On the morning of 22 April 2025, something inside me broke. In a quiet valley near Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir—a place known for its beauty and serenity—five armed militants opened fire on non-Muslim male tourists. Twenty-six men, on pilgrimage and vacation, were brutally gunned down in front of their families—wives, children, parents—who could do nothing…
India, a democracy of 1.4 billion people, celebrates its Republic Day, one of three major national days, on 26 January every year. While Indians celebrate Independence Day as the day of gaining freedom from British Colonialism, Republic Day marks the adoption of the Indian Constitution as a free nation. This year is the 75th anniversary…
India – one of the cradles of human civilization, an economic powerhouse with the fifth-biggest GDP among all countries, the largest and most diverse democracy in the world. Yet recently, the COVID-centred coverage of international media has reduced this enormously complex nation into an endless series of calamitous scenes of death and suffering wrought by…
Yesterday, India saw record levels of Covid-19 infections for the fifth day in a row, reporting over 300 thousand new cases and almost 3 thousand deaths in a single 24-hour period. Cases began to climb in February from a low point of under 10 thousand cases, and have since skyrocketed at an almost exponential rate,…
The overall context regarding the SDGs The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated 169 targets were adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015. Though not legally binding, the SDGs have become de facto international obligations with the potential to reorient the domestic priorities of countries during the subsequent fifteen years. Countries are…
On the 20th January 2021 Kamala Devi Harris was inaugurated as the Vice President of the United States of America. ‘Kamala’ is a Sanskrit word meaning Lotus, a plant that has special importance in Indian culture. Even with its roots in the dirtiest of waters, it produces one of the most beautiful flowers in the…
Overview Since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 the world has been moved and harrowed in ways no one ever imagined. We are experiencing lockdown impacts of a magnitude that will not only cause short-term impediments but long-term as well. The burden on the economy runs deeply through major issues like hunger, malnutrition…
Shortly after 18:30 local time on Monday, 27 July 2015, India lost its favourite scientist-president. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, born into a fisherman’s family in the southern Indian town of Rameswaram, one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage…
On his first official trip to Europe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited France and Germany from 10 to 14 April. His charm offensive had a central economic rationale, promoting India as an attractive investment and technology transfer destination through his “Make in India” campaign. Interesting to note that Mr. Modi’s European purchases, especially of the Rafele jet fighters, means that developing and poor India is supporting developed France with an injection of hard-earned cash
