The internet in India turns 30— and we’re going back to where it all began.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO8pnOiP6Fg EDGE, a new podcast by the Museum of Digital Society × Digital Empowerment Foundation, kicks off with Episode 1 (1995–2000).

In this episode, Osama Manzar takes us back to the days of dial-up sounds, floppy disks, early newsrooms going online, and a time when the internet felt like pure magic. From curiosity and trust to the first moments of borderless connection, this is the story of how India met the web.

Comment: Around 30 years before that we had the SITE, the Instructional TV experiment at PIJ, which alongwith the B & W TV stations at Mumbai and Delhi promised programming which were developmental, Amchi Mati Amchi Mansa, Adult Education on TV,  etc.   Even today we have several opportunities for young people to make use of the digital for empowerment, yet they prder to go with the Corporate led algorythms

This is the story of people we barely know exist: they are the world’s uncontacted Indigenous groups. A stark warning, issued by Survival International, an NGO: these little-known and little-understood people may vanish within a decade. In its first global inventory of uncontacted people, possibly the most accurate count yet, identifies at least 196 groups in 10 countries across South America, Asia and the Pacific, including India. The report, Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples at the Edge of Survival, is unequivocal: more than 96 per cent of these groups face life-threatening danger from extractive industries. What is unfolding is not a natural decline but a slow-motion annihilation, driven by profit, state power and global indifference.

https://newdelhipost.co.in/the-silent-genocide-the-looming-extinction-of-the-worlds-last-uncontacted-peoples 

by MAMATA CHITNIS SEN

December 2025

The Physical copy of this article is available in CED clippings file "L12"

Whose Economy Is it, Anyway? Privatisation, Monopolies and Budget Speak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C5lOpEHGaw  The names of Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani have come up a lot during elections particularly as opposition parties have alleged that increasing privatisation and wealth concentration in the hands of a few billionaires has been at the expense of larger public. But what has been the impact of such policies? 
Is privatisation in India today truly about broad-based economic dynamism or is it fostering market concentration and monopolisation across key sectors—from airlines and ports to energy, telecom, and banking? What will be the consequences for  employment, labour rights, credit access, and affordability in an unequal economy marked by rising household debt? And what can we expect from the upcoming budget?  Surajit Mazumdar, Professor, Center for Economic Studies and Planning,
Jawaharlal Nehru University; Aditi Mehta, former IAS Officer and Amitanshu Verma, Researcher, Centre for Financial Accountability.

Detained at Mumbai airport, UK doctor’s plea over social media posts against BJP draws HC notice to state https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/bombay-hc-seeks-states-response-to-uk-doctors-plea-against-fir-for-post-against-bjp-leaders-10488448/ 
UK doctor and YouTuber Sangram Patil was detained on his arrival at Mumbai airport on January 10 and later prevented from leaving for the UK.  a plea by UK doctor and YouTuber Sangram Patil seeking the quashing of an FIR against him for alleged objectionable social media posts against BJP leaders. A British national of Indian origin, Patil also alleged that the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him by the Mumbai police was illegal. 

https://lawtrend.in/bombay-high-court-issues-notice-to-mumbai-police-on-plea-by-uk-based-doctor-booked-over-social-media-post-on-bjp-leaders/  Patil, a British citizen of Indian origin and native of Jalgaon, was first detained at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on January 10, upon  his arrival from the UK. He was reportedly questioned for over 15 hours. On January 16, when he attempted to return to Manchester, he was again stopped and not permitted to leave the country due to the LOC.   (The FIR is based )...  on a complaint filed by Nikhil Bhamre, the Maharashtra BJP’s social media coordinator. Bhamre alleged that he came across the objectionable post online.

: India Bets on Common Digital Currency, Joint Navies & Russia's Starlink Rival  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI_2RAgO4vI  Think BRICS the expanded BRICS countries are making significant announcements, including India's Chairship launch and the RBI's digital currency initiative. These developments point to a major global power shift in how global commerce and security operate, highlighting the growing financial sovereignty of the global south. This signals a shift in geopolitics and economics.

