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COLONIAL ERA NEWS

Switzerland's invisible empire in India: The story behind Voltas

July 11, 2026 11:06 am

Switzerland had no colonies, yet its companies profited from empire. The hidden history behind Voltas reveals how colonial trade, race, and the air conditioner became unexpectedly intertwined.

During 1857 revolt, British power wrote its own innocence. The script isn't unfamiliar for our times

May 08, 2026 4:46 pm

Contemporary corporate and geopolitical power relies on narratives that make structural violence disappear into abstractions. Like sepoys of 1857, when farmers, workers, indigenous peoples or small states push back, the dominant frames often pathologise them – as misled, emotional, extremist, or anti-development

The President's secretariat reamarked that the venture is part of a series of moves being taken in an effort to wash away traces of colonial mindset.

President Murmu unveils Chakravarti Rajagopalachari's bust at Rashtrapati Bhavan, replaces Lutyens's

February 23, 2026 6:42 pm

Rahstrapati Bhavan's staircase at Ashok Mandap now features a bust of Rajagopalachari replacing that of Edwin Lutyens, who was the principal architect of a number of buildings in New Delhi.

Can a civil servant dance at a party or go to a beauty parlour?

February 11, 2026 3:59 pm

Public servants are frequently criticised for dancing, singing, dressing casually, or engaging in leisure activities in their personal time. As a society, we continue to operate within a colonial inheritance that draws a sharp line between those who govern and those who are governed

We must get rid of colonial legacy of Governors addressing legislative assembly

January 23, 2026 7:49 pm

By digressing from the speech or walking out of the Assembly during the special address protocols, Tamil Nadu and Kerala Governors have shown disregard for the constitutional provisions and allegiance to the Centre

From a dark colonial past to a ceremonial chair: how Mumbai’s mayoral post came to be

January 23, 2026 12:01 pm

As Mumbai prepares to get its 59th mayor, the office, now largely symbolic, can be traced back to a controversial colonial past often described as one of the darkest chapters of British rule in the city

The Madras High Court said that with the new laws, the criminal process has been consciously re-engineered to be justice-oriented, in contrast to the colonial enactments.

Madras High Court hails new criminal laws, says they prioritise timely justice, accountability

December 17, 2025 2:32 pm

Madras High Court on new criminal laws: Justice L Victoria Gowri said that the new criminal laws embody a shift from a "punitive colonial framework to a justice-centric democratic framework".

Cultural slavery or equal citizens? The liberal imperialism of Macaulay

December 06, 2025 8:47 am

Macaulay’s Minute on Education altered history for sure. It did not, however, sink India, nor did it snuff out its culture. As Macaulay intended, the English language only created another class of Indians

Indian nationalists learnt from Macaulay to give it back to them. What we must learn from it

November 27, 2025 1:49 pm

The challenge for 21st-century India is to create an education system that is neither slavishly Western, nor defensively insular, one that takes the best from all traditions while remaining rooted in India’s pluralistic reality

Tavleen Singh writes: There are other examples of colonial governance the PM appears not to have noticed

November 24, 2025 2:30 pm

For things to really change you need institutions that are led by real historians (not pamphleteers), philosophers, scientists, scholars, linguists, writers and thinkers. These are the people that have been alienated by the religiosity and hate mongering of those who lead the Hindutva movement.