Appeal To Reason in an Unreasonable Age
In his column for The Indian Express, P Chidambaram raises serious concerns about how the role of Governors in Indian states has been misused—particularly the power to withhold assent to bills passed by elected state legislatures, or to simply sit on them (the so-called 'pocket veto'), thereby thwarting the will of the people.
He argues that although the Supreme Court has formally struck down the pocket veto, the Court’s refusal to impose a strict time-limit for Governors to act leaves open room for long-drawn delays—making the veto effectively alive in spirit.
Governors—especially in Opposition-ruled states—have run amok with the power given to them under Article 200. They assume that their power to check is a licence to stall. Hence, they invented the pocket veto. A pocket veto is simply to sit idle; in other words, to neither grant assent; nor withhold assent and return the Bill to the legislature for reconsideration; nor reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President. The pocket veto is unalloyed malice. It is used to thwart the will of the people expressed through a Bill passed by the legislature. The pocket veto has no sanction under the Constitution.P Chidambaram, The Indian Express
Leader Below Par
In her column for The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor sharply critiqued Rahul Gandhi's faltering leadership of the INDIA bloc, highlighting allies' mounting frustration after Congress's poor Bihar performance and even leaving the country during pivotal moments. His unilateral decision to project a deputy-CM candidate from a minor ally without consulting larger constituents—a move that upset core voter-bases—deepened the skepticism.
The RJD was furious that the Congress dragged its feet in declaring Tejashwi Yadav as the Mahagathbandhan’s CM candidate. Later, Rahul unilaterally announced Mukesh Sahani, an EBC from the caste-based Vikassheel Insaan Party, as the alliance’s Deputy CM face, angering INDIA’s key vote banks, Muslims and SCs, who felt that someone from their ranks should have been named as a potential Deputy CM. (Incidentally, the much touted Sahani lost the elections and his party drew a blank). Tejashwi was also embarrassed when Rahul, without consulting him, even though he was sitting next to him, raised the issue of the BJP’s alleged nexus with industrialist billionaires by citing the attendance of party leaders at lavish weddings. Subsequently, there were numerous BJP-inspired memes of Lalu’s entire family at Anant Ambani’s over-the-top wedding.Coomi Kapoor, The Indian Express
Rising China, Wary Japan Reboot Asian Power Race
In this article for the Deccan Herald, Srikanth Kondapalli argues that Asia is entering a renewed power-race centred on a rising People's Republic of China (China) and a cautious but reactive Japan, especially after Japan’s new prime minister described a Chinese invasion of Taiwan as an “existential crisis” for Japan. What had been a relatively stable, mutually beneficial—yet competitive—relationship now appears to be unraveling: recent inflammatory remarks by a Chinese diplomat and China’s intensifying military, economic and diplomatic maneuvers suggest Beijing is deliberately leveraging external conflict to distract from domestic political ferment.
To drum up nationalism, China has been conducting massive anti-Japanese military parades in Beijing, as in 2015 and 2025. China’s social media had hyped up demands to seize the Ryukyu Islands, as with territories in Russia, India, and others. Its naval and air forces have been mobilising might to dominate the Bashi Channel and Miyako Straits. The weaponizing of sea lanes of communications is intensifying. At the economic level, the latest frictions could impact bilateral trade, investment and markets. Over 31,000 cutting-edge Japanese companies are operating in China, the largest number globally for Japan.Srikanth Kondapalli, Deccan Herald
Global Climate Governance: Why We Must Change It Now
In this column for the Deccan Chronicle, Manish Tewari argues that recent global climate-policy gatherings—namely, COP30 and the G20 Johannesburg Summit—exposed serious flaws in current global climate governance. He notes that COP30 ended with only voluntary roadmaps and no binding commitments to phase out fossil fuels, even though many countries called for such measures; and that the G20 declaration, while supportive of renewables, avoided explicit fossil-fuel phase-out language, citing “energy security.”
The COP30 and G20 conferences have shown that although nations have made promises through the use of rhetoric regarding reaching net-zero and taking climate action, there are no binding mechanisms in place to ensure compliance with those promises and fossil fuel interests still maintain a veto over the process. Global climate governance relies heavily on voluntary frameworks and consensus-seeking approaches to create an institutional framework that is at odds with the immediate need for the transformative changes that climate change science makes clear are necessary.Manish Tewari, Deccan Chronicle
What the Deepak Chopra-Epstein Link Tells Us About the ‘Gurus’ We Are Drawn To
In this column for The Times of India, Liz Bucar discusses the recently revealed association between Deepak Chopra, the well-known wellness and spirituality figure and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, pointing out that emails and meeting records show repeated contact over several years, even after Epstein’s earlier conviction
She uses this link to raise a deeper question: Why so many people gravitate toward charismatic “gurus” who blend spirituality, wellness, and self-help, often promising transcendence, healing or meaning—and why we readily overlook character or ethics when drawn to such appeals.
