Inside story of Anna Hazare movement: Ex-IAC member speaks out  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMGcP5jfALA  The News Minute  Jul 31, 2023  
A former national committee member of Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement has made a stunning disclosure: that the 2011 Anna Hazare Movement was allegedly orchestrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In an exclusive interview with The News Minute, Chandra Mohan divulged critical details about how the right-wing forces were allegedly behind the protest, which altered the political dynamics of the country and remained a crucial reason behind the downfall of the Congress-led union government. The movement helped the BJP craft a strong anti-corruption narrative that brought the party back to power with a thumping majority in the 2014 general elections. Even after nine years, the BJP continues to leverage the anti-corruption narrative to target the opposition.

With new investment pact, India moves to bind its economy to Israel  https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/investment-pact-india-moves-bind-economy-israel
Azad Essa 14 September 2025 Already complicit in Israel's genocide through weapons production and political support, India now deepens its alignment with a new trade deal

And it does appear that a significant goal of this deal is to protect Adani's investments in Haifa Port, as well as an attempt to keep the India Middle East Corridor (IMEC) - an economic corridor linking India to western markets - alive.

The IMEC corridor, underwritten by the US and envisaged as a trade route to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has been marred with obstacles since Israel's genocide in Gaza began. 

But given the timing of the pact between India and Israel, this is also very much about politics, diplomacy and the projection of strength and trust. 

For more than a decade, India has been the largest buyer of Israeli weapons, and the genocide has not altered the course of this relationship.

Moreover, over the past two years, the two countries have signed deals in water technology, cybersecurity, and agriculture - sectors in which Israel has built entire industries on the back of its occupation of Palestinians.

As of 2024, trade between India and Israel amounted to around $4bn annually.

Ballots, bulldozers, and bombs - The India–Israel alliance https://youtu.be/I_P3uE81D4M 

 Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi On Judicial Reforms & Justice Delivery  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVM_2cQuHY0 

You know the field of administration of justice is a field full of paradoxes.
In India, we have the highest and the fanciest flights of juristprudence, the most sophisticated, nuanced doctrines. In the bench and in the bar, the best and the brightest in the world. A vibrant pulsating democracy. A dynamic legal system. Among doctrines like PIL, like basic structure, judicial review of a scale and magnitude which would make the judges of Marberry and Madison blush. No other place on planet earth has judicial review of the kind we have here.

And yet the paradox, the sad paradox is that we must hang our head in shame when we turn to the scourge of Aar's backlog the battle of the bulge. The theme of this address
we have been sermonizing, lecturing, seminaring, talking for the last many many decades on this scourge of errors, pendency, delay etc. And yet under our very nose from the 2018 figure of 3.5 crores which if you tell any foreigner is shocking enough from the 2018 figure of 3.3 crores we are now and this is a figure 2 years old July 23 a parliamentary stated figure of 5.02 02 crores.
Under our very noses, we have climbed the wrong hill and achieved the wrong milestone. How long will we blame COVID? How long will we keep on appointing committees, commissions?
My favorite quote about these bodies is what a wag once commented which I love to repeat.
A committee is the group of the unfit appointed by the unwilling to do the
unnecessary. So you can keep on appointing them and getting their reports till the cows come
home. But under your noses the areas have ballooned from 3.3 crores to 5.02
crores.We have to change our entire perspective and follow Gandhi G's dictim. Customer
is king. This system is not for you the potential lawyer, me the current lawyer
or him the judge. This system is for that customer. The litigant Gandhi G called him customer is king.
That perspective has to change. The litigant more often than not that
customer wales. He says,
"Every case resolved promptly is a reaffirmation that the law exists for citizens and not the other way around
that the citizens ex exist for the law. If we do not pull up our socks,
indeed our shoes and legs, we are going to suffer from Igbal's
famous and unforgettable words about the unpardonable sin he said.

