority and the rise of warlords.

Maharashtra’s Holi is different. It’s not colourful

Festival names are an example of Hindi hegemony. For a generation that grew up watching Bollywood, Dhanatrayodashi became Dhanteras, and Marathi Bhaubeej became Bhaidooj.

Who gets to sound intelligent in English? A rural Bengali woman is forcing India to answer

Pujarini Pradhan, who hails from Bengal’s East Midnapore, discusses caste, feminism, Stanley Kubrick, Munshi Premchand and Khaled Hosseini in her Instagram Reels.

Stop celebrating Dubai’s bombing. Even if you don’t like the city

The Dubai that some are wishing bombs on is a city of migrants — mostly South Asians, who are living from paycheck to paycheck.

Porn ban by X will go the same way that gutkas, alcohol and fire cracker bans have

A ban without enforcement is symbolism. A ban without social change is theatre. And slowly, citizens begin to treat every new prohibition not as law, but as background noise.

Why is our Holi playlist still stuck with Balam Pichkari? It’s 13 years already

The last decade has been an exercise in exhausting YouTube, searching for that one crackling Holi banger.

HBO ‘Industry’ gives us women in finance who raise hell

American Psycho gave us Patrick Bateman. In HBO's Industry, Yasmin Kara-Hanani, played by Marisa Abela, channels convicted sex offender and Jeffrey Epstein's former partner Ghislaine Maxwell.

Regime change is a pipe dream. A stress test on Iran is what we’ve got so far

In 2017, Tehran unveiled a “Doomsday Clock” counting down to Israel’s supposed disappearance by 2040. Today, however, Iran stands cornered.

On Camera

Nitish’s exit is good for Bihar. It’s the beginning of JD(U)’s end and BJP’s supremacy

The JD(U) may still have 12 members in the Lok Sabha and 85 in the state Assembly, but without Nitish Kumar as its face, the party is confronted with a big leadership vacuum.

Six charts that explain China’s weakening economy as it posts lowest growth target in decades

China’s government lowered its official 2026 growth target to 4.5%-5% — its least ambitious goal since 1991.

War reaches India’s backyard as Iranian warship sunk by US submarine off Sri Lanka coast. 100 dead

Sinking of the ship has raised eyebrows in the Indian defence and security establishment. Lankan navy has recovered several bodies, believed to be of crew members.

Pakistan is fighting a two-front war. I saw it coming 15 yrs ago

The Pakistani political leadership is weak and devoid of any intellect. Its diplomacy is entirely India-China-US focused and suffers from a presumptive view of Afghanistan as a vassal.