business

The ECI’s response The defence provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding its refusal to publish readable voters’ rolls for recognised political parties and to upload the voters’ list on its website is, quite frankly, terrible. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha has highlighted what can be called the incompetence … Read more

With global chronic undernourishment now on a downward trend, the world is beginning to turn a corner in its fight against hunger. The United Nations’ newly released The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 reports that 673 million people (8.2% of the world’s population) were undernourished in 2024. This is down … Read more

Global resistance to a universal treaty on eliminating plastic pollution remains stubborn and huge. Last week, the sixth attempt since 2022 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to get member-nations to agree upon a treaty to address plastic pollution ran into the familiar vortex of opposition. There was disagreement among the major blocs of … Read more

(This is the latest edition of the Political Line newsletter curated by Varghese K. George. The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.) Culture influences market and diplomacy. But how much is too much on this count? A slice of the stalemate … Read more

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visits Jurong Island, Singapore’s flagship integrated petrochemical and energy hub, during his official visit to Singapore. File photo: @AndhraPradeshCM X/ANI Photo Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to Singapore from July 26 to 30 was a strategic exercise in economic diplomacy — an effort to reaffirm … Read more

At a time when majoritarianism often rests on electoral frauds, courts across the world face newer challenges, both jurisprudential and political. File. | Photo Credit: The Hindu At least a few from the ruling dispensation have asked why the Opposition is not formally taking up the electoral roll issue before the Supreme Court. However, the … Read more

In what must be seen as a rap on the knuckles of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Supreme Court of India ordered it to publish the names of 65 lakh voters excluded from Bihar’s draft electoral roll, and the reasons, following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. That it required the Court to … Read more

Alaska summit U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska has only highlighted the danger of treating diplomacy like a property deal. Mr. Trump’s advice to Ukraine — “make a deal, Russia is very big and they’re not” — trivialises a war over sovereignty and security. Peace is built painstakingly, with … Read more

In his address to Namibia’s National Assembly in July this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted a Namibian poet, invoked the symbolism of the Welwitschia mirabilis plant (the national plant) and the Springbok, and sprinkled his remarks with phrases in Oshiwambo, earning laughter and applause. The gesture suggested a deliberate effort to engage with culturally … Read more

The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, did not yield a breakthrough on the Ukraine war but appeared to narrow the gaps between their positions on how to end the conflict. While Ukraine was the most contentious issue on the agenda, the summit was significant … Read more