TK Arun

TK Arun

TK Arun is a Senior Journalist and Columnist based in Delhi.
  • Articles: 0

Nationalist Entrepreneurship and State Resistance: The Rise and Fall of Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company

VO Chidambaram Pillai is not a household name. He comes up rarely in any list of the heroes of India’s freedom movement. He deserves better. From Tuticorin, a coastal town in southern Tamil Nadu, he promoted, raised funds for, and ran, Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company (SSNCo), to take on the might of the British India Steam Navigation Company, and of the British empire itself. And failed. And that failure illustrates what happens if you are the antithesis of the much-reviled crony capitalist.

Navigating Clean Energy: Revolutionizing Hydrogen Production

Missing the wood for the trees is a common occurrence, when obsessive focus on one or more parts obscures the whole. It is more unusual to see a wood swallow a generally admired tree, prune it of its uniqueness, and leave the observer missing its grace and charm. Indians had the occasion to experience such loss, when Vistara merged with Air India last week. True, both airlines belong to the Tata Group, and it does not make sense for the Tatas to operate multiple airline brands. We hope the sleek functionality of Vistara will rub off on Air India, instead of getting lost in the maw of the much larger, older and relatively lugubrious airline.

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