 Why India's South is surging while its North is struggling  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0HVE0abC2o   Sep 11, 2025  #migration #dwbusiness #india
India is racing toward becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy. But behind the headlines lies a stark reality: the South is booming with tech and investment, while the North struggles with poverty and migration. DW’s Akanksha Saxena travels across both regions to uncover the widening divide — and its impact on India’s future. 

Aspi Shroff: We are in a loneliness epidemic.

And the irony is, we’ve never been more connected. Group chats light up every evening. Emojis substitute affection. Instagram tells you who’s getting married, who’s gone abroad, who’s making reels about growth.

But no one tells you they cried in the shower. No one tells you they sat with dinner and silence for the fifth night in a row. Loneliness doesn’t always look like isolation. In India, it often looks like ritual. You show up for Diwali dinners. You wear the kurta. You pose for the photo. You smile. But inside, something is missing.

We were never built for this much distance. For centuries, India functioned as a web of closeness. Families lived under one roof, not out of compulsion but culture. Your neighbors knew your name. You shared dahi. You shared grief. You fought over mangoes. You borrowed sugar. You didn’t need to ask, “Can I come over ?” You just did.

But then came the upgrade.

We moved into better houses. Bigger salaries. Smaller lives. The kids who once played gully cricket now swipe through reels. The women who once shared evening tea now compare Amazon deals. The men who once sat together reading newspapers now forward news they don’t read.

We replaced intimacy with information. Now everyone knows where you are. But no one knows how you are. We are lonely not because we lack people, but because we’ve stopped showing our hearts.

I see it when friends text me “All good” and then confess breakdowns at 2am. I see it in people who work late, not because they love the job, but because going home feels emptier. I see it in fathers who haven’t hugged their sons in years. In daughters who fake laughter so their mothers won’t worry.

Even in love, loneliness hides. You live with someone. Share a bed. But the silence grows. The touch fades. The conversations reduce to logistics.

“Did you pay the bill ?” “Are we going to your cousin’s wedding ?” “Did you order groceries ?”

You forget to ask, “How’s your heart ?”

We are raising a generation that knows how to hustle, but not how to hold each other. And when someone breaks — as they inevitably do — we send them a playlist. A meme. A quote. But we forget the oldest Indian tradition — sitting. Just sitting. With someone. In silence. Without answers. Without fixing. Just presence.

We don’t need more content. We need more company.

The next time you feel alone, pause. Don’t scroll. Don’t perform. Call someone. Ask nothing. Just stay.

And the next time someone says, “I’m just tired,” Listen carefully. Because tired often means — I miss.

A piece of myself that I no longer recognize. Sometimes, what we miss isn’t a person, but a version of us that laughed without filter, cried without shame, and felt life in its rawest form.

So let us return — not to the past, but to presence. Let’s bring back slow conversations, soft hugs, honest eyes, and unapologetic warmth. Because no matter how fast the world runs, the heart heals only at the speed of connection.

 India's NGOs Aren't Fading, But Fighting For A New Beginning https://www.businessworld.in/article/indias-ngos-arent-fading-but-fighting-for-a-new-beginning-571121 Shatadru Chattopadhayay   Faced with global headwinds and domestic pressures, the path forward for India’s NGOs is not one of retreat, but of strategic reinvention. Survival demands a pivot from old models to a new playbook rooted in radical transparency, local resilience, and an unwavering commitment to their core mission.

First, they must embrace radical localism.

Second, the sector must build an Indian moat against financial shocks.

Third, they must find strength in unity. 

Fourth, true impact means designing for handover. The ultimate goal of any development project should be its own obsolescence.

Finally and most critically, NGOs must guard the flame of their guide-dog role. While partnerships with government and corporations are essential for scaling up service delivery, they cannot come at the cost of silence.

So the question is not whether NGOs have a future, but whether we have the foresight to protect them through clear, predictable rules, timely payments, and support that rewards outcomes and integrity. If we let them wither, we weaken ourselves.

