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1 month ago | 
theprint.in | Rakesh Sood
Political leaders make use of media, including social media, for signalling to different audiences, both at home and abroad. But there is a good reason why diplomatic discussions and negotiations are conducted in camera. It permits the parties concerned to protect the image of the leaders, allow diplomatic summitry to maintain the aura of gravitas, and control the narrative. The Trump-Zelenskyy encounter is an example of how both sides lost control of the plot.
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Oct 4, 2024 | 
thediplomat.com | Rakesh Sood
The beginning of the nuclear age in 1945 generated two conflicting emotions among scientists, superbly captured in the film “Oppenheimer.” One was a sense of achievement at unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and the other was apprehension at having created a bomb so destructive that it could destroy humanity.
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Oct 3, 2024 | 
tribunecontentagency.com | Rakesh Sood
The beginning of the nuclear age in 1945 generated two conflicting emotions among scientists, superbly captured in the film “Oppenheimer.” One was a sense of achievement at unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and the other was apprehension at having created a bomb so destructive that it could destroy humanity.
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Jun 29, 2024 | 
orfonline.org | Rakesh Sood
The Doomsday Clock was set up in Chicago in 1947 by a group of scientists associated with the US project to make the first nuclear bomb. Now, an international group of eminent scientists re-calibrates it annually after assessing the dangers posed to humanity from unrestrained scientific and technological advances. In 1991, as the Cold War ended, it was moved to 17 minutes to midnight, the farthest it has ever been from doomsday.
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Feb 9, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Rakesh Sood |R.K. Radhakrishnan |Vaishna Roy
The economic shock of COVID-19 in 2020-2021 and subsequent escalating debt burdens, the ongoing Ukraine war now in its third year, and, in 2023, the eruption of the Gaza conflict, repeatedly jolted the economies of all countries in South Asia. The smaller and more vulnerable economies of all of India’s neighbours have been hit hard, leading to countrywide protests and in some instances, even street violence in 2023.
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Jan 31, 2024 | 
thehindu.com | Rakesh Sood
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day this year, making it his third visit to India, after his 2018 state visit and last year for the G-20 summit hosted by India. Coming within six months of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on July 14, 2023, as the chief guest at France’s Bastille Day, it is clear that the two countries do share a ‘Strategic Partnership’ that is special.
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Jan 24, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Lakshmi Sreeram |Rakesh Sood |Vaishna Roy
As a teen growing up in a relatively orthodox and religious family, my favourite deity was Rama worshipped at a little temple near our apartment in Wadala in Mumbai. The dark vigraham (stone statue) was beautiful; I said many a prayer to that deity, and I loved being in that presence. Like my mother, I, too, wrote hundreds of “Sriramajayam” in a notebook. And yet I feel no joy at the Rama temple in Ayodhya.
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Jan 23, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Iftikhar Gilani |Rakesh Sood |Vaishna Roy
As the dust settles now on the recent tit-for-tat airstrikes, Iran and Pakistan are finalising a strategy to launch a joint operation to clear the Balochistan-Sistan region from militants on both sides of the border—something akin to 1973. This will form one of the major issues when Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meets his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani on January 29 in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Jan 23, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | R.K. Radhakrishnan |Rakesh Sood |Vaishna Roy
he current diplomatic row between India and Maldives began on social media via troll exchanges set off by PM Modi posting photos of his visit to Lakshadweep. This led to people tweeting #BoycottMaldives on X-a move that many believe was driven by the new Maldivian President’s anti-India stance.
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Jan 22, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Rakesh Sood |Vaishna Roy
The 47th edition of the Chennai Book Fair, which concluded on January 21, reaffirmed the values of reading and literature, but also signalled the growing revival of Periyar. E.V. Ramasamy (popularly known as “Periyar”) today has a legacy that is both celebrated and debated, but seeing at least 60 of the 900-odd bookstalls stock at least one Periyar book felt like a reaffirmation of his importance. Like him or hate him, you cannot ignore Periyar.
