Jawaharlal Nehru famously said about his daughter Indira Gandhi, “She is a remarkable woman. You may love her or hate her, but you cannot ignore her.” Similarly, after over two decades in politics, Indira Gandhi’s grandson Rahul Gandhi has also reached a stage where he cannot be ignored in Indian politics, as he is now shaping the national agenda and compelling the Modi government to respond to his demands and criticisms. This marks a significant evolution in Rahul Gandhi's political influence from being dismissed earlier to becoming a key opposition figure.
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N Chandrababu Naidu became the youngest Chief Minister of a unified Andhra Pradesh at the age of 45 in 1995 and has served four terms, known for his visionary governance focusing on economic reforms, infrastructure development, and technology-driven growth, including transforming Andhra Pradesh into a power-surplus state and promoting initiatives like “One Family, One Entrepreneur” and developing Amaravati as a “Quantum Valley” hub.
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Under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 in India, journalists do not strictly need "informed consent" from individuals to process personal data for public interest journalism, provided the data is used responsibly, anonymized, and not exploited commercially; similarly, journalists do not need consent from public officials like UIDAI to report on systemic issues, as press freedom and public accountability are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and the Right to Information Act, 2005.
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The 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Tianjin, China, resulted in the "Tianjin Declaration," which strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, specifically mentioning the April 2025 Pahalgam attack in India and terror attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan province. All 10 member nations, including India and Pakistan, signed the declaration emphasizing collective commitment against terrorism.
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The Indian NGO "Educate Girls" has won the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award, making it the first Indian organization to receive the honor. Founded by Safeena Husain in 2007, the NGO works to bring out-of-school girls into classrooms in rural India. The award, considered Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, recognizes its efforts in impacting over 2 million girls across 30,000 villages. The ceremony will be held in Manila on November 7.
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Democratic India is rebuilding relations with autocratic China in 2025 amid America’s legal and leadership crises, which threaten to erode US global influence and reset the world power balance toward the East.
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Despite digital disruption, television remains India’s most trusted and impactful medium, reaching 900 million viewers and serving as the foundation for mass brand building, cultural storytelling, and enduring consumer trust.
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With the US and EU retreating from climate leadership in 2025, the Global South—especially China, Brazil, India, and South Africa—is stepping up, shaping the climate agenda at COP-30, scaling up renewable technology, and forging new frameworks for equitable green growth and South-South cooperation.
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COP30 is the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) scheduled to be held from November 10 to 21, 2025, in Belém, Brazil. It serves as a key global platform for climate negotiations, aiming to advance international climate action and implement agreements like the Paris Agreement. The conference will focus on climate finance, energy security, and sustainable development, with Brazil leveraging its presidency to emphasize the Amazon's critical role in global climate regulation.
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In August 2025, India’s manufacturing sector showed strong growth with the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rising to 59.3, its highest level in over 17 years, indicating robust factory activity and order inflow, contrasting with China’s continued manufacturing contraction due to trade tensions.
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Elon Musk’s AI company xAI and social media platform X (formerly Twitter) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of giving preferential treatment to its AI partner OpenAI and ChatGPT, which allegedly hinders competition and innovation from rival AI superapps, highlighting ongoing tensions in the tech industry over Apple’s control of the App Store ecosystem.
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Thailand's political scene has been marked by frequent interventions from the Constitutional Court and the military, leading to multiple prime ministers being removed from office over nearly two decades. The recent dismissal of Thailand's youngest prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is another example of this ongoing instability, where court rulings and military influence continue to shape the country’s leadership transitions. This reflects the persistent political turbulence in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
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Southeast Asia's largest economy is Indonesia, with a nominal GDP of approximately $1.475 trillion as of 2024-2025, making it the biggest economic power in the region ahead of Thailand and Singapore. Indonesia's economy is driven by abundant natural resources and a rapidly growing middle class.
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The name of the joint military exercise between India and Thailand taking place in Meghalaya is "Exercise Maitree." The 14th edition of Exercise Maitree is being conducted from September 1 to 14, 2025, focusing on company-level counter-terrorist operations in semi-urban terrain under the United Nations Charter
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