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Saturday, April 4, 2026
TopicFamines

Topic: Famines

Long before LPG queues, here’s how Indian kingdoms dealt with hoarding and famine

From Kautilya’s Arthashastra to Mughal policies and British non-intervention, India’s response to supply shocks has long been defined by the role of the state.

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

This is how Strait of Hormuz shock is forcing a global trade reset

The current Iran war has laid bare a fundamental reality: 20 per cent of global energy trade cannot afford to rely on a single artery, no matter how resilient and cost-effective.

SEBI proposes return of open market share buybacks to support stocks

Regulator seeks feedback on allowing firms to repurchase shares via exchanges after tax changes, as markets reel from war-led selloff and foreign outflows.

South Korea’s Cheongung-II missile system makes its mark in West Asia war. Here’s why

UAE has been using this defence system, which is similar to America's Patriots, against Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Gulf war exposed India’s fragilities. It’s time for navel-gazing, in the national interest

It’s easy to understand why the government can’t speak the hard truth. When this war ends, as all wars do, India’s interests will lie with both the winner and the loser.