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✍️ Written by Saket Suman A democracy begins to collapse quietly when memory is treated as contraband and testimony is made conditional on permission. The most telling sites of this erosion is the uneasy space occupied by books that are written, circulated and discussed but not allowed to formally exist. Home Minister Amit Shah visiting World Book Fair in New Delhi; Via HM Across political systems, unpublished or “under review” manuscripts are often framed as incomplete, unauthorised, or unsafe for public consumption. The argument is procedural on the surface because nothing exists until it is cleared, stamped and released. But this framing misses the deeper truth.  A manuscript does not become real because a seal is affixed to it. It becomes real because it is written, because someone who witnessed events chose to place memory into language. Clearance can regulate circulation but it cannot annul authorship. Excerpts from such works enter the p...

The Budget Session of India’s Parliament descended into repeated disruptions on Monday after Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the unpublished memoir of former Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. This triggered sharp objections from the treasury benches and forced multiple adjournments before the House was suspended for the day. Rahul Gandhi ups the ante on national security; via: Shaandelhite The confrontation unfolded when Rahul Gandhi rose to respond to remarks made earlier by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who had criticised the Congress party’s record on nationalism .  Rahul Gandhi said he wished to counter those allegations by referring to passages concerning India’s military standoff with China , which he attributed to Naravane’s memoir, titled Four Stars of Destiny , and to a magazine article that had cited the unpublished book.  Highlights of Speech 02 Feb, 2026 S...

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the Union Budget 2026–27 in the Lok Sabha, outlining higher public capital expenditure, a modest further reduction in the fiscal deficit, and a package of sectoral measures spanning infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, skilling and exports, even as opposition leaders criticised the speech as lacking detail and some markets sold off on proposals to raise transaction taxes. The President extended her best wishes to the Union Finance Minister and her team for the presentation of Budget. The government set public capital expenditure at Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY2026–27, up from Rs 11.2 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, and projected the fiscal deficit at 4.3% of GDP for 2026–27, compared with 4.4% in the revised estimate for 2025–26.  The Budget Estimates peg non-debt receipts at Rs 36.5 lakh crore and total expenditure at Rs 53.5 lakh crore, with net tax receipts estimated at Rs 28.7 lakh crore.  Gross mark...

India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday rejected claims circulating in media reports that link Prime Minister Narendra Modi to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying references to the Prime Minister in newly released U.S. investigative records relate only to his official visit to Israel in July 2017 and nothing beyond that.  File Photo: July 2017: PM Modi visits Israel; Via: OyeVivekk In a statement, the ministry described other allusions in an email attributed to Epstein as “trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal” and said they “deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt.” Our statement to clarify certain reports ⬇️ 🔗 https://t.co/WvcGHeA01D pic.twitter.com/thmZFcNWsM — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 31, 2026 The clarification came after the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday released a large tranche of material connected to Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records, over 2,000 videos and about 18...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman An RTI inquiry into the digital handling of Shashi Tharoor’s Private Member Bill (Bill No. 10 of 2025) has brought into public view a series of official disclosures by the Lok Sabha Secretariat that raise fundamental questions about how India’s Parliament manages, records, and authenticates its legislative documents in a digital-first environment. The replies, issued in January 2026, place on record a system in which key elements of digital governance, including traceability, version control, and auditability, are either not maintained in a catalogued form or are not disclosed to the public. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla File Photo; Via Lok Sabha Secretariat The RTI by this writer sought clarity on who uploads parliamentary documents to the Sansad website, when these uploads take place, how subsequent changes are recorded, and what internal records exist to track these actions.  In response, the Lok Sabha Secretariat c...

Around 300 people were evacuated after a fire broke out Tuesday evening at the five-star Hotel des Grandes Alpes in Courchevel, a high-end ski resort in the French Alps, officials from the Savoie region confirmed.  Image Source: ICI Officiel The blaze began in the attic of the property around 7:00 p.m. local time and was still burning as of Wednesday morning, sending thick smoke across the area. While no guests or staff were injured in the incident, four firefighters suffered smoke-related harm, according to Savoie Prefect Vanina Nicoli.  Speaking to reporters in broadcasted snippets, she noted that 131 firefighters were working in “very difficult conditions” to contain the fire, which prompted an initial evacuation of around 200 people from the affected hotel. A second evacuation was carried out on Wednesday morning at the nearby Hotel Le Lana due to ongoing fire risks. Local authorities said evacuees were relocated to other accommodations in Courchevel.  As of midday We...

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly condemned the India–European Union Free Trade Agreement signed on January 27 , laeblling it a “wholesale surrender” of the country’s economic interests to European powers and a move that will primarily benefit elites at the cost of Indian workers, farmers and small producers. In a scathing statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said the deal entails drastic tariff cuts across key sectors, including automobiles, steel, pharmaceuticals, wines and spirits, processed foods, and meat.  Representational Image via CPIMSpeaks Under the agreement, India will reduce or eliminate tariffs on over 90% of goods imported from the EU. The CPI(M) highlighted specific tariff reductions: from 110% to 40% on automobiles, 150% to 40% on wines and spirits, 50% to zero on processed foods, 11% to zero on pharmaceuticals, and 22% to zero on iron and steel. “These cuts will devastate India’s domestic industries,” the party said.  “The EU itself projects t...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday described the newly concluded India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as a “strategic choice” that will create one of the world’s largest trading zones, combining two economic blocs representing 2 billion people and 25% of global GDP. Image Source: Indian PM NaMo Speaking at the EU-India Business Forum alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, von der Leyen called the agreement a “new era” for global trade that prioritizes “cooperation over fragmentation.”  The FTA, which will lower tariffs, simplify customs processes, and provide stable market access, comes after nearly two decades of negotiations and is expected to unlock significant economic opportunities for both sides. “European companies already employ more than 3 million people in India. In ten years, trade in goods between Europe and India has nearly doubled to €120 billion.  Now this agreement will unleash ev...

India and Canada signed a joint statement to strengthen strategic cooperation in the energy sector during India Energy Week 2026, held in Goa. The agreement marks the first high-level participation by a Canadian cabinet minister, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Timothy Hodgson, at the forum.  File Photo of Canadian PM Mark Carney; Via: Indian Tech and Infra The move renews the India–Canada Ministerial Energy Dialogue and underscores both countries’ shared focus on long-term energy security, trade diversification, and clean energy transition. The development follows directives from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister during their meeting at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, in June 2025. Both leaders had emphasized the need to restart senior ministerial and working-level engagements. In a joint statement, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and his Canadian counterpart reaffirmed their countries’ complementary energy ...