अंग्रेज़ों की कालोनियों के स्वतंत्रता का समय चित्र  इंपीरियलिज़्म या साम्राज्यवाद की दुनिया में ब्रिटेन को सबसे बड़ी शक्ति माना जाता था, जिसका साम्राज्य अफ्रीका के तट से लेकर इंडोनेशिया और उससे आगे ऑस्ट्रेलिया तक फैला हुआ था। साउथ अफ्रीका जहां महात्मा गांधी ने रंगभेद के खिलाफ अपना पहला सत्याग्रह किया, से लेकर ऑस्ट्रेलिया, जहां आज भी औपचारिक रूप से ब्रिटिश राजसत्ता को अपना मुखिया मानता है, जो उस साम्राज्य की दीर्घकालिक विरासत को दिखाता है। द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के बाद ब्रिटेन को यह एहसास होने लगा कि उसकी साम्राज्यवादी शक्ति क्षीण होती जा रही है और दूर-दूर फैली कॉलोनियों को चलाने की लागत उसके लिए अत्यधिक बोझ बन गई है। इसी कारण ब्रिटेन ने क्रमशः अपनी विभिन्न कॉलोनियों को स्वतंत्रता देना शुरू किया, पर इस क्रम में भारत को एक विशिष्ट और अग्रणी स्थान मिला। भारत ब्रिटिश साम्राज्य की सबसे बड़ी और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण कॉलोनी होने के बावजूद सबसे पहले स्वाधीन हुआ, जबकि अन्य कॉलोनियाँ 1960  के दशक से लेकर 1970 और कुछ तो 1980 के दशक तक ब्रिटिश शासन के अधीन रहीं। तो ऐसा क्या कारण था कि सबसे बड़ी और ...

"The Maratha Military Landscapes of India have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as India's 44th World Heritage property." 🔴 BREAKING! New inscription on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List: Maratha Military Landscapes of India, #India 🇮🇳. ➡️ https://t.co/seTyyVu3sT #47WHC pic.twitter.com/mEpa6RWLRx — UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) July 11, 2025 That simple announcement from UNESCO filled me with immense pride. It is not every day that the world pauses to recognize a part of our collective history, and this recognition is long overdue. As someone who now lives in Mumbai, and proudly traces his roots to Maharashtra, these forts are not just monuments on a map. They are familiar silhouettes on the Sahyadri skyline, stories narrated by grandparents, and enduring symbols of courage and resilience. They have shaped the identity of this region for centuries. Yet, alongside that pride, I feel a sense of disappointment. Within hours o...

India’s Heaviest Communication Satellite # CMS03 successfully launched by LVM3-M4 from SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota . https://x.com/ISRO/status/1985027440645972189 — ISRO (@isro) October 31, 2025 India launched its yet heaviest satellite weighing close to 4.5 tons today - a monumental achievement in itself. But this achievement is more significant when seen in context of India’s aspiration to launch a Space Station within the next decade. Demonstrating the maturing strength of ISRO’s heavy-lift infrastructure, beyond symbolism, this capability directly relates to the next great frontier: deploying the homegrown space station. Artist’s illustration of India’s Bharatiya Antariksh Station . Credit: ISRO ISRO has already announced its intent to place a “Bharatiya Antariksh Station” in low-Earth orbit by the early 2030s . To do this, India will need to routinely lift large, pressurized modules, crew capsules, and cargo vehicles into orbit - much like what the ...

The government recently came up with a proposal to allocate ₹2,000 crore - nearly a fifth of the outlay of ₹10,000 crore from the PM eDrive initiative - to setting up 72,000 EV chargers nationwide. The Union Government has asked states to secure land and install infrastructure (such as transformers and sub-stations) to avail the subsidy, enabling rapid deployment of 72 k chargers across the country. Since the government has not announced a detailed structure for setting up the chargers, it is likely that this fund may get utilized more in urban areas where more EVs are being sold. I would argue however that we should be doing just the opposite. This may sound counter-intuitive, but one of the largest hindrances in rapid adoption of EVs is the range anxiety people feel when—even if only occasionally—they embark on a longer drive, typically on highways. Many potential buyers think: “I drive locally 80 % of the time—but what if that one out-of-town trip leaves me stranded?” In Indi...