A wall poster in the premises of Patan Durbar Square, Lalitpur, tributing to those who died during the Gen Z protest. Photo by Pragyan Srivastava

As Nepal Goes to the Polls, Deepfakes and AI Manipulation Undermine Democracy

The smartphone that freed a generation is now being used against it. The platforms that carried the protest are now carrying the smears. The digital spaces where young Nepalis found their political voice are today flooded with manipulated images, fake audio, and AI-generated lies targeting the very candidates their movement made possible. The weapon and the wound are the same object.

Nepal’s Gen Z Seeks Alternative Politics, But Fragmentation a Concern

Politicians, who were silent, complicit, or even instigative during last September’s tragedy, are trying to rebrand themselves on social media to be palatable to “Gen Z” - Nepal’s youth population that was instrumental in overthrowing the last government, leading to comparisons with Bangladesh’s ‘Monsoon Revolution’ of 2024 and Sri Lanka’s Aragayala of 2022. 

'Honour’ Still Tries to Silence Women With Community-Sanctioned Enforcement

What links these cases — Pakistan, Britain, India, the Netherlands — is not geography or faith, but backlash. ‘Honour’ is used as a pretext to kill not because women are obedient, but because they are not. It is activated when women seek education, choose partners, leave abusive homes, testify in public, or simply insist on being treated as full human beings.

 

Challenges Facing an AI-Geared World: A Robot Called Out the Failings in India’s Higher Education System

How do our regulators allow a university to function with almost every leadership position, academic and administrative, occupied by a member of the promoter family? How does patent filing become a game, as alleged in this case, or how does a paper authored under the university on banging vessels to kill the coronavirus get written? The incident brought to sharp light how India has slipped into an education system run on high fees by private institutions with questionable credentials.

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Ela Bhatt: One of India’s most consequential campaigners for women's empowerment and societal harmony

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Google's bigness has become bothersome: Tech giant now in India's competition watchdog's crosshairs

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Biden’s putdown of Pakistan: More to it than meets the eye

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Canada on a suicidal course: Giving a free run to South Asian separatists and terrorists could boomerang

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The population myth, prejudice and dangers of a misguided policy

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How the battle against insurgency was won in Tripura

A mere look at the map of Tripura showed that the insurgents were operating from the hills where there was no police presence as all the police stations and posts were on the main roads. I was convinced that we should move into the hills.

He crossed boundaries for India's freedom: Musings at the feet of Gandhi in London

The statue has cost substantial money but is fully funded by the public through a charitable trust managed by a number of Indians residing in the UK. The chair of an advisory group that oversaw the project was former Pakistani-origin mayor and minister Sajid Javed.

Right to free food: India will need to carefully do the cost-benefit analysis

An increase in support of free food means cutting back on maybe health, education, infrastructure, military or pension benefits. The government cannot escape these difficult fiscal tradeoffs.

Gandhi remains as relevant today as in his time

Thus the mantra of development should be spirituality with high technology. Both these things allow us to reduce our greed for resources and live in harmony with nature – something that Gandhi preached intuitively all his life.

A paean to Mahatma Gandhi and his inclusive philosophy

But for Gandhi, India's political destiny would have been vastly different and her moral stature vastly inferior.

The long road to the ‘Right to Health’ in India

Clearer commitments and standards on access and quality, making oversight and redressal mechanisms more participatory, and allocating adequate financial resources alone would make the right to healthcare to all citizens a reality. 

How India won the race to Siachen

The book is a must-read for all policymakers, diplomats, academics and civil and military personnel who have an interest in Siachen.

India needs to be more open to free trade

In a world slowing down due to a recession, even if our share of trade goes up from 3 to 4 per cent, that would be a huge boost for the Indian economy. And that is eminently feasible only if we are less afraid of open and free trade.

Recalling a 'black chapter' in Punjab's history: Flawed decision-making that proved costly for India

The book, in many ways, is the last word on the tragic and defining years of Punjab’s turmoil that took a large number of lives.