Theprint

ThePrint.in is a news, analysis, opinion & knowledge media company that sharply focuses on politics, policy, government and governance. Start your mornings with our journalists who bring you the big story of the day in ThePrintAM. ThePrintPod offers you our special reports and opinions for when you‘re on the go. End your day with our most popular show ‘Cut The Clutter’ by Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta. But that’s not all. We also have Pure Science, National Interest, ThePrint Uninterrupted, Global Print, Politically Correct and PoliTricks. This is a special episode of Cut The Clutter, in that it deals with two issues. One is the controversy over the claims made by Twitter cofounder & former CEO Jack Dorsey that the platform received shutdown threats from the Modi government over tweet activity on the farmers’ protests. As an Opposition leader, Narendra Modi pretty much stole the social media march over his opponents with his efficient uptake of the new tool. So, how did we get here? Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta explains in Ep XX. As for the other issue, we are taking forward last week’s National Interest on the emergence of a new Indian elite. Press play to hear the conversation it started. ----more----Read Twitter statement here: https://blog.twitter.com/en_in/topics/company/2020/twitters-response-indian-government----more----Read Shekhar Gupta's National Interest here: https://theprint.in/national-interest/college-pedigree-daddys-name-bbc-accent-no-longer-golden-ticket-...

Beijing [China], June 9 (ANI): The modern People’s Republic of China (PRC) has not only adopted Sun Tzu’s philosophies but all Chinese military troops appear to have memorized his work, reported The Times of Israel. Sun Tzu was a military strategist who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. He is famously known for his book ‘The Art of War’, a guide on how to successfully engage in conflict and battle. Vas Shenoy, a political researcher, writes in The Times of Israel that phrases such as indirect strategy, maximum profit with minimum effort, avoiding combat, some and mirrors, and deceit, are the terms used by Sun Tzu. Russia’s attack on Ukraine today has brought war back to Europe. Vladimir Putin’s attack on Kyiv does not follow Master Sun’s maxim that an enemy should be subdued without a fight, but China has continued to prefer cold wars over hot wars. With the exception of Xi Jinping, every member of the Central Military Commission is a general or admiral who has mastered the “Art of War” to the letter, wrote Vas Shenoy. The first precept of Xi Jinping’s China is the employment of espionage and unconventional warfare. China has more active hackers (live agents) than the majority of other nations. The most active spies are those that aggressively seek economic, technological, and personal information and spread misinformation, as per The Times of Israel. There are no restrictions on what the PRC can do, from selling surveillance cameras to survey streets...

New Delhi: A US academic has advocated that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest microchip manufacturer, be wired for self-destruction in the event of an invasion by China to deny the country access to the technology. Jared M. McKinney, an assistant professor of international security at the US Air Force’s Air War College, highlighted in an opinion piece for Nikkei Asia last week, the significance of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and its vulnerability in the event of a Chinese invasion. Referring to Democrat Seth Moulton’s comments last month that the US should “blow up the TSMC” in case of a Chinese invasion — which the Congressman later said was blown out of context by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — McKinney suggested that the US should instead support Taiwan’s strategy involving self-destruction of key semiconductor nodes in order to deter China from accessing its vital chipmaking capabilities. McKinney is the co-author of a 2021 research paper that proposed examining the potential role of the TSMC in deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Semiconductors are used in a variety of important electronic products. There has already been a global shortage of this vital component during the pandemic when chip manufacturing companies scrambled to meet the increased demand. Talking about his paper, McKinney wrote, “The original argument was not that the US should threaten to bomb TSMC — a hostile act that might result ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping says his country’s national security issues have become ‘significantly more complex and difficult’. Beijing makes no mention of disengagement in its statement after the 27th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination, aka WMCC, on India-China border affairs. The Chinese defence minister blames the United States for practising ‘hegemony’ at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Chinascope examines a tense week where the US and China came close to conflict – while trying to avoid war. China over the week The National Security Commission is a signature institution of Xi’s era. The Commission held its first meeting on 30 May under the 20 th Party Congress – a significant development this week. During the meeting, Xi emphasised the need to prepare for extreme situations while underlining the threat posed by artificial intelligence. “We must adhere to bottom-line thinking and worst-case scenario thinking, and prepare to endure severe tests even in high winds and rough seas”, Xi wants to shape the external security environment that is beneficial to China. “The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to guarantee the new development pattern with the new security pattern, actively shape an external security environment that is beneficial to us, better maintain open security, and promote the deep integration of development and security,” the Chinese premier Further, the meeting Beijing has been conc...

What’s going on next door to India? Three seemingly separate developments add up to something that makes them look not so separate after all. Pakistan buying up Russian oil with yuans, China going on an LNG importing spree, and, even more surprisingly, emerging as the top importer of a product — wheat — that it’s the top producer of. In Ep 1252 of Cut The Clutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta looks at the three developments, and the unconventional maths that appears to tie it all together.----more----https://www.producer.com/news/china-may-become-worlds-biggest-wheat-buyer/----more----https://archive.is/2023.06.12-222803/https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/12/china-natural-gas-russia-ukraine-war-energy/ • 21 min • Tupsaa , 19/11/2022 AF-PAK AF-PAK can of worms. A great analysis giving us clarity on a topic and region which is full of opaque mist. Thanks Shekhar. Cut the clutter- on Shraddha Walkar murder was masterfully done with cold logic and facts, shorn of melodrama and hype. Thanks. Would love to have more such interactive sessions. Dr Krishnadas , 10/09/2022 Excellent Thanks for cutting the clutter. Enjoying the podcast. One small suggestion. We can have a daily 10-minute episode covering all the significant happenings nationally and internationally, which will be helpful for students preparing for current affairs exams, and we don't need to hear the soap news on most TV channels.