2026

The 4th July will mark the quarter Millennium of American Independence.The Declaration of Independence started with following ringing affirmation:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Government is instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The (…)

Rahul Gandhi’s call for a united, aggressive resistance to the RSS and BJP faces major hurdles as the opinion is deeply divided among regional opposition leaders regarding his call to transition the INDIA bloc into a permanent "resistance movement" against the ruling party. While some regional allies share his idea on unified opposition, some are sceptical of his strategic vision, electoral viability, and ability to keep the alliance intact. They feel that he should have shared his idea with (…)

[(Abstract
The Meghalaya Socio-Economic Review 2025 seeks to present a comprehensive statistical overview of the state’s developmental trajectory. However, this paper argues that the document fails to meet the analytical and normative expectations of a socio-economic review. Drawing on the framework of Doughnut Economics, the study critiques the Review’s descriptive bias, conceptual limitations, and institutional omissions. It highlights the absence of engagement with Autonomous District (…)

In a democracy, freedom of speech and expression opens up channels of free discussion of issues. This right plays a crucial role in the formation of public opinion on social, political and economic matters. Commercial speech is defined as speech that suggests a commercial transaction or expression solely related to economic interest.
The High Court of Delhi held that a purely commercial advertisement which does not take into consideration the essential idea of freedom of speech would be (…)

The Allahabad High Court’s recent order in the suo motu matter concerning the creation of 9,149 additional courts in Uttar Pradesh raises a question that extends beyond court infrastructure in a single State. In its April 13, 2026 Order, a Division Bench of Justices Alok Mathur and Amitabh Kumar Rai observed that it would be “in fitness of things” for Parliament and State legislatures to consider incorporating a Litigation Impact Assessment clause in every Bill before it is enacted. The (…)

Aruna Roy, the famous activist and author, has said that she prefers to observe her 80th birthday this month quietly at her home, but her colleagues and companions of highly eventful journeys on the path of meaningful social change, justice and democracy would certainly like to use this time to remember her many-sided contributions and learnings from them.
Aruna Roy the activist started her ‘career’ in a very different way, in fact as an IAS officer. However the call of social activism (…)

The United Nations University recently reported that humanity has entered an era of "global water bankruptcy"—a state in which long-term water usage persistently exceeds natural replenishment, permanently depleting water "savings" such as natural aquifers and glaciers. The term "water bankruptcy" describes a new global reality: humanity’s freshwater usage has so far exceeded natural replenishment that critical water systems have become insolvent and irreversibly damaged.
Under the (…)

In developing India, Brazil and South Africa, services such as IT, health care and marketing have emerged significant sectors making with predominance of services in GDP over manufacturing. Apart from a revenue of billions of dollars from exports they are also major employer. A characteristic feature of twenty first century neoliberal capitalist development. Service sector, IT industry in particular, often is commoditised with huge investments of capital and labour. Robust software and (…)

Financial inclusion has become one of the most celebrated milestones of India’s development story, policymakers often advocate to expanding bank accounts and financial literacy initiatives as evidence of an inclusive economy. Yet beneath these advocacies there lies a deeper and precise neglected challenge: access to institutional loan remains heavily influenced by geography. For the small and marginalised entrepreneurs in India’s rural and hilly regions, particularly in the North Eastern (…)

“In India, where thousands of young women are murdered every year for bringing in insufficient dowries, a dowry death rarely makes news. But the death of Twisha Sharma in the central city of Bhopal on 12 May has sparked a huge media frenzy, with the case making headlines every day.” read the opening lines of a news article posted by BBC on 22nd of May, 2026.
From unmarried daughters getting warned by their mothers of "domestic complexities" to progressive, independent women remaining (…)