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Saturday, February 21, 2026
TopicFamines

Topic: Famines

Heard of famine wages? How British rulers’ thrift policies shaped Indian capitalism

The British govt’s management of famines saw mass deaths, underpaid work in relief camps and caste preferences.

Russia-Ukraine conflict shows famines aren’t far. War and hunger go hand-in-hand

Historically, famines have been triggered by extreme weather conditions due to climate change. All these factors, plus war and Covid-19, are at work today.

A bacteria made Indians political. A virus will now extract a political price from Modi

During the famines and plague under the British, an equaliser bacteria spelled the end of the empire. A virus is now dismantling national obedience to Modi.

Amartya Sen said no democracy, with a free press, has ever had major famines

In ‘How To Read Amartya Sen’, Lawrence Hamilton writes on the economist’s thrust on free press and public reasoning as the centre of a democracy.

On Camera

Youth Congress, your foolish protest helped the Modi govt climb out of the AI summit hole

In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

MoD, IAF agree on some exemptions to HAL for Tejas Mk1A, but no compromise on ‘must-have’ capabilities

IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.