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In any democracy, the most disturbing threat to freedom is not always censorship. Sometimes it is the language used to discredit those who disagree with power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose the solemn occasion of the 80th Independence Day celebration to warn the country about...

By Dilip Cherian India’s bureaucracy may be running short of one thing more important than babus: succession. The Centre’s decision to extend the tenures of Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan and Home Secretary Govind Mohan by another year may be defensible on grounds of continuity. But...

A colossal tragedy on a sea has given fillip to ultra-right politics in Italy, Germany and the UK. The three countries are now witnessing a frenetic battle among far-right parties to score over one another and stake their claims for being the “true” radical force...

Police used water cannons, lobbed tear gas shells, and lathi-charged job aspirants as they breached barricades multiple times on 10 August and attempted to reach the Jharkhand State Assembly, protesting recruitment exam irregularities. The agitation took this turn even after the government had cancelled on...

The defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, signed in Mecca on the principle that an attack on one would be treated as an attack on all, is more than a new security arrangement in West Asia. For India, it is a direct threat...

By Aakar Patel There was a remarkable exchange in the Delhi High Court this week. The government was asked why it was not considering shutting down the Jantar Mantar area as a venue for protests. “Why don’t you shut it down? According to me, these...

By Dilip Cherian How an Education Ministry worthy wins a new post will be a tale told later. But for now, the signs of a shakeup at Doordarshan are everywhere. A public broadcaster is often the first place where governments signal a shift in communication...

The Centre is courting yet another controversy by introducing a Bill in the Lok Sabha that seeks to fundamentally alter the structure and governance of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), a premier institute of higher studies. This is at a time when the government is...

Change rarely arrives announced. But when a popular movement stirs, transformation can sweep in like a tide. The recent by-election results in India show exactly that pattern. Voters in Bankipur, Bihar and Datia, Madhya Pradesh, delivered outcomes that could reshape the political map. Manjalpur in...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) selling about $7 billion in a single trading session to arrest the rupee’s slide is more than a routine intervention in the foreign exchange market. It is a reminder that no amount of political messaging can gloss over structural...