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Somnath: Modi’s politics opens another 'divisive front', drags Nehru into it

By Ram Puniyani*  The campaign around the Ram Temple , including the demolition of the Babri Masjid , paid rich electoral dividends to the BJP and its parent RSS . Kashi and Mathura are in line. A new front has now been opened with the Somnath Swabhiman Parv (Somnath Self-Pride Festival). Speaking on the occasion in full religious regalia, our non-biological Prime Minister stated two things, directly and indirectly. First, that Somnath Temple stood as a symbol of India’s glory, that Muslim kings attacked it repeatedly, and that it returned each time with even greater grandeur. Mahmood Ghazni demolished it in 1026 and plundered it 17 times. The second point was directed against the Congress , particularly Jawaharlal Nehru , the present Prime Minister’s preferred opponent, accusing him of opposing Somnath’s reconstruction.
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PUDR flags threat to free political speech, urges release of Andhra civil rights leaders

By A Representative   The People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) has condemned the arrest of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) vice-president Kranthi Chaitanya and fellow activist Mohan Krishna, who were taken into custody on January 9 and remanded the next day. The duo has been booked over allegedly “provocative banners” displayed ahead of a civil liberties conference in Tirupati.
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Sanctions without war: The silent toll of half a million deaths a year

By Bharat Dogra    It is widely recognised that wars and conflicts are major drivers of civilian deaths . It is estimated that during 2012–21, armed conflict caused roughly half a million deaths annually, most of them civilians. Yet an equally serious reality has received far less attention: economic sanctions may be claiming a similar number of lives each year, despite being imposed ostensibly in the name of peace, security or moral pressure.
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Formal institutions, legal frameworks 'failing to constrain' Washington's imperial designs

By Atul Chandra, Tings Chak*  On January 3, 2026, the United States did not merely bomb a sovereign country and capture its president. It displayed, in the most unambiguous terms, a total defiance of the post-War international order that it helped create. When US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and National Assembly deputy Cilia Flores from Caracas and transported them to a Brooklyn jail, they did not simply violate Venezuelan sovereignty. They declared that sovereignty itself, for any nation that refuses subordination to US imperialism, holds no weight.
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Debate emerges on role of AI in safeguarding children’s rights as ‘Raksha’ launches

By A Representative   India announced the launch of an AI-powered child protection tool named ‘Raksha’ ahead of the Government of India’s AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February 16–20. The tool was introduced at the ‘Prosperity Futures: Child Safety Tech Summit’ by Jitin Prasada, Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The summit was organised by Just Rights for Children (JRC) with India Child Protection and MeitY as partners.  
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Cricket’s textbook greats: The batsmen who defined cricket’s purest technique

By Harsh Thakor*  This analysis attempts to identify and rank the most technically correct batsmen of all time—players whose game represented the purest expression of orthodox batting . It is a subjective list that excludes statistical greatness and artistry. Genius players such as Viv Richards , Brian Lara , and Javed Miandad —brilliant though they were—are not included here because their genius often departed from the strict textbook.
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Teltumbde-edited volume examines contemporary rights challenges

By Harsh Thakor*  ‘ Whither Human Rights in India, ’ edited by Anand Teltumbde, is a wide-ranging collection of essays examining India’s human rights landscape over recent decades. The volume surveys major issues including majoritarian politics, state responses to dissent, inequality among Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims, restrictions on civil liberties, judicial functioning, hate speech, and the situation of vulnerable communities. While highlighting the perspectives of public intellectuals such as Father Stan Swamy and Professor G.N. Saibaba, it compiles assessments of how democratic rights have been experienced, contested, and curtailed.
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Advocacy group flags uneven export gains as new trade pact announced

By A Representative   The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has cautioned that India’s latest free trade agreement risks widening regional inequality, arguing that export growth remains concentrated in a small number of states despite rising national figures.
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FTA with UK a damaging precedent, 'erodes' India's position in trade negotiations

By Nandita Lal   The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is expected to be implemented in the first half of 2026. India’s journey with trade deals slowed down in the 2000s after past agreements backfired. But now, in 2025, it’s rushing into new talks with the US, UK, and EU, despite the cautionary history. Alarmingly, the warnings from rights groups in both the UK and India have been largely ignored by the press.
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Mamata Banerjee's poll plank: ‘Laxmi Bhandar’ to ‘Unnayan (development) Panchali’

By Harasankar Adhikari  In 2011, after three decades of uninterrupted Left Front rule, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) came to power in West Bengal under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Many voters, weary of a long period of political stagnation and perceived cadreism, hoped the new government would offer a more responsive and accountable administration. The expectation was that the transition would bring peace, transparency and a break from entrenched structures of party control.
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