The End of the Age of NGOs? How Civil Society Lost Its Post–Cold War Power  https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/end-age-ngos  The End of the Age of NGOs? How Civil Society Lost Its Post–Cold War Power Sarah Bush and Jennifer Hadden
July 3, 2025 Over the past decade, traditional NGOs have been replaced by new actors: auditing firms such as PwC or Deloitte, strategy consultancies like McKinsey, impact investors, social enterprises, corporate foundations, ESG advisers, sustainability certification agencies, venture philanthropy funds, accelerators and incubators, outcome-based service contractors, data platforms, policy labs, think tanks, and research universities. ..New analyses from Catalyst 2030 suggest the ecosystem is bigger, estimating up to 3 million charitable nonprofits nationwide. Government registries only account for a small part of the sector. In 2009, the Central Statistical Institute of India reported 3.3 million registered NGOs, roughly one for every 400 citizens, showing how civil society has grown beyond early estimates in size and reach..

.In an era where new actors like social enterprises and corporate foundations are entering the development space, classical non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remain an indispensable pillar of a democratic society. Their unique contribution lies in their independence. Unlike for-profit entities or government-led initiatives, classical NGOs are driven by their mission and values, not by profit motives or political agendas. 

Faced with global headwinds and domestic pressures, the path forward for India’s NGOs is not one of retreat, but of strategic reinvention. Survival demands a pivot from old models to a new playbook rooted in radical transparency, local resilience, and an unwavering commitment to their core mission.

First, they must embrace radical localism.

Second, the sector must build an Indian moat against financial shocks.

Third, they must find strength in unity. 

Fourth, true impact means designing for handover. The ultimate goal of any development project should be its own obsolescence.

Finally and most critically, NGOs must guard the flame of their guide-dog role. While partnerships with government and corporations are essential for scaling up service delivery, they cannot come at the cost of silence.

So the question is not whether NGOs have a future, but whether we have the foresight to protect them through clear, predictable rules, timely payments, and support that rewards outcomes and integrity. If we let them wither, we weaken ourselves.

Civil society pushes on, holds Stan Swamy lecture https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/civil-society-pushes-on-holds-stan-swamy-lecture-101757790622297.html  This lecture is an act of resistance; resistance to suppression of freedom of expression, resistance to bulldozing our democracy and constitution, resistance to an attempt to intimidate marginalised sections of society and educational institutions, in what can be taught, what lectures are arranged, and what cannot, and their being dictated by Hindu nationalist organisations, which have a political agenda and muscle power to exercise it,” said Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS).

Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture: Speakers stress on struggles of tribal, migrant communities https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/stan-swamy-memorial-lecture-speakers-stress-on-struggles-of-tribal-migrant-communities-10248387/

Father Prem Xalxo “Migration is migration. It is what makes us, and it is the story of hope amidst misery for countless tribal families pushed to cities for survival,”  He highlighted the difficult realities faced by tribal migrants, saying, “They are uprooted from close-knit communities and placed alone in unfamiliar lands, compelled to adjust to new, often harsh realities. Many work in homes where respect for their rights and dignity is fragile or absent.” Father Prem underscored the need for collective empowerment and community solidarity. He stressed that migration should not be viewed solely as distress but also as a survival strategy rooted in hope. 

"The nexus between Indian politics and big business has become stronger"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zffbZYcSxJE  - Prof Jagdeep Chhokar Paranjoy Online  RIP Professor Chhokar. Indian democracy has become stronger because of your path-breaking initiatives and will be all the more weaker without you.

" political funding is very very intricately intermingled with criminalization of politics.  in the 2019 election, the number of
members of the lower house of parliament who have criminal cases against them is 43%.
there are multiple reasons, political parties say people should not vote for such people. On the other hand, some people like us say that unless you dominate them, people cannot vote. So why do you nominate them? 
And this brings me to the criminal and finance  nexus. a lot of activities happened during the election campaigns which are not legally permitted