MMDR Amendment Bill: India’s Mineral Future Cannot Be Left to State Politics

By BPN News Desk August 31, 2026

Op-Eds Opinion

The political argument surrounding the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 is being presented as another familiar Centre-versus-states confrontation. Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik has warned that the legislation undermines Odisha’s fiscal autonomy.

Op-Eds Opinion

Pune’s DJ Debate Must Rise Above Religion and Politics

By BPN News Desk August 31, 2026

Pune is once again approaching Ganeshotsav with an argument that has become almost as predictable as the festival calendar itself. On one side are Ganesh mandals and organisers who want the freedom to celebrate with elaborate sound systems. On the other are residents who say that what is described as celebration increasingly means hours of […]

Op-Eds Opinion

178 Indians Missing in Nepal: Why Is the Rescue Response Still So Fragmented?

By BPN News Desk August 29, 2026

For hundreds of families across India and elsewhere, the catastrophe unfolding along the Nepal–Tibet border is not a satellite image, a casualty figure or another breaking-news notification. It is a silent telephone. It is a WhatsApp message that remains unread. It is the photograph of a husband, wife, parent, sibling or friend whose whereabouts have […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Brands Must Learn That Religious Traditions Are Not Disposable Creative Props

By BPN News Desk August 25, 2026

The controversy surrounding Kriti Sanon’s Raksha Bandhan advertisement has now moved far beyond the question of whether one outfit was appropriate for one festival. What began as criticism of a jewellery campaign has developed into a wider argument about how brands use religion, culture and tradition as commercial assets — and what responsibility comes with […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Eggs Allegedly Thrown at Ganpati Procession: Fadnavis Must Send a Clear Message

By BPN News Desk August 24, 2026

What happened in Mumbai’s Mazgaon on Sunday night cannot simply be filed away as another brief episode of tension during festival season. A Ganpati arrival procession was passing through the locality when organisers alleged that eggs were thrown towards the procession. The allegation immediately triggered anger, confrontation between groups and a massive police deployment

Op-Eds Opinion

The True Economics of Ethanol: How Many Times Is India Subsidising E20?

By BPN News Desk August 24, 2026

India’s ethanol programme has been sold to the public through an exceptionally attractive proposition. Blend domestically produced ethanol into petrol, reduce dependence on imported crude oil, save foreign exchange, create an additional market for Indian agriculture and put more money into the rural economy. At a time when geopolitical conflicts can send crude prices

Op-Eds Opinion

Who Is Targeting Abhishek Upadhyay the Journalist Who Pursued the Ram Temple Donation Theft Case?

By BPN News Desk August 24, 2026

Journalist Abhishek Upadhyay is back before the Supreme Court. This time, the immediate issue is an FIR registered by Ghaziabad Police over an alleged road-rage incident near Shipra Mall on August 18. But reducing the controversy to a traffic altercation misses the much larger question surrounding the case. Upadhyay was among the journalists who pursued […]

Op-Eds Opinion

RHA Is Turning Dipke’s Own Playbook Against Him – And BJP Could Be The Biggest Winner

By BPN News Desk August 22, 2026

Something important happened at Jantar Mantar on August 21, and it would be a mistake to view it merely as another protest over reservation. The Reservation Hatao Andolan, or RHA, brought together protesters questioning caste-based reservation, demanding greater emphasis on merit and economic disadvantage, and challenging what they see as an expanding political culture of

Op-Eds Opinion

Shruti Bhadana, Neeshu Azad, Shraddha Singh: If Women Demand Equality, Why Should an Apology Replace Accountability?

By BPN News Desk August 21, 2026

India has spent decades debating equality between men and women. Women have rightly demanded equality in education, employment, politics, property, opportunity, public life and personal autonomy. The principle behind that struggle is simple: an adult woman is an independent citizen, capable of making her own decisions and entitled to the same dignity and opportunities as

Op-Eds Opinion

Pakistan Preached Kashmiri Rights To The World. PoK Just Exposed The Farce

By BPN News Desk August 20, 2026

For decades, Pakistan has carried Kashmir into virtually every international arena available to it. At the United Nations, in meetings of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, in diplomatic exchanges and through its political leadership, Islamabad has repeatedly presented itself as the champion of Kashmiri political rights. Its argument has been familiar: Kashmiris