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Déjà vu in Pakistan: The eerie similarities between 2023 and 1971
Pakistan is facing a complex set of political and economic challenges in 2023, which bear some striking similarities to the situation the country faced in 1971. In both cases, the popular electoral choice has been kept out of power, bad economic markers such as GDP and inflation have been on the rise, and regional identity…
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Karnataka 2023 Elections: Options for the BJP
If the voter gives a hung verdict on May 13, it will be respectable for the BJP to sit in the opposition and attend the gym regularly to strengthen itself for the next five years. The last stable Government that Karnataka witnessed was during the tenure of S.M. Krishna who left office in 2004. Ever…
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Surviving The Burnout: A Virtual Coup By The Pakistan Army Is Already In The Making
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd). From an existential angle, the situation in Pakistan is yet below the threshold, although the flow of events will remain unpredictable. Issues such as the fate of nuclear assets are not yet in reckoning because the Pakistan Army is still there. Signs of division in its ranks have…
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A Cultural Curriculum for Judicial Reforms
A slew of judgements over various aspects of the Hindu society and culture in recent times have exposed the extent of the deracination of India’s judiciary. As always, I live on hope and optimism and hope that our judiciary might finally be cured of its cultural illiteracy. If not that, I hope that this curriculum…
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The Immortality Key: Uncovering the Secret History of the Religion with No Name
This is an origin story of Christianity with a psychedelic plot twist. While we all have heard of Rome, Jerusalem, and Nazareth, most of us have not heard of Eleusis. This Greek harbor town was the spiritual capital of the Western world. Plato visited Eleusis and wrote about the “blessed sight and vision” he witnessed…
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US or China – Who started it?
There are many claims that it was the US, irked by China’s economic and geopolitical rise, started surrounding China with bases and military posts and thus threatened the Chinese. Is it correct? To understand the current predicament, we must understand what has happened between these two countries. Let us quickly breeze through the historical issues…
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Understanding Manipur Dynamics
By Air Marshal Anil Khosla (Retd). Manipur was merged fully with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949, but it became a full-fledged state more than two decades later, in 1972. Manipur is known for its ethnic and cultural diversity. But the state has been plagued by internecine conflicts among different ethnic groups and tribes.…
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China’s Invisible War With India And The World
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd). On 15 June 2020, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) backstabbed the Indian Army patrolling team during the Galwan Valley Clash. The whole nation was angry, but the flag-bearers of the India-China Friendship Association (ICFA) were unwavering in their support for China. ICFA didn’t see any reason to sever ties with China or…
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What really happened to Bharat during the Islamic Invasions?
The following is a transcript of a speech by Vikram Sampat at the Jaipur Dialogues Conclave that discusses the Islamic conquest of India and its impact on Indian history. Sampat specializes in modern and early modern Indian history, as well as medieval history, which is highly relevant to the period being discussed. Sampat states that…
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Rabindranath Tagore Jayanti
Rabindranath Jayanti is the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, a legendary figure in Indian literature and culture. It is celebrated on May 7th every year to commemorate his birth and honor his contributions to the fields of literature, music, art, and social activism. On this day, people in India and around the world pay tribute…
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The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Meet In Goa – Substance Or Cosmetics?
By Maj Gen Neeraj Bali (Retd). In September last year, when India assumed the rotational chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, it formally invited all the members to the Foreign Ministers’ confabulations. Inevitably, the list of invitees included China and Pakistan, two countries with which India shares geography and, unfortunately, intractable acrimony.
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Malegaon 1921 – a precursor to the Moplah Riots
The Khilafat violence of 1921 is a forgotten event. It was a precursor to the Malabar Riots of 1921. On March 15th, 1920, a Khilafat committee was formed in Malegaon to conduct lectures and religious sermons. Nine months later, one of the Khilafat leaders, Shaukat Ali, visited Malegaon and political activities got a religious boost.…
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Revealed: China Bolstering Its Military Might In South China Sea
By Gp Capt Arvind Pandey (Retd). The South China Sea is considered to be one of the busiest waterways in the world and is a significant gateway for trade and merchant shipping. The South China Sea disputes are maritime and island claims between different sovereign states in the region. The reason why these areas are…
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Supreme Courts: Threats across the world
Israeli Judicial reforms, India’s own Judicial Reform Bill and even US Supreme Court appointments have all created waves. Supreme Courts across the world seem to be under threat. Is it so? If the Parliament passes a law for judicial reforms, the Supreme Court must accept that law and move on. The Supreme Court has abrogated…
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South Korea’s Nuclear Program: End to Korea’s Weapons of Mass Destruction?
On 25 June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea resulting the beginning of The Korean War. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) established the UNC under the United States to counter and restore peace in the Korean peninsula. During the war more than 16 nations provided support to either side and 5 sent medical help…
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Real Education is Removing the Walls that Block the Light Within us
Knowledge is a light that resides within the student. The only task of the teacher is to move the walls that enclose and block this light. In his mellifluous and evocative profile of Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Hanagal Virupaksha Sastri, DVG mentions how the Acharya had a healthy dose of contempt for the printed matter – he…
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Dharmic Education in an Age of Deliberate De-Hinduisation of Bharata
What we now call as “Dharmic education” was the natural state of our social and cultural life even 60-70 years ago. Even in the mid-1970s, we had a sizeable number of people who earned their livelihood as poets or singers or bards, performing Bhagavata Melas, Ram Katha, Puranas, Harikathas, etc. These artists were largely illiterate…
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Preparation of Hair-Dyes in Ancient India: Recipes and Processes
An essay containing detailed information about the recipes and the procedure for preparing hair-dyes in ancient India. Greying, middle-aged men and women dyeing their hair black (or Mehendi brown-red) is understandable. But that phenomenon became passé long ago. What we now have is an insecurity-engendered epidemic that cuts across age groups and multicolored genders: of…
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Buddha Purnima: Celebrating the Life and Teachings of the Buddha
Buddha Purnima, also known as Vesak or Buddha Jayanti, is one of the most important festivals in the Buddhist calendar. It commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in ancient India over 2500 years ago. Buddha Purnima is celebrated in many countries around the world, including Nepal, India, Sri…