POLITICS
South India bucks the trend yet again; no North Indian identity politics south of the Vindhyas
Not for the first time, Tamil Nadu stays with one of the Dravidian parties while the Left Front gets a shot in the arm with return of Pinarayi Vijayan.
POLITICS
CAA factor: BJP’s Assam assembly win reveals illegal migration continues to be a big issue
While unlawful emigration may be seen as a politically contrived discourse in some parts of the country, it brings out the worst fears in the North East.
TRENDS
Vaccination deals between Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech and states: What we know so far
COVID-19 Second Wave Vaccine Drive: It has been a Covishield show so far as state governments make a beeline for developer SII’s office. Bharat Biotech needs to significantly ramp up capacity of Covaxin.
INDIA
3 top doctors weigh on the second wave of the virus, limited lockdowns and what next
Medical experts remain divided on when the Second Wave is going to peak and how long it could take to subside
TRENDS
Difficult to say when the second Covid wave will decline. Usually declines take twice as long as reaching the peak. We don’t see a peak yet in India: Epidemiologist Prabhat Jha
Most of the complaints and reports of repeat infection are of the Covaxin, for which insufficient scientific evidence was released, says Prabhat Jha, founding director of the Centre for Global Health Research at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, who is regarded as one of the most influential epidemiologists in the world.
WORLD
What the sailing of US guided missile destroyer through India’s EEZ means
Washington is sticking by its interpretation of the Exclusive Economic Zone and New Delhi is pointing to its domestic laws that mandate its prior approval for any movement into an area that it considers as its sovereign territory.
TRENDS
5 top diplomats weigh in on India’s vaccine diplomacy
India’s vaccine diplomacy, most believe, has fetched unprecedented dividends. However, there is also an alternative view that the country’s pandemic needs are too great at this time to display generosity, even to friends and allies.
WORLD
How India should handle the Myanmar crisis, according to four top diplomats
What should be India’s role in Myanmar, the scene of a terrible, unfolding human tragedy? The country with which India shares a 1,600-km border is a deeply religious Buddhist society. As part of British India until 1937, the cultural connect between the two countries outflanks every other bilateral equation.
POLITICS
Under Modi govt, Indian bureaucracy is facing biggest shakeup in seven decades
The Narendra Modi government, seeking systemic reforms, is putting the IAS and other top arms of the civil service under scrutiny like never before.
WORLD
What one needs to know about US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin’s trip to India
The visit is an affirmation that the Biden administration is likely to stay the course on the Trump administration’s tough approach to China, minus its unilateralist approach to foreign policy. The new US administration wants to work with a coalition of allies and partners on Beijing and New Delhi tops that list.
INDIA
Anurag Thakur’s promotion in Territorial Army puts second line of defence in focus
Indian defence forces face a shortage of about 9,000 officers. The TA provides an opportunity for the young to narrow this gap.
TRENDS
It’s the saddest day in the life of Delhi Gymkhana, says AS Dulat
A former president of the prestigious institution is distressed at government intervention in a private club, which is more than 100 years old; Says trouble has been brewing for some time now.
WORLD
What a formalised Quad means for India and the Indo-Pacific
Post COVID-19, there is urgency to deal with the looming presence of China. While US is making Beijing’s containment its top priority, India, buoyed by the PLA pull back from Ladakh, is strengthening its naval alliances in the region
INDIA
RTI activists looking down the barrel of the gun, quite literally
Rights campaigners are taking on deeply entrenched vested interests in the country’s hinterland where the cushion of civil society presence and the backing of the media are non-existent concepts.
INDIA
The surprise India-Pakistan ceasefire call and what it means, explained
The India-Pakistan ceasefire move coincides with a new incumbent in the White House and no sooner than India began the disengagement process with China. What is the significance, can it hold and other questions answered.
POLITICS
Explained I What the India, China military disengagement in Ladakh means
Images of PLA dismantling their infrastructure and camps after the Galwan border clashes to revert to their original positions on the LAC is a rare sight indeed. New Delhi’s hard bargaining on the standoff sites in the Pangong Tso area appears to have paid off for now, against Beijing’s rank miscalculation.
INDIA
What one needs to know: Reading from the American script on troop preparedness
Morale is a crucial element for the Indian Army, fighting a three-decade-long battle in crowded civilian locations and icy Himalayan heights, where most of the country’s contested borders lie.
WORLD
Myanmar coup | What does it mean for New Delhi, the neighbourhood and other questions answered
India’s challenge in Myanmar is much the same as in South Asia: how best to counter China’s growing influence on its traditional allies.
WORLD
New US policy on Tibet can imply a strategic shift in India’s Himalayan intentions
TPSA indicates that the new American administration is keen to magnify its confrontationist approach towards China. Will New Delhi up the ante on Beijing?
BUSINESS
India’s reputation as the world’s vaccine hub was surprisingly under the wraps
Now, as the Serum Institute of India reveals its massive production capabilities, countries queue up for the precious dose, giving New Delhi a chance at vaccine diplomacy
WORLD
What Xi’s military recast means for China’s face-off with India
Chinese president Xi Jinping has moved out his top military commander at the all-powerful Western Theatre Command and reshuffled his influential political commissars there, signalling that their Ladakh adventure has been less than satisfactory.
BUSINESS
With restrictions placed on the Taj, Agra is out on a limb in peak tourist season
This most Moghul of all Moghul cities in the sub-continent, and indeed the world, is strangely without tourists for the first time and it does not make a pretty picture.
BUSINESS
Farmers' protests | Impasse over agri reforms in the eyes of five economists and experts
None of the proposals of the three farm legislations are new, yet there is a full-fledged agitation that threatens to overwhelm the national capital.
INDIA
What is India’s Quad game plan, according to experts
With the invitation to Australia for the Malabar naval exercises, India has taken a step forward in the Quad. But for now, the grouping is more aspirational than real
