What is common to Narendra Modi, Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron?

Hint: A crisis of democracy.

Girish Shahane

· Dec 13, 2018 · 08:00 am

The real cause of India’s farm crisis? Too many farmers

The country needs a working plan to shift large sections of the population away from agriculture.

Girish Shahane

· Dec 05, 2018 · 08:00 am

For India’s national security, technological self-sufficiency remains a crucial, yet neglected goal

From cyber-espionage to kill switches, reliance on foreign products is fraught with peril.

Girish Shahane

· Nov 28, 2018 · 12:30 pm

Eye in the sky: Is India at risk of becoming a nation of big statues and small minds?

The breathless coverage of the Sardar Patel statue being large enough to be visible from space, and our cultural discourse, provides some hints.

Girish Shahane

· Nov 21, 2018 · 08:00 am

What Hindutva historians could learn from James Prinsep, the Englishman who decoded Ashokan edicts

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Varanasi this week brings to mind the man who undertook a boat journey from Calcutta to Benaras in 1820.

Girish Shahane

· Nov 15, 2018 · 08:00 am

Trump’s decision to exempt India from Iranian oil sanctions is not good news

It is hard to see how the latest clash between American exceptionalism and Iran’s martyr creed can be resolved peacefully.

Girish Shahane

· Nov 07, 2018 · 08:00 am

What Gujarat’s Statue of Unity got right that Maharashtra’s Shivaji memorial did not

One is an efficiently executed project, the other a disaster.

Girish Shahane

· Oct 31, 2018 · 08:00 am

Sabarimala: Courts didn’t act when they should have – and overstepped their boundaries when they did

It is generally accepted that courts ought to steer clear of interfering in religious traditions and customs.

Girish Shahane

· Oct 24, 2018 · 08:00 am

In the MJ Akbar case, the BJP’s policy of refusing to back down may not work

The Opposition is handling the sexual harassment charges against the minister with kid gloves, but the media will not go easy on the ruling party.

Girish Shahane

· Oct 17, 2018 · 08:00 am

Do authoritarian regimes wish to be seen as crazily vindictive?

Assassinations carried out in foreign lands can chill dissent, offsetting their costs.

Girish Shahane

· Oct 10, 2018 · 08:00 am

Why I am with the minority opinion in the split verdicts on Aadhaar, Sabarimala, activists’ arrests

In these Supreme Court rulings, majority opinion favoured the state’s rights over those of individuals, corporations and belief systems.

Girish Shahane

· Oct 04, 2018 · 08:00 am

Why Donald Trump’s praise of India at the United Nations is a poisoned chalice

Being in Washington’s orbit comes with costs, as New Delhi will soon find out.

Girish Shahane

· Sep 26, 2018 · 08:00 am