The Morarji Desai PMO was divested of the IB, the R&AW, and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. But the civil servants still looked up to V Shankar for guidance and advice.
PN Haksar emerged as Indira Gandhi's ideological beacon and moral compass, playing a pivotal role in ‘Garibi Hatao’ and transformed her image from a 'goongi gudiya' to an 'Iron Lady'.
As the BJP heads for a likely third successive term in power, it's fascinating to debate how true it looks to the original proposition: a party with a difference.
You could argue that some of the things Narendra Modi does or talks about are not meant to win the approval of elders at RSS. He is doing them with an eye on his own constituency.
In ‘Western Media Narratives on India’, Umesh Upadhyay writes about how former colonisers maintain their sway using media. He focuses on how the narrative was spinned in India from 1947 to now.
Modi's reference to the 'committed judiciary' takes us back to the 1970s, when Indira Gandhi’s government twice superseded senior judges while appointing the Chief Justice of India.
In an incisive analysis of the 1971 Lok Sabha election, American political scientist Myron Weiner wrote that this was the first election fought on national issues.
Indira Gandhi targeting RSS during Emergency & legitimising it, Rajiv giving up mandate in 1989, and Vajpayee, Advani advancing general elections – these errors changed the course of India’s politics.
The BJP is learnt to have asked state units to not only publicise Modi government’s achievements but also highlight the ‘misdeeds’ of Congress govts since 1947.
The graduation is meant to bolster the legacy and legitimacy of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, even as the real-world preparedness lagged behind the glossy narrative.
Indonesia delegation led by Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin visited BrahMos facility & met with top officials & undertook a detailed briefing on the missile system.
It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.
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