India's central bank proposes linking BRICS' digital currencies, sources say
 https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-central-bank-proposes-linking-brics-digital-currencies-sources-say-2026-01-19/  By Jaspreet Kalra and Nikunj Ohri India's central bank has proposed that BRICS countries link their official digital currencies to make cross-border trade and tourism payments easier. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended to the government that a proposal connecting the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) be included on the agenda for the 2026 BRICS summit,

RBI’s BRICS Digital Currency Proposal: A Step Towards De-Dollarisation? Nidhi Thakur January 21, 2026 https://www.swastika.co.in/blog/rbis-brics-digital-currency-proposal-a-step-towards-de-dollarisation 
The Reserve Bank of India is known for its conservative and well-calibrated policy approach. Any participation in a BRICS digital currency framework would likely be:
    Limited to trade settlement, not domestic use
    Fully compliant with FEMA and RBI regulations
    Introduced in pilot phases before scaling up

India’s regulatory focus remains on financial stability, capital controls, and systemic risk management.

This is why the proposal is better viewed as an additional option rather than a replacement for existing systems.

The death of a lifeline called NREGA  https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/the-death-of-a-lifeline-called-mgnrega    Ajit Ranade

VB–GRAMG dismantles the justiciable right to work; it recentralises control, shifts the fiscal burden to states and weakens labour’s bargaining power in rural India. 

NREGA  gave legal status to the State’s obligation—under Article 41 of the Constitution—to secure the right to work, turning it into an enforceable entitlement

. The EGS was financed through a tax on urban workers and backed by a statutory guarantee of rural employment. Its genius lay in its
simplicity: work on demand, locally determined public works, and wages paid as a matter of right

 The design of EGS itself was inspired by pilot projects implemented in the early 1960s, under the leadership of V.S. Page, a dhoti-clad Gandhian, who was the Speaker of Maharashtra’s Legislative Council for a record 18 years

SHANTI or surrender?  an unsettling shift in India’s nuclear liability regime and governance 

the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010  did not confine liability solely to plant operators—the entities that run nuclear facilities—but extended it to suppliers as well. These suppliers include manufacturers and vendors of reactors, components, fuel and nuclear technology. Clause 17(b) of the 2010 Act empowered operators to seek compensation from suppliers if a nuclear incident resulted from defective equipment or substandard materials, preventing any link in the supply chain from evading responsibility.

Russia and France chose to work within India’s legal framework.  American corporations...created a geopolitical impasse, chilling US
nuclear bids in India despite the landmark 2008 Indo–US Civil Nuclear Agreement... sought to  dilute Clause 17(b), with the argument that it diverged from international frameworks such as the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage. 

SHANTI 2025 decisively removes supplier liability, placing full accountability on the plant owner—typically a public-sector entity such as the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL)

Aravalli, India’s backbone, is on the verge of breaking  https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/aravalli-indias-backbone-is-on-the-verge-of-breaking   Rajendra Singh, National Herald, 28th December 2025 Mine owners slapped dozens of false cases against me; the police too harassed me.
But back then, there were laws to protect environmental activists—and those laws were enforced. In those days, the mountain and its
protectors were safe from mining predators. Today, who knows what has changed, but no one is willing to heed the anguish of the
Aravallis. Those who understand it want to save it, but the saviours today have their back to the wall. 

 Why Lokpal’s Reports Haven’t Reached Parliament in 3 Years? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eku62nHfzoM Shristi Jaiswal The Wire Jan 21, 2026 Lokpal was created as an independent watchdog to fight corruption at the highest levels of power, but serious questions are now being raised about its autonomy. In this video, The Wire’s Shruti Sharma speaks to journalist Srishti Jaswal, the author of an investigative report that reveals that Lokpal’s annual reports have not been tabled in Parliament for the last three years. The discussion explores why these reports were delayed, where the system is breaking down, and what this means for transparency and democratic accountability. Does this failure point to a deeper problem with Lokpal’s independence? Watch the full conversation.

 https://thewire.in/government/why-lokpal-annual-reports-havent-been-tabled-in-parliament-for-three-years  “Since appointment for presentation of Annual Report for the Year 2022-23 and Year 2023-24 and also for the year 2024-25 did not materialize in spite of best possible efforts, it was decided by the Full Bench of Lokpal (Chairperson and six Members) to present both the Annual Reports (combined for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 and another for 2024-2025), with a forwarding letter and a letter of the Chairperson to the Hon’ble President of India.” (sic)