Setting the Stage in Bhubaneswar Odisha is preparing to place itself firmly on India’s artificial intelligence map with the Regional AI Impact Conference in Bhubaneswar. More than a technology event, the gathering reflects a strategic intent: to use AI as a tool of governance rather than merely an engine of private-sector growth. In doing so, the…
A Judicial Push Against Ageing Vehicles India’s top court has once again stepped into the policy vacuum surrounding air pollution, issuing firm directions on end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) in the Delhi–National Capital Region. The order reflects mounting judicial impatience with toxic winter smog and signals a shift from advisory frameworks to coercive enforcement, even as questions of…
India’s decision to freeze consular operations in Dhaka and Pakistan’s continued closure of its airspace to Indian carriers point to a shared reality: New Delhi’s immediate neighborhood is becoming more brittle, more politicized, and increasingly hostile to Indian interests. Together, these developments underline how security anxieties, political churn, and unresolved rivalries are converging to shrink India’s…
A Snapshot of Global Family Wealth The latest global ranking of the world’s richest families offers a revealing look at how wealth endures—and compounds—across generations. The list is dominated by long-established Western business dynasties and Gulf ruling families, whose fortunes have been built steadily over decades, even centuries. Amid this rarefied group, only one Indian family—the Ambanis—has secured…
In early December 2025, President Donald Trump sharply escalated Washington’s confrontation with Caracas by announcing a sweeping blockade on oil tankers linked to Venezuela. Declared through a public statement, the move called for stopping all sanctioned vessels transporting Venezuelan crude in and out of the country. The announcement followed the U.S. interception of a large oil tanker off…
A Warning Signal from the Labor Market The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 4.6 percent in November 2025, its highest level in more than four years, sending a clear signal that the post-pandemic labor market momentum is weakening. The increase came even as the economy added a modest 64,000 jobs, according to a delayed Bureau…
A Symbolic Arrival That Set the Tone Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Ethiopia marked a moment of rare diplomatic symbolism and strategic intent. Beginning on December 17, 2025, the visit opened with an extraordinary personal gesture by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who himself drove Modi from Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport to his…
UNSC Flashpoint: Kashmir and Indus Waters At a United Nations Security Council open debate on “Leadership for Peace,” Pakistan once again raised the Kashmir dispute and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). India responded forcefully. Its Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, categorically rejected Pakistan’s claims, asserting that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are…
Another Name Change in a Long Political Line India’s rural employment guarantee framework is poised for its most dramatic transformation in two decades. The Union government has introduced the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025—shortened to VB-G RAM G—seeking to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Presented in…
Sri Lanka is bracing for the arrest of one of its most celebrated sporting figures. Arjuna Ranatunga, the former cricket captain who led the island nation to its historic 1996 World Cup victory and later served as Petroleum Minister, is set to be taken into custody over an alleged fuel procurement scam that reportedly caused a loss…
