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AISHE report: Institutional network of higher education

17-10-2026

Higher education plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between formal education and labour market in a society. It also plays an important role in the intellectual growth of an individual. Yet, before the AISHE reports, there was no systematic collection of data covering the entire range of higher education institutions in the country.

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El Nino hits the production of the 2026-27 Kharif crop

17-10-2026

The four-month southwest monsoon cycle (June to September 2026) in the country has entered the withdrawal phase. In June this year, the monsoon started 4 days late and, thereafter, stalled for almost three weeks. Early July rains revived hopes, but precipitation in August and September was less than satisfactory.

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India’s angry young generation has an employment problem

16-10-2026

India’s young people are out on the streets—first it was over examinations, where they suspected there had been malpractices, and now over the process of correcting voter lists. The last two times when the streets had been taken over by India’s burgeoning youth population were in 1990, when reservation in jobs and educational institutes was a burning question. And before that in the 1960s and 1970s over myriad issues, ranging from the Vietnam War to joblessness to “language imposition”.

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The ‘apolitical’ movement is carrying a political agenda

16-10-2026

At first glance, the civil unrest in Lutyens’ Delhi is a classic instance of the Youth Bulge effect. Countries with a high youth demographic are vulnerable to political violence, as empirical studies attest. But the recent protests are related to another phenomenon: the use of ‘apolitical’ movements by political actors to disrupt the status quo, destabilise the government, and create an anti-incumbent coalition.

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Viksit Bharat’s Catch ’26: The logic of the absurd

15-10-2026

In Joseph Heller’s seminal novel Catch-22, there is an unforgettable character, Major Major Major Major, who commands the 256th squadron stationed on the Mediterranean island of Pianosa. He never sees anyone in his office while he’s in his office. He instructs First Sergeant Towser that no one is to be let inside his office room to meet him while he is in the room, with the excuse that the squadron commander is busy.
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We can’t use democracy as an excuse for our shortcomings

15-10-2026

Francis Fukuyama, the distinguished political economist and scholar of geopolitics, famously wrote the book ‘The End of History and the Last Man’ in 1992. In his book, Fukuyama argued that Western liberal democracy coupled with economic freedom and market capitalism is the pinnacle of human social and cultural evolution. Those were the heady days of the collapse of the Berlin Wall (1989), the unification of Germany
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Emergency then & now: The action and govt’s response

14-10-2026

The pro-democracy protests, sweeping the streets of the capital, Delhi, and other cities across the country, have an eerie echo of a long bygone era more than half a century ago. It takes me back to my first few years as a city reporter in the early 1970s when student protests in Gujarat and Bihar rapidly escalated under the leadership of Jaiprakash Narayan, supported by a motley group of parties
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How have returns on different instruments fared in H1-FY27?

14-10-2026

The first half of the year has been quite tumultuous for all countries. The war continues, and this has had ramifications for crude oil prices, which, in turn, have affected currencies as well as bond yields. The Trump ‘hide-and-seek’ game with Iran has cast a shadow on the possible end of the war. Further, the USA has brought back the 100% tariff issue on countries that are trading with Russia.
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Kerala probe against Gyanesh Kumar is like chasing a ghost

13-10-2026

The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar, who has categorically taken over the role of Gen Z’s enemy number one from Dharmendra Pradhan, may or may not have bit the dust by the time this article gets printed. With the unprecedented suspension of trains coming into New Delhi alongside the shutting down of 45 metro stations, blocking of internet, and the huge deployment of police and central paramilitary forces on October 10
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Roaches are made of sterner stuff, they don’t die easily

13-10-2026

One cannot rule out the possibility of Abhijeet Dipke, like Umar Khalid before him, getting arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Although the act applies to terrorism and radicalisation, the government can always extend its application to apply to street protests. When Dipke founded the Cockroach Janta Party, he is reported to have said that if he were a Muslim, like Umar Khalid, he would surely have been arrested.
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US green cards or Russian oil: India’s strategic tightrope

12-10-2026

This past Sunday, October 4, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar defended India’s continued reliance on Russian crude oil and reiterated how Moscow has stood by New Delhi during some of the toughest times in India’s contemporary history. There was context to this seemingly abrupt statement of brotherhood.

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Rani Abbakka: The fearless queen who refused to give up

12-10-2026

A new stage production, Veera Rani Abbakka, written and directed by Preeta Mathur Thakur, serves as a reminder of a warrior that history forgot. Multiple books and films have been produced on the valour of Laxmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, who opposed the British annexation of her land, but three centuries earlier, in the 16th century, Rani Abbakka of Ullala refused to let Portuguese invaders dictate terms to her and fought off every attack by their well-equipped naval force.