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Sunday, February 22, 2026
TopicLicence Raj

Topic: Licence Raj

Lessons for Trump from Licence Raj as US tariffs loom & Foxconn’s blow to India’s iPhone ambitions

Global media also reports on Dalai Lama’s succession plans, Sam Dalrymple’s book Shattered Lands, and captain Shubman Gill’s performance in India’s latest test series in England.

When Licence Raj went after Vicks Vaporub in India’s peak flu season

In 'Another Sort of Freedom', Gurcharan Das says that one must squarely blame Indira Gandhi for not changing course when Japan, Korea and Taiwan had already shown the way.

Markets, memoir, moksha — Gurcharan Das traces India Story from Licence Raj to liberal ’90s

The freewheeling conversation between Das and William Dalrymple moved from Partition, Manmohan Singh, Mahabharata, and Margaret Thatcher to AI seamlessly.

Modi govt wants to hurt China with laptop import curb, but it will end up hurting India

Unless India lines up a ‘Plan B’ before Modi govt can nix the model it has come to depend on, the unimpactful attempts to hurt China economically will continue.

India’s ‘big’ state is making a comeback with laptop import curb. It’s yesterday once more

The Indian experience so far is that when imports are banned or restricted in the expectation of domestic manufacturers filling in, it almost never — in fact, never — happens.

‘Consumer is king’ now. But it wouldn’t have been possible without 1991 reforms 

Exactly 30 years ago, the historic 1991 economic reforms freed up the private sector and removed many trade barriers, unleashing India’s growth potential.

60 years ago, a Right liberal Swatantra Party had challenged Nehru’s socialist Raj

It was a sign of Swatantra Party's political acumen that many of its policies would be adopted by Narasimha Rao 17 years after its demise in 1974.

If you knew the Licence Raj days, you wouldn’t complain about GST flip-flops

Constantly making changes to policies like GST shows that a government is responsive and open to course-correction, despite what critics say. 

Now, don’t lose the plot

The next big reform India needs is of its land laws.

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.