India – Page 2 – The Unknown Srivaishnava

There can’t be a disenfranchised population of 66 million in the world’s largest democracy: What the Supreme Court can do about it.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls under the Election Commission of India has led to the removal of roughly 6.56 crore names from the draft electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories. While the Commission frames this as a technical cleanup—striking off duplicate entries, non‑citizens, and those restored as deceased—the human realityContinue reading “There can’t be a disenfranchised population of 66 million in the world’s largest democracy: What the Supreme Court can do about it.”

Has India’s budget spending on Defence and National Security been as smart and wise as Iran’s turns out to be today ?

Please take a good, long and hard look at the table below . India’s total defence budget outlay has risen 8 fold in the last 25 years ( $11 billion to $91 billion) while Iran’s has risen only 3 times (from around $3 billion to $8 billion in the same period). In 2001, India andContinue reading “Has India’s budget spending on Defence and National Security been as smart and wise as Iran’s turns out to be today ?”

Is India equipped to fight modern conventional and asymmetrical warfare with lethal drones ? 3 Questions.

My 3 questions to AI this morning: The ongoing war in Iran and Ukraine confirm that modern warfare today is prosecuted not with battle tanks and fighter jets but with lethal drones . 1. Is India equipped and weaponised in that department? 2. Is there a major chink in India’s Defence preparedness for modern warfare.Continue reading “Is India equipped to fight modern conventional and asymmetrical warfare with lethal drones ? 3 Questions.”

Here’s why PM Modi remains mum on the ongoing Us-Israel War against Iran

https://youtu.be/LfGcX4XuZ5A?si=eI-TrBmS3Dw3JFoO The above video discusses the Middle East’s reaction to Iran’s attacks and the US’s role in the region. It is a very sober and sagacious assessment. It’s America that is the real villain of the piece here . It’s very clear what the larger American imperial strategic game here is : 1. The targetContinue reading “Here’s why PM Modi remains mum on the ongoing Us-Israel War against Iran”

“Move over Monroe, it’s now the “Donroe Doctrine” that’s taking control over a “rules-based World Order”!

Commenting on the above Op-Ed and headline subject, this morning I had a lively exchange of views on WhatsApp with a very respected friend of mine in Bangalore who is also a retired IAS officer having served with distinction in an erstwhile PMO (Prime Minister’s Office). He wrote : “No country is safe if RICContinue reading ““Move over Monroe, it’s now the “Donroe Doctrine” that’s taking control over a “rules-based World Order”!”

“Brahmins as secret Muslims”: Devdutt Pattnaik’s hodge-podge he tries selling as exotic delicacy

Devdutt Pattanaik’s recent framing of “Brahmins as secret Muslims” and his analogy between Brahminical and Islamic ways of life rests on several contestable historical, textual, and sociological assumptions that can be systematically challenged. The “secret Muslims” thesis collapses very different histories and concepts into a single polemical frame. A counter‑narrative can be built by takingContinue reading ““Brahmins as secret Muslims”: Devdutt Pattnaik’s hodge-podge he tries selling as exotic delicacy”

The European Union (EU): a “tin-pot republic” in stark contrast to India’s sophisticated and enduring political Union?

The ongoing Russo-Ukraine War has badly exposed the fragility and instability of the political unity and integrity of Europe and NATO. Watching the scenes and debates inside the European Parliament makes one suspect that the Union is rapidly fraying at its seams which may give way anytime soon. As an Indian looking at the theContinue reading “The European Union (EU): a “tin-pot republic” in stark contrast to India’s sophisticated and enduring political Union?”