Dominic Xavier wonders whether the desi version of the Keystone Cops are in charge and if they take these terrifying, strange, decisions.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on why writer Aakar Patel -- who is also chairman of the Amnesty International India board -- is being prevented from traveling abroad.
We no longer have the ambition to rival China save through words. We are happy to be fighting ourselves and digging up disputes from centuries ago as a substitute for real development, argues Aakar Patel.
The court on Thursday directed the CBI to withdraw a Look-Out Circular issued against Patel in a case of an alleged violation of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and apologise to him.
During the arguments, the CBI opposed the application saying there was likelihood of Patel fleeing from justice if he was allowed to leave the country.
Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann passed the order on a petition filed by the CBI seeking revision of the order passed on Thursday by a magisterial court which also asked the agency to apologise to Patel.
Patel said that he was prevented from travelling to the US despite a Gujarat court order granting him permission "specifically" for the said trip.
The court set aside the direction issued to the CBI director to make a written apology to Patel for the agency's action against him.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday approached a Delhi court seeking revision of its order directing the agency to withdraw a Look Out Circular issued against Aakar Patel even as the activist filed a contempt plea against the agency, stating that he was not allowed to leave the country once again despite the court's order.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday challenged before the Delhi high court the trial court order directing the withdrawal of the lookout circular against Amnesty International India Board chair Aakar Patel in connection with a case for the alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
Like the realisation on the failure of development, we have also internalised the failure on democracy, argues Aakar Patel.
The CBI had sought the sanction of the government to prosecute the international human rights organisation because of mandatory clause of Section 40 of the FCRA.
The adjudicating authority of the Enforcement Directorate ED has adjudicated a show cause notice issued to Amnesty India International Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) and its CEO Aakar Patel for contravention of the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act and imposed a penalty of Rs 51.72 crores and Rs 10 crores respectively on them, the probe agency announced on Friday.
This new year will bring, once again, a repetition of both intent and apathy, expects Aakar Patel.
The passing of bills without Parliament, including the treasury benches, having any real understanding of what they contained through any rigorous process has accelerated through the Modi era, points out Aakar Patel.
'At home, being vegan is no real problem, and other than dairy (dahi, chhaas, ghee and kadhi) I can eat normally.' 'There is, of course, the eschewing of meat and as someone who likes (should I say liked?) Naga pork and beef steaks, and has eaten snake and dog, going vegan is unusual,' says Aakar Patel.
A Delhi court on Thursday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to withdraw a lookout circular issued against the chair of Amnesty International India Board Aakar Patel in a case of an alleged violation of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and apologise to him.
It is shameful that Kashmir Times has been attacked in the way it has and that Anuradha Bhasin has not found more voices to speak in support of her and her paper, points out Aakar Patel.
What an achievement it will be if a young Gujarati-Punjabi man is able to give the most powerful nation in the world a new direction, asserts Aakar Patel.
His victory means that his party will have to learn from him, because after the rise of Donald Trump, the Democrats have been in disarray. They have had no real answer to the Trump phenomenon and Zohran, with his emphatic and clear policies aimed at working class Americans offers them a national path for a return, asserts Aakar Patel.
This has been our history of good governance: Things that were difficult to do and required planning and implementation were first taken up and then abandoned, notes Aaakr Patel.
There has never been a moment in India's history when it has been so adrift in the world, so confused about what it stands for and against and so humiliated, asserts Aakar Patel.
'Xi is an individual led by a harder calculus and would scoff at melting over gestures.' 'That we did not know this was our failure,' asserts Aakar Patel.
'The law under the guise of security represents a grave and unnecessary expansion of State power at the cost of fundamental rights,' asserts Aakar Patel.
The answer is to be found in the rise of the global south and in particular, the rise of China, explains Aakar Patel.
In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.
The stock and bond markets told Trump firmly that any idea of isolating China would lead to harming the US economy and this forced Trump to backtrack, points out Aakar Patel.
'As we read and assess what is going on around us in the India of 2025, it is instructive to do this through the lens of 75 years ago and the events that led to the formation of the BJP as we know it,' recalls Aakar Patel.
This might help explain why our global outreach has received such a tepid response. We have chosen to be transactional with the world, as our UN votes reveal, points out Aakar Patel.
'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.
There is a reason this 11 year phenomenon is a rule as much as it is an observation. It speaks to the nature of man and what humans are like, explains Aakar Patel.
We have entered a new era in human history, asserts Aakar Patel.
Abul Kalam Azad chose not to contest Congress Presidency and to throw his weight behind Nehru, instead of Patel, a decision he would come to regret. Patel would have seen his plan through, while Nehru, in Azad's opinion 'gave Jinnah the opportunity to sabotage' it, notes Aakar Patel.
The US involvement in Ukraine and the Middle East is a distraction which has to end quickly so that the main business of China can be focussed on. China is America's only peer competitor, not Russia and not anybody else. Therefore it makes little sense to be diverted from the overall mission, explains Aakar Patel.
It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.
Manmohan Singh represented the finest aspects of India, asserts Aakar Patel.
Our visa operations in Bangladesh constitute the largest visa operations India conducts worldwide. This has taken a hit after Sheikh Hasina's government was overthrown and India reduced its diplomatic presence in Bangladesh, notes Aakar Patel.
I think the 'What-if-it-had-been-Patel?' sentiment represents a yearning for more of what we are already seeing around us in India today, observes Aakar Patel.
Today even those who support Prime Minister Modi feel there is a certain sense of listlessness in this government. What is it intending to achieve? This is not easy to say, notes Aakar Patel.
The long term trends on violence in Kashmir are positive and India must secure these gains further, asserts Aakar Patel.
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