Op-Eds Opinion

Dharmendra Pradhan Must Own the UGC Equity Rules

By BPN News Desk January 26, 2026

The University Grants Commission’s new “Promotion of Equity” regulations were projected as a corrective step to address caste discrimination on Indian campuses. Instead, they have exposed a far more uncomfortable truth about how the Indian state now defines equality. The controversy is not about whether caste discrimination exists. It does. The controversy is about who

Op-Eds Opinion

Cricket Boards Are Not Foreign Ministries

By BPN News Desk January 26, 2026

Cricket boards were created to run a sport, not to act as unofficial foreign ministries. Yet today, cricket is being dragged into political signalling so routinely that the line between governance and geopolitics is collapsing in plain sight. Two recent episodes make this impossible to ignore. Bangladesh’s refusal to tour India, without any ICC sanction […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Why India Needs Its Own EMP and HPM Weapons Now

By BPN News Desk January 26, 2026

Donald Trump’s recent remarks about the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sounded bizarre on the surface. A “secret weapon” that made enemy systems simply stop working, rockets that would not launch, buttons that did nothing. Strip away the theatrics and the name-calling, and what remains is something far more serious: an open admission that […]

Op-Eds Opinion

From Textile Shutdowns to Street Power: How Bangladesh Is Sliding Toward Pakistan’s Model

By BPN News Desk January 25, 2026

Bangladesh’s textile shutdown threat is not just an industrial dispute or a trade policy misfire. It is the first visible crack in a deeper state failure. When an economy built around one sector begins to choke, politics does not stay neutral. Power shifts. Narratives harden. Street mobilisation replaces institutional debate. This is how countries slide, […]

Op-Eds Opinion

What the Bangladesh Turmoil Means for India’s Eastern Security

By BPN News Desk January 25, 2026

India is watching Bangladesh’s political upheaval not as a distant democracy debate but as a direct challenge to its eastern security calculus. What makes the current churn especially concerning for New Delhi is not just internal political instability, but the visible role of external actors, explicit diplomatic signalling, and the sidelining of a long-standing governing

Op-Eds Opinion

Maharashtra’s EV Push Is a Template Other States Must Copy

By BPN News Desk January 24, 2026

Maharashtra has taken a practical step that deserves appreciation: it is not just announcing an Electric Vehicle policy, it is funding it and executing it. The recent clearance of ₹60 crore for EV incentives and toll waivers is not a headline-grabbing mega number, but it is exactly the kind of credibility signal that changes market […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Public Health Victory or Policy Gamble? Odisha’s Tobacco Ban Explained

By BPN News Desk January 24, 2026

Odisha’s decision to impose a complete ban on gutkha, pan masala, and all tobacco products deserves clear recognition as a public health-first move. In a political environment where revenue considerations often dilute health policy, the state has chosen to prioritise long-term societal well-being over short-term economic convenience. That choice matters. But while the

Op-Eds Opinion

Bombay High Court Is Right on Air Pollution, MPCB and MMRDA Must Also Be Held Accountable

By BPN News Desk January 24, 2026

The Bombay High Court’s decision to openly question the failure of civic authorities to control air pollution, and its warning that salaries of top municipal commissioners could be stopped, deserves clear appreciation. In a system where air pollution has been normalised as a seasonal inconvenience rather than treated as a public health emergency, judicial intervention […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Why the West Pressured India on Russian Oil Without Wanting Supply to Stop

By BPN News Desk January 24, 2026

Western capitals have spent the last two years telling their publics that sanctions are choking Russia’s war machine, and that the rest of the world is falling in line. India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, became a prime stage for this storyline. The pressure on New Delhi to cut Russian crude has been loud, constant, […]

Op-Eds Opinion

From Soybeans to Pulses: The Self-Inflicted Wounds of US Trade Wars

By BPN News Desk January 23, 2026

The damage to American agriculture did not begin with India’s pulse tariffs or China’s soybean bans. It began when the United States decided that unpredictability was a negotiating tactic and that global trade could be strong-armed without consequences. Under President Donald Trump, tariffs became less an economic instrument and more a political performance. Farmers were