VK News Today https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html Serena Williams receives unexpected comeback verdict from ex-WTA 1000 champion Ethiopian proverb of the day: ‘When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion’ — How collective action can defeat great power Bank holiday on June 26: Will banks be closed on Muharram? Check city-wise list of closures A van, a crane and a blast: Ujjain viral video shows dangerous mid-air stunt during Muharram procession; 4 booked Venezuela twin earthquakes: Death toll rises to 164; over 1000 injured, search for missing continues Jun 25, 2026, 22:52 IST ‘Won’t be right’: Run-scorer should not be dropped just to play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, says India coach SK Hynix overtakes Samsung: How a 14-year AI chip bet made it South Korea’s most valuable listed company Khushbu Sundar’s daughter Avantika ties the knot with Shravan Sreenivasan in Goa; Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Trisha, Anil, Jackie among guests ‘Told him I didn’t want to marry’: Siya Goyal claims Ketan Agrawal refused to end engagement; fresh twist in Lohagad murder probe | Pune News German proverb of the day: ‘The stupidest farmers have the biggest potatoes’ — a witty reminder that success doesn’t always go to the smartest people ‘Situation escalated’: Hours after threatening journalists, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Dina Patil apologises | India News Shafali Verma joins elite club, matches Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj in T20 World Cup records Discount diplomacy: Usha Vance’s $8.75 maternity dress delivers a priceless message Indian man in Boston pleads guilty to visa fraud; took part in a fake robbery to get U visa Intelligence Bureau NEW DELHI: The government has appointed senior IPS officer Mahesh Dixit as the next Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the country’s domestic intelligence agency, PTI reported on Thursday.The appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dixit, a 1993-batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, currently serves as Special Director in the agency.He brings extensive intelligence and security experience to the role, including a stint as chief of the State Intelligence Bureau in Jammu and Kashmir.Dixit will succeed incumbent IB Director Tapan Deka, who was appointed in June 2022. Deka subsequently received two one-year extensions, in June 2024 and June 2025.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.About the AuthorTOI News DeskThe TOI News Desk comprises a dedicated and tireless team of journalists who operate around the clock to deliver the most current and comprehensive news and updates to the readers of The Times of India worldwide. With an unwavering commitment to excellence in journalism, our team is at the forefront of gathering, verifying, and presenting breaking news, in-depth analysis, and insightful reports on a wide range of topics. The TOI News Desk is your trusted source for staying informed and connected to the ever-evolving global landscape, ensuring that our readers are equipped with the latest developments that matter most.”Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosThreat To Journalists? Shiv Sena MP’s Remarks Trigger Political Storm In MaharashtraWhy India Has Given Dinesh Trivedi Cabinet Minister-Equivalent Status In Bangladesh?From Deportation Calls To Racist Attacks: The Rise Of Anti-Indian Sentiment In The US’Congress, BJP & SAD Joined Hands’: Punjab CM Mann Blames Opposition For ‘Conspiracy’India-Pak Backchannel Talks Continue In Colombo And Bangkok Amid Diplomatic Freeze: ReportsIf Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID And Passport Aren’t Final Proofs, What Actually Makes You Indian?Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Meet Lok Sabha Speaker, Stress Constitutional Process On Party ClaimsArmy Officers, 40 Troops Booked For Allegedly Storming J&K Police Station, Assaulting Cops | WatchNagrasu Gurdwara Standoff Ends Peacefully, But Questions Mount Over Police Handling Of OccupationStrait of Hormuz Is Open, Crude Is At $75; So Why Is India Still Paying War Prices?123Photostories7 places on Earth that are compared to hell and yet travellers keep going10 baby girl names that symbolise renewal and positivity in different languagesSuccess quote of the day by Kunal Shah: ‘There are no over-ambitious people; only dreamers with no plans’Psychology says women comfortable being alone often share these 8 powerful traitsPushy parenting does more harm than good: What it is and 5 signs you may be oneThis everyday habit before work could be quietly damaging