2025

Britannica describes Oligarchy as a government with despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes.
Wikipedia elaborates how Putative oligarchy in a country or nation in which one or a few Business groups become the largest private owners who possess sufficient political power to influence their own interests and control multiple businesses, coordinating activities across sectors.
What was at stake during the Maharashtra Assembly elections? The (…)

India

It is unclear why the chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, has come under vicious criticism for merely endorsing a suggestion that men should not be forced to remove their upper garments while entering Hindu temples.
In any case, there is no universally acceptable rule regarding upper garments in respect of males praying at temples. Indeed, most temples in India do not insist that male devotees in temples must be bare chested.
This practice is now largely followed by some of the (…)

As the insult hurled on Babasaheb by Amit Shah in Lok Sabha is coming under heavy criticism from all over the country, the right-wing Hindu Nationalist ideologues are trying to create a narrative that Babsaheb was on same page as the politics of those from Savarkar- RSS- and BJP in particular. (Balbir Punj on X: "The resurrection of Dr Ambedkar " / X) They are trying to pick and choose selectively from Ambedkar

As a part of steps to reduce air pollution in Delhi almost every year during winter or preceding weeks a temporary ban on construction work is announced which can extend to several weeks. What is the impact of this on workers and to what extent their difficulties are relieved by the compensatory payment the government provides? To find out I asked several construction workers in those colonies of Delhi where the population of construction workers is concentrated.
Rakesh, Bharat and Gopal (…)

January 11, 2025
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had earlier declared himself as a "non-biological" being has now gone back on that claim and has asserted that he too like all other "human beings" was likely to commit mistakes.
Modi had made his earlier claim of not being "biological" by birth barely eight months ago. Now with his first inaugural podcast address conducted by Zerronda co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Modi has asserted that he might have committed some mistakes as any other (…)

Their friendship is fragile. It is not based on the precinct of mutual trust and respect. Both, Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, have been busy promoting their own personal interests behind the veneer of friendship. While Trump used it for achieving his business mission, more than fulfilling US interest, Modi suffering from a personality complex used it for projecting him as Vishwaguru, the most revered and respected world leader.
Obviously Trump not inviting Modi to his swearing as the US (…)

Abstract
The potential of the Indian fans has changed the global entertainment dynamics. From Dua Lipa’s viral mashup performance in Mumbai to YouTuber MrBeast’s growing engagement with India, the significance of this diverse and vast demographic is impossible to overlook. This article explores why international artists and content creators increasingly tailor their offerings for Indian consumers. With widespread internet penetration, rising purchasing power, and a versatile appetite for (…)

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was first imagined under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

The exponential growth of big tech digital platforms has brought to the fore numerous challenges, not the least being questions of revenue sharing, violation of data privacy, targeted advertising, abuse of dominant position in the digital advertisement market, indulging in anticompetitive practices, perpetuation of dominant positions in online search markets, and so on. These issues also draw attention to the architecture of the contemporary global media system and the working of the digital (…)