Opinion

Rishi Sunak pursues populist approach as elections draw closer

When Rishi Sunak came to India last week for the G20 summit, accompanied by his wife Akshata Murthy, the Indian media went into a frenzy. The Indian-origin British prime minister was feted when he moved into 10 Downing Street and the fact that he wears his “Hindu-ness” on his sleeve made...

Opinion

UK faces strikes, shortages, and soaring inflation

One of the first things you encounter in England are the long, chaotic lines at Heathrow airport. Last year, as I ventured on a visit to the UK post pandemic, it was an an almost three hour long wait at immigration. As I grumbled about it, a close friend who had flown to London to drop her daughter ...

Opinion

Threads: Promising start but momentum faded

When Mark Zuckerberg decided to launch Threads last month, a seemingly cleaner, more positive alternative to Twitter, there was much excitement. Could this be the social media app that finally kills the blue bird, I and many others began to ask? A few weeks later, “not quite” is the answ...

Opinion

Why extreme heatwaves are sweeping across the globe

As I scrolled through my Twitter news feed the other day, a bizarre story caught my eye. Death Valley National Park in California was about to see record breaking temperatures, reaching as high as 128 degrees Fahrenheit or 53.3 degrees Celsius. That wasn’t the bizarre part however (only the sc...

Opinion

Here is Modi’s strategy for a BJP victory in India next year

 Bang in the middle of the high voltage Karnataka election campaign, India’s Prime Minister Modi landed in Kerala for a two-day visit which included a roadshow on foot, a Vande Bharat train for the state, and the foundation stone for the country’s first digital science park.With the...

Opinion

Priyanka Chopra’s ultimate revenge

“I cannot really work with people I don’t like any more and that’s really non negotiable. I have to admire and look up to people I work with, I want to be excited and inspired when I go into work. This is something as I have evolved become most important to me”.A combative Pr...

Opinion

India braces for severe heatwave in 2023

It has been such a weird 2023. And its only March! We have seen snowstorms in California, ice storms in England ahead of Spring, temperatures touching nearly 40 degrees Celsius in parts of India in February.February of 2023 was the hottest in the country since 1901, according to India’s met de...

Opinion

Child marriages a social malaise than a religious one

Over the last few days, the north eastern state of Assam in India is seeing an unprecedented crackdown against child marriages.At the time of writing this piece, more than 2500 people had been apprehended and many more were expected to follow as Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared that the c...

Opinion

India’s famed Himalayan town of Joshimath is sinking

Are India’s hill stations a disaster waiting to happen? The alarm has sounded as a town in the state of Uttarakhand town faces the danger of literally collapsing under its own weight, with experts warning that other hill stations could face the same fate. And we have only ourselves to blame.Th...

Opinion

Air pollution in north India

Last week, I looked up at the sky and couldn’t believe my eyes. For what seemed like the first time in years, I could see a beautiful blue sky over Delhi. India’s national capital is otherwise the most polluted city in the world, according to studies that measure the deadliest particles ...

Opinion

Why did Rishi Sunak fall behind in race to become UK PM?

As we head into the final lap of the race for the next Prime Minister of Britain, 42 year old Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian origin, admits that he is “playing catch up” with his rival, Liz Truss. Latest polls show that Truss is the overwhelming favourite to win the contest for the top jo...

Opinion

Sexual violence against women needs to end

The gang rape of a 17 year old girl in posh part of Hyderabad has shocked India. The accused belong to influential political families and 5 of the 6 accused are minors.The young survivor was at a day time party on May 28 with her friends, where the accused got to know her and offered her a ride.What...

Opinion

India’s growth story intact despite massive challenges

The world is battling a crisis on multiple fronts. From geopolitical tensions due to the Ukraine crisis to the economic fallout of the conflict.Everyone is feeling the pain. Last week, India registered a Whole Sale Price Index or WPI inflation of 15.08% for April, which is a 15 or 30 year high, depe...

Opinion

India: Is it time for the sedition law to go?

India’s Supreme Court took a brave step this week, and put on hold a law blatantly used to silence dissenters and critics by different governments. The 162 year old sedition law could very well be on its way out and it is not a moment too soon.The court has said that no new sedition cases can ...

Opinion

Covid-19 cases are back in Europe and Asia

COVID-19 is back in many parts of the world. It’s rising rapidly in the UK, Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand. While the US is preparing for a fresh wave. To make things worse, Israel has said it has recorded a new variant in two cases, a s...

Opinion

India must reopen schools as Omicron cases fall

As I write this column, we are seeing the first signs of India’s third Covid wave ebbing. Over the last few weeks, there was a sharp spike in cases and much like other parts of the world which saw an Omicron wave, here too the decline appears to be much quicker than the prolonged Delta wave of...

Opinion

Why raising legal age for a woman’s marriage is flawed

In India, almost everything about women is infantilised. We are regularly described as someone’s “mothers”, “sisters” or “daughters”, as if that is our only identity. Nothing cements this thought process more than the debate over raising the legal age at whi...

Opinion

How COVID brought people together

How should we remember 2021? It was the year we had hoped we would defeat COVID. We didn’t. For many, it was a year of loss, losing loved ones to the pandemic, often without getting a chance to say goodbye.For many others, it was the heartbreak and pain of being separated from loved ones stuck...

Opinion

Omicron: India must not lower its guard

The other day I was on a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi. It was packed. The gentleman sitting next to me didn’t have his mask on. I was uncomfortable, so I gestured to the cabin crew to request him to wear it. India’s rules clearly say masks on planes are compulsory. My co passenger put ...

Opinion

Why is India upset with UK’s vaccine-linked travel curbs

Lets get this straight: The UK is recognising people as “fully vaccinated” only if they have been jabbed with vaccines approved in the EU, the UK and the US. So these folks don’t have to quarantine and take a series of expensive RT-PCR COVID-19 tests when they come to the UK.This m...