Research Shows the World is Kinder Than We Think
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Research Shows the World is Kinder Than We Think

Many people today feel pessimistic about life and the world around them, largely because the news tends to focus on conflict, crisis and division. But a new research suggests this gloomy outlook may be misleading. The world appears to be far kinder—and more interconnected—than we often assume. Generosity, empathy and trust are widespread across societies, including in India.

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Bullets or Dialogue? The Tough Choices in Tackling Insurgency
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Bullets or Dialogue? The Tough Choices in Tackling Insurgency

As security forces wage an all-out war against Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh, citizens remain divided over how governments should handle insurgencies—whether to respond decisively with military force or first sit down for talks. The answer isn’t as straightforward as we’d like, because rebellions and insurgencies are almost always messy, complex affairs. But let’s unpack this clearly.

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Cancer-Linked Chemicals Found in Soaps, Lotions and Shampoos
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Cancer-Linked Chemicals Found in Soaps, Lotions and Shampoos

A new study has found that many personal care products used daily by women—like body lotions, shampoos, soaps and cosmetics—contain chemicals that release formaldehyde, a substance known to cause cancer. These chemicals are especially common in products used by African-American and Latina women in the United States, but some of these brands are sold widely, including in India.

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States Asked to Identify ‘Illegal’ Immigrants, Without Deportation Mechanism
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

States Asked to Identify ‘Illegal’ Immigrants, Without Deportation Mechanism

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has reportedly issued a new directive to states and Union Territories, setting a 30-day deadline to verify the citizenship status of “suspected” undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. This move is likely to create bureaucratic bottlenecks and trigger long-term humanitarian and geopolitical complications with no resolution mechanism in sight.

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Did Ashoka University Prof. Violate the Law—or Just Offend Some Sentiments?

Did Ashoka University Prof. Violate the Law—or Just Offend Some Sentiments?

The arrest of Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad points to a troubling truth about how law enforcement operates in an increasingly polarised public sphere: in a politically charged atmosphere, the threshold for prosecuting an ordinary citizen—academic or not—can be alarmingly low. All it takes is one complaint, one misreading, or one wilful distortion of a public remark. The system, instead of examining the context or the merit of what is said, responds as if the outrage itself is evidence of wrongdoing.

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‘No One Came’: Over 45 Manipur Villages Burned Say They Got ‘Zero’ Help

‘No One Came’: Over 45 Manipur Villages Burned Say They Got ‘Zero’ Help

Two years after their homes were torched and their lives uprooted, residents of 45 Kuki-Zo villages from Manipur’s Chandel district are still waiting for government recognition, let alone compensation or relief. Not one official relief camp has been set up for them, no state support has reached them in their name, and the government continues to deny that their villages were even affected in the May 2023 violence.

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India’s Alleged Secret ‘Rendition’ of Rohingya Refugees

India’s Alleged Secret ‘Rendition’ of Rohingya Refugees

Indian authorities have allegedly “abandoned”—rather than deported—40 Rohingya refugees in international waters near the Myanmar maritime border, forcing women, children and the elderly to swim to safety using life jackets. The action could be seen as a “secret rendition,” a term used to describe the covert transfer of individuals across borders without legal process.

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What Would Tagore Say About Today’s India-Pakistan War Rhetoric?

What Would Tagore Say About Today’s India-Pakistan War Rhetoric?

As India and Pakistan exchanged fire recently, Indian media turned the conflict into a nationalist spectacle—fuelling misinformation, stirring up communal identity and drowning out voices of reason. In moments like these, warnings by poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore—who wrote India’s national anthem—about nationalism read less like history and more like a diagnosis.

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The Trolling of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Shows What Hate Does
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

The Trolling of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Shows What Hate Does

Hate distorts what we expect from our governments. It teaches us to demand emotion over reason, revenge over restraint and spectacle over seriousness. It normalises irrationality. And when governments allow or tacitly support this hate to spread unchecked, it doesn’t remain focused on the supposed enemy—it turns inward, undermining public servants, weakening institutions, and sabotaging the very public interest it claims to defend. The online targeting of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is a clear example.

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Trump’s Kashmir Offer Shows the US Still Doesn’t Get India-Pakistan

Trump’s Kashmir Offer Shows the US Still Doesn’t Get India-Pakistan

By any diplomatic yardstick, U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is misplaced. It rests on one of Washington’s most enduring and dangerous misconceptions—that Kashmir is the core problem between the two countries, a notion his predecessor Barack Obama also held.

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Independent News Site The Wire Was Blocked Amid India Pakistan Tensions
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Independent News Site The Wire Was Blocked Amid India Pakistan Tensions

Independent news portal The Wire became inaccessible to readers across India on May 9 after internet service providers displayed notices saying the site had been blocked on government orders, according to the media outlet. The disruption coincided with rising hostilities between India and Pakistan and came just weeks after the 2025 World Press Freedom Index placed India at 151 out of 180 countries.

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India-Pakistan Conflict: Fresh Firing Follows Night of Heavy Cross-Border Attacks
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

India-Pakistan Conflict: Fresh Firing Follows Night of Heavy Cross-Border Attacks

From the early hours of May 8 to the morning of May 9, a sharp escalation unfolded along the India-Pakistan border, particularly around the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The 24-hour period was marked by intense military activity, with Pakistani troops reportedly resuming fire early on May 9, amid mutual accusations and growing international concern over the threat of a full-scale conflict.

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Amid India-Pakistan Tensions, What International Law Says About War
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Amid India-Pakistan Tensions, What International Law Says About War

As tensions rise between India and Pakistan, questions about what constitutes a lawful war are once again in focus. International law makes a clear distinction between jus ad bellum (the right to go to war) and jus in bello (the rules governing conduct in war). These are framed by the United Nations Charter, customary international law and treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, all of which define what states and their leaders can—and cannot—do during conflict.

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India Strikes Pakistan with Missiles; First in Over 5 Decades
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

India Strikes Pakistan with Missiles; First in Over 5 Decades

India launched a major military strike deep into Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on May 7, saying it targeted sites used by terror groups responsible for the April 22 attacks on civilians in the Kashmir region. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the attack a “blatant act of war,” promising that it “will not go unpunished” and claiming that a “resolute response is already underway.”

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Supreme Court Finds Forensic Report on ‘Manipur Tapes’ Inadequate
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Supreme Court Finds Forensic Report on ‘Manipur Tapes’ Inadequate

The Supreme Court on May 5 opened a sealed report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory on leaked audio recordings allegedly featuring former Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, in which he is purported to admit a role in the ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023. Finding the report inadequate, the Court directed the government to have the tapes re-examined and stated that neither the judiciary nor the Centre is expected to “protect anyone.”

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Delayed Census Denies Food Security to 120 Million Indians
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

Delayed Census Denies Food Security to 120 Million Indians

The delay in population Census has left over 120 million people without access to subsidised foodgrain under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The shortfall, attributed to outdated beneficiary data from the 2011 Census, is pushing millions towards food insecurity, despite the government continuing to operate one of the world’s largest food distribution programmes.

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India’s Press Freedom Ranking Improves, but Core Issues Remain
NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, May 2025 Vishal Arora

India’s Press Freedom Ranking Improves, but Core Issues Remain

India climbed eight spots in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, moving from 159 last year to 151 out of 180 countries. The index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), released on May 3—World Press Freedom Day—paints a bleak picture of India’s media environment, describing a deepening crisis that affects how journalism is practised and received across the country.

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