Chopra is the perfect hybrid. His western medical credentials — he’s a licensed physician with appointments at prestigious institutions — give him the scientific authority of the West combined with the spiritual authenticity of the East. He has ditched the robes for stylish clothing and a clean-shaven face, but he kept what Persaud calls “the soft voice and the aura of the calm oriental monk.” He presents his spirituality in intentionally hazy terms. Words like “Vedic” and “Ayurvedic” and “consciousness” are foreign enough to sound ancient and authentic, vague enough that you can project whatever meaning you want onto them. This vagueness gives us permission to access spirituality while remaining fully embedded in capitalist consumer culture. You can be ‘spiritual’ without the demanding ethical commitments of actual religious practice. You can buy his $350 meditation glasses and $10,000-a-year ‘anti-aging’ packages and call it enlightenment.Liz Bucar, The Times of India
An Axis of Good in Climate Diplomacy
In this piece for the Hindustan Times, Amitabh Kant, in an era of geopolitical turbulence and faltering multilateral climate efforts, the article posits the emergence of an "axis of good" in climate diplomacy—a network of pragmatic, interest-driven coalitions that prioritize delivery over grand rhetoric, with India at its core as a bridge between the Global South and global trends.
Climate policy continues to feel the strain. Multilateralism, once the primary conduit for global climate action, is faltering. Yet amid this fraying fabric, a quieter — and arguably more durable — pattern is emerging: A network of pragmatic, interest-driven partnerships that may prove more effective in a rapidly emergent new world order. There is a new kind of global cooperation developing, one that is more multi-nodal than unipolar and one grounded on purposeful alignment. This is what we call an “axis of good” — a constellation of countries choosing to move forward together on climate action not because they are compelled to, or not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is in their shared interest.Amitabh Kant, Hindustan Times
Shadows Lengthen
In this column for The Telegraph, GN Devy warns that India’s democracy is entering a dangerously opaque phase because three crucial processes—delimitation of constituencies, the national Census, and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls—are all happening under clouds of mistrust. He explains how delimitation, which decides the number and boundaries of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats, rests entirely on Census data, adding that while the population has nearly tripled since the 1960s, the number of MPs has remained frozen, meaning that each MP now represents far more people than before.
We have already begun with the violation of the UN recommendation of carrying out a census in the Zero Year of a decade and for the data to be made available in the first year of the next decade. All censuses in India had followed the time series by carrying out censuses in the first year of a decade, from 1951 to 2011. If the Covid epidemic thwarted the 2021 Census exercise, it should have been completed in 2023 and declared as an e2021 Census; or else the exercise should have been postponed to 2031. The government’s declaration of the census in 2026-27, making March 1, 2027 as its reference date, appears to be an arbitrary decisionGN Devy, The Telegraph
When the Internet Allows Weaponisation of Intimacy
In this article for the Hindustan Times, Namita Bhandare discusses how the internet has increasingly become a medium for abuse, especially targeting women and girls through non-consensual intimate imagery, cyber-stalking, deepfakes and harassment.
She begins with a chilling real-life example: A woman’s ex-boyfriend secretly filmed a private intimate video, and after their breakup, uploaded it online. Despite legal action and a court order to remove it, the clip kept resurfacing across porn sites and dark-web channels—demonstrating how difficult it is to contain such abuse once the content is online.
We are still combatting the global epidemic of violence against women and girls where one in three is subjected to physical or sexual violence. Now, we are faced with a new problem that comes at a time when the manosphere is spreading toxic ideas of masculinity and women’s organisations are undergoing funding cuts. Fewer than 40% of countries have laws that protect women and girls from cyber harassment, leaving 1.8 billion without access to legal protection, according to the World Bank. Victims pay an unimaginable price with their mental health, relationships, careers, and even access to the internet. There is self-harm and death by suicide.Namita Bhandhare, Hindustan Times
A Rare Show of Political Civility
Mohamed Zeeshan, in this article for the Deccan Herald reflects on a notably cordial and respectful meeting between Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump. He described the interaction as a “rare show of political civility.”
Zeeshan emphasised that the politeness and civility displayed stand out precisely because contemporary, political discourse has become increasingly bitter, rude and dysfunctional. Zeeshan suggests that this one event should prompt reflection on how political engagement—even among adversaries—can and should be more respectful and civil.
A few recessions, wars and pandemics later, the global consensus on economics-driven politics has come to an end. Countries have reverted to the logic that led to World War II: stoking fear against imagined enemies, caricaturing entire peoples as entire peoples as traitors, and lobbing insults in the name of speaking inconvenient truths. This is where Mamdani’s meeting with Trump did well to pause the cycle. Neither Trump nor Mamdani disavowed their ideological positions last week. But they smiled at each other long enough to focus on things that everyone can agree on: creating jobs, reducing living costs, and improving wages. Perhaps that’s what politics should always be about.Mohamed Zeeshan, Deccan Herald
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