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The IR Meeting Obsession: A Guided Tour of the Republic of Meetings

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Dr. Sudhanshu Mani There is one arena where Indian Railways (IR) has attained absolute, hyper-velocity godhood, effortlessly bypassing the laws of space and time: the legendary railway meeting . It is a majestic, wood-panelled ecosystem where time lies frozen in a perpetual red-taped coma, yet every officer somehow arrives late, the delay increasing in perfect proportion to rank. Around a massive teak table that has comfortably outlived governments, policies and certainly the issues under discussion, assemble the bigwigs. Standing in attendance is a battalion of peons, bearing endless trays of syrupy Sarkari chai, soggy Britannia biscuits and meticulously counted roasted almonds, except for the senior-most officers who, through administrative evolution, enjoy unlimited grazing rights. Together they debate why a train that left Dibrugarh sometime during the previous geological era has mysteriously vanished from the Control Chart and is yet to arrive anywhere, though two committees rem...
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Beyond Fifty-Two Headlines: The Reforms That Matter

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  Dr. Sudhanshu Mani I recently wrote in The Hindu BusinessLine on the much-touted “52 Reforms in 52 Weeks” announcement by the Ministry of Railways in March 2026. The article is referenced at the end. The essence of what I wrote was this: Many of the so-called reforms of Indian Railways (IR), viz., cleaner general coaches, streamlined linen management, revised ticketing and boarding rules, specialised freight wagons, cargo terminals, startup innovation portals, AI applications for non-core activities, digitisation of claims, etc., are useful initiatives but largely incremental improvements rather than transformative changes. The promise of bringing cleanliness in general coaches on par with higher classes is welcome, though it raises the awkward question of why basic hygiene was ever treated as a class privilege. Freight reforms similarly arrive with fanfare, yet rail’s modal share remains stubbornly low despite years of policy tinkering. Technology initiatives, startup funding, ...
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The Rail Spine Kerala Needs: Lessons from SilverLine and Beyond

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F or a state barely 600 kilometres long, Kerala faces a transportation challenge that few others in India do. Its towns and cities flow almost seamlessly into one another, creating what is often described as a linear urban corridor stretching from Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kannur and beyond in the north. Yet, despite its high population density and intense inter-city travel, the state's transport backbone continues to rely largely on a nineteenth-century railway alignment and increasingly congested highways. In an article published in The Week on 5 June 2026, I examined Kerala's pressing need for a North-South rapid rail corridor, reviewed the rise and fall of the SilverLine proposal, assessed the limitations of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) alternative, and discussed the Kerala High Speed Rail (KHSR) proposal as a possible way forward. https://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/2026/06/05/beyond-silverline-reimagining-keralas-north-south-mobility.amp.htm...
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More Zones, Less Railway: Why Fragmentation Is No Substitute for Reform

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 Dr. Sudhanshu Mani On June 1, Indian Railways (IR) proudly added an 18th star to its official emblem to celebrate the birth of yet another railway zone, South Coast Railway at Visakhapatnam. At this rate, the logo may soon require a constellation chart rather than a graphic designer. One almost expected fireworks, commemorative stamps, and perhaps even a proclamation that the laws of railway economics had finally been repealed. Unfortunately, the new star signifies not operational progress but the continuing fragmentation of a national transporter into ever-smaller territorial fiefdoms. What is presented as decentralisation is, in reality, the steady Balkanisation of IR, driven less by operational necessity than by political considerations. I wrote about it in The Hindu BusinessLine on 2 June 2026 (link and image appened in the end) and here is a summary of that: IR was never meant to function like a collection of state fiefdoms. It was designed as a seamless national netw...
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The 1945-46 INA Trials: How it accelerated India’s independence!

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   Dr. Sudhanshu Mani Ideas such as history, freedom, nationalism, justice, and polity, which once animated the intellectual and moral life of the nation, are steadily receding from public discourse, increasingly drowned out by noise, hype, fake outrage, and shrinking attention spans. It has therefore become imperative to revive a culture of informed, open-minded dialogue and to invite distinguished thinkers and public intellectuals to share perspectives that provoke reflection rather than merely reinforce prejudice. At Awadh Conclave, we attempt to contribute to this endeavour through conclaves, discussions, and interactive sessions, both online and in person, alongside various cultural and social initiatives.   In continuation of this effort, my friend Anand Vardhan Singh and I, on behalf of Awadh Conclave, organized a reading and discussion session in Lucknow on 24 May 2026 on Dr. Ashis Ray ’s remarkable book, The Trial That Shook Britain: How a Court Martial Haste...
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