Backgrounders

Gandhi: A Legacy of Experimentation Between Violence and Nonviolence

Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy is a model of nonviolence and experimentation, offering timeless lessons on harmony, empathy, and navigating global challenges of inequality and violence.

History’s key role in students’ deadly protests

In their struggles against authoritarian rule, Bangladesh’s students have always relied on their history’s many artefacts.

HEY RAM

Mahatma Gandhi’s mind reveals both the individual and collective shaping of India’s mind. Why does Ram hold the place he does in the Indian psyche? Also, why is Krishna difficult for people?
Defence

Why Netanyahu chooses war over peace

As protests grow, Benjamin Netanyahu clings to power in what appears to be a gambit to shape his own political and legal future, regardless of the cost.

Can the Agnipath scheme fix India’s army?

The attempt to repair the defence budget with a short-term troop intake largely backfired, but it can still be made to work.

India, Pakistan tiptoe around the nuclear threat

India’s army may shrink and Pakistan’s defence spending is decreasing, but the two countries remain at odds. What will the future of their warfare look like?
Energy

How Trump’s pursuit of cheap oil will impact India’s energy security

The promotion of fossil fuel-driven growth by Trump poses significant challenges but there are mitigating factors as well

Can nuclear replace coal-based electricity in India?

India’s energy strategy should be a judicious mix of coal, nuclear power, and clean energy resources. The share of coal, however, needs to come down

Making an electric car battery, minus China

Building indigenous capacities to produce raw materials for lithium-ion batteries will be crucial for achieving energy transition goals
World

India-Bangladesh ties in deep-freeze

Political and diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Dhaka have adversely affected cultural relations between the two countries

Can Trump end the Russia-Ukraine war?

For peace to prevail, a compromise needs to be reached not only between Russia and Ukraine but also between the US-led West and Russia

Sri Lanka’s dilemmas over Chinese ‘research’ vessels

Promises made to India by President Anura Dissanayake in December 2024 must be matched with action