The constitutionally enshrined federal structure of governance in India, which represents the distribution of legislative and fiscal authority between the centre and the states, has long been at the centre of political debate in the country. Although India's constitutional framework is designed to promote federal cooperation, the actual distribution of power between the centre and states remains deeply contested. Illustration by The Geostrata The tension has surfaced again wi

For millions of young Indians, a competitive examination is far beyond a test of knowledge and intelligence. It is the result of years of discipline, consistency, family sacrifice, and the unwavering hope that they will be able to change their fortune by clearing the exam. Parents empty their savings, students postpone celebrations, move into coaching ghettos, and spend countless hours preparing for what they believe is the fairest path to a better and secure future. The equa

Walking into a Metropolitan civic body on any particular working day in India, one would notice that the person signing off on critical determinants of urban life in the water pipeline contracts, hiring sanitation staff, and deciding ward-specific allocations is not the mayor. The person who determines these is the municipal commissioner, typically an IAS officer answerable to the chief secretary rather than to the electorate. The mayor is often a short-term appointment whose

The notions of inefficiency and corruption dominate the critique of the Indian bureaucracy. While all critiques of too much red tape, power, and corruption carry undeniable merit, they miss a different layer of failure of this structure of Indian governance. Independent India inherited one of the most capable machines built by a colonial power and repurposed it in so many ways that the original capability is impossible to express. The real issue is that we use our most traine

Before democracy became a system of elections, it was an idea. An idea based on certain ideals. These ideals encourage responsible leadership and institutions that are transparent, accountable, and committed to the common good. Democracy is ultimately measured by the place they accord to the citizen. It has spent centuries perfecting the art of choosing those in power and has spent just as long trying to perfect the art of questioning them. Illustration by The Geostrata Acros

“Let a Prince set about the task of conquering and maintaining his state, his methods will always be judged honourable, and he will be universally praised” ~ Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince). Politicians are never as idealistic as they appear. One of the central ideas that Machiavelli discusses is that rulers must master the art of appearing virtuous without necessarily being bound by virtue itself. Politics has always been far from coherent with morality. Throughout history

The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 did not merely divide territory but set in motion a prolonged geopolitical contest over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Although the Instrument of Accession legally integrated Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Union, Pakistan’s invasion and continued occupation of parts of the erstwhile state gave rise to what are now referred to as Pakistan-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) and Gilgit Baltistan, and since then, two cont

India never truly planned to urbanise at all, and that is exactly why it finds itself with over 500 million people living in towns and cities that it never truly decided to build, or at least properly planned to. No sector in Indian policy demonstrates the gap between policy intent and administrative reality quite like urban governance. The fundamental issue in the sector, in simple terms, is that Indian cities have been given far too much responsibility without the actual po

In 2023, India crossed the historic milestone of having the greatest population, as it exceeded China's, and now, in 2026, the number has gone up to 1.47 billion, with headlines shouting the phrase “overpopulation.” The old colonial slurs about India’s people “breeding like rats” have started to echo, however faintly, in modern conversation nowadays. Illustration by The Geostrata With an overwhelming increase in public discomfort, an important question starts to emerge: Is In

Nationalism is aptly described as a political ideology born out of centuries of conflict and one that prioritises the interests, culture and sovereignty of a nation-state. This single idea fractured into competing schools of thought over the course of the 19th century. Each redefined what a nation was, who belonged to it, and even who had the right to say its name. Illustration by The Geostrata FORMATION OF THE IDEA German Romantic thinker Johann Gottfried von Herder, in reac

The recent political buzz in Tamil Nadu, driven by the political entry of C. Joseph Vijay, whose party, TVK (Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam), won 108 seats in the assembly elections, has once again highlighted the deep-rooted connection between cinema and politics in India. Unlike sudden political entrants, Vijay has evolved gradually in his engagement with public life. Illustration by The Geostrata Since the late 2000s, and particularly in the 2010s, his fan associations, most not

US President Donald Trump is set to visit China from May 13 to 15 for the Trump-Xi Summit, amid recent tensions on tariffs, the US’s sanctions on five Chinese refineries for purchasing Iranian oil and the new Chinese anti-sanctions law asserting that these sanctions “shall not be recognised, enforced or complied with”. Illustration by The Geostrata Although President Trump sought to ease these tensions with his new Board of Trade proposal to resolve trade-related issues and p

On April 12, 2026, Péter Magyar, the President-elect of Hungary, stood before thousands of hopeful supporters in Budapest and declared that together they had 'liberated Hungary.' The scale of his Tisza party's victory was, undoubtedly, historic. Tisza secured an estimated 138 seats in the 199-seat National Assembly, which means a firm two-thirds constitutional supermajority, ending the sixteen-year tenure of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party. Illustration by The Geostrata A regime

Wages are a perennial issue in the Indian market, and this was exemplified during the recent labour unrest in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, during the month of April, which brought attention back to India's changing labour laws and the difficult realities of putting them into effect. What started as a protest over pay problems slowly turned into tense fights in some parts of the industrial area. There were reports of injuries and damage to public property, including cars being set on

Lauded for its diversity by the world, India hosts 6 major religions, over 50 recognised tribal faiths, and hundreds of other smaller indigenous traditions within its territory. As a way of preserving this myriad of faiths, personal laws have prevailed in the fabric of our legal structure since colonial times . Acting as a set of regulations governing private matters on grounds of religion, its need, and subsequent impact on national unity and complications in legal admin

The evolution of transgender rights in India is marked by judicial intervention and legislative mandate. The journey started with the landmark judgment of National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (NALSA), 2014. In this verdict, the Supreme Court recognised transgender individuals as a “third gender”, upholding their fundamental right of equality and dignity and affirmed the right of ‘self-identification’. Illustration by The Geostrata This legal framework was later

Historically, various forms of governments have emerged, ranging from coercive– authoritarian, totalitarian, dictatorial, despotic, fascist, autocratic, to participative models like democracy. Somewhere between the spectrum lie forms of governance like monarchy, oligarchy, kleptocracy, and the very recent ones like broligarchy. These terms may sound similar and at times used interchangeably, but their essence does differ- Same, Same but Different! Illustration by The Geostrat

Embedded in our history, scriptures, and sciences, the transgender community has made an indelible mark on what we proudly deem to be our culture. Composed of Hijras , eunuchs, Kothis, Aravanis, Jogappas, Shiv-Shakthis etc, the community finds its roots tracing back to the Vedas, Puranas, and other significant oral and written traditions like the Ramayana. Illustration by The Geostrata The community is often referred to as ‘napunsaka,’ which means someone with the inability

The framers of the Constitution of India were wise enough to understand the vast, dynamic and expansive nature of the country. Therefore, by placing the sovereignty of India in its Constitution, it allowed for a quasi-federal relationship between the centre and the state. The administration of the evolving urban areas comes under the domain of each state, respectively. Illustration by The Geostrata Thus, one can say it's an individual performance-based public management of re

Held from the 4th of March, 2026 to the 12th, the “Two Sessions” , the annual meeting of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) — the People's Republic of China’s national legislative body — and the 4th session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s paramount political institution, marked a critical event in shaping Beijing’s agendas for the year 2026. Illustration by The Geostrata An estimated 5,000