your performanceInside Samay Raina’s luxurious Mumbai house: A massive living area, a streaming room and morePM Narendra Modi loves this iron-rich South Indian dish; here’s how you can make it at homeThe surprising history of alta: Why Indian women paint their feet blood-redReal Madrid star Vinícius Júnior’s ₹64 crore-worth mansion is packed with a private cinema, two swimming pools and a football trophy cabinet123Hot PicksCharles OliveiraKetan Agrawal MurderMike Vrabel ControversyAashna DoshiSujata Rout KarthikeyanED KelceNHL Trade RumorsNFL Trade RumorsAndy RoddickTop TrendingSundar PichaiVenezuela NewsRithuparna KSFIFA World Cup 2026Venezuela earthquake NewsMumba Local Train MurderMEA PassportNandani BosmiyaMK StalinMumbai Local Train News Harmanpreet Kaur should stick to her natural, attacking game: Diana Edulji India Vs Bangladesh: Women’s T20 World Cup: Shafali Verma fires India past Bangladesh to keep semifinal hopes alive | Cricket News Switzerland records hottest June day in history; Basel reaches 38°C as Europe grapples with heatwave Netra AEW&C uses the Brazilian Embraer EMB-145 airframe as its platform and on which is mounted an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar in its dorsal fin. NEW DELHI: The indigenously-developed Netra Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system, which is India’s specialised “eye in the sky”, achieved a big milestone on Thursday when the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which developed the complex technology, on Thursday handed over the final operational clearance (FOC) certificate to the Indian Air Force (IAF). FOC means the system is fully combat-ready after completing all trials and validations.The Netra AEW&C is a specialised airborne radar and command centre designed to detect incoming projectiles, ships and aircraft at long ranges, identify friend from foe, and direct friendly fighters in real time. It provides real-time battlefield management, 250–500+ km detection ranges, and 300° to 360° radar coverage to track hostile aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.Netra AEW&C uses the Brazilian Embraer EMB-145 airframe as its platform, on which is mounted an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar in its dorsal fin. The three such aircraft were earlier delivered to the IAF with an initial operational clearance and had played a stellar role as the operational brain guiding the IAF during the Feb 2019 Balakot airstrikes.Defence minister Rajnath Singh said the “FOC achievement marks not only a technological milestone, but also a strategic advancement in strengthening India’s airborne surveillance and command-and-control capabilities. Defence secretary and DRDO chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh also congratulated DG (aero) and Team AEW&C.Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, deputy chief of the air staff, who was present at the FOC certificate ceremony in Bengaluru, said: “It’s a proud moment. This isn’t merely the culmination of an indigenous technology programme, but a celebration of the unique partnership between the IAF and the scientific community in fulfilling India’s quest for Atmanirbharta,” he said. Former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria (Retd), former DRDO chairman S Christopher, senior officials and engineers of the air force and DRDO and Netra projects were also present at the ceremony.In a video message, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, said the achievement assumes greater significance amid a rapidly changing geopolitical environment. Dixit also welcomed the planned expansion of the Netra programme through the induction of six additional aircraft, expressing confidence that future projects would replicate the success of the indigenous airborne early warning system.Narrating the successful journey of Netra, director general of the aeronautics cluster of DRDO, K Rajalakshmi Menon brought out the challenges faced and decisions taken that enabled the achievement of the programme objectives and delivered the operationally capable system to IAF.Besides Netra AEW&Cs, India also operates three Russian IL-76-based Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS). The Phalcon system, mounted on Russian IL-76 aircraft with improved engines, is equipped with advanced radar capable of detecting airborne and surface threats at long ranges, including cruise missiles and aircraft.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosWhy India Has Given Dinesh Trivedi Cabinet Minister-Equivalent Status In Bangladesh?From Deportation Calls To Racist Attacks: The Rise Of Anti-Indian Sentiment In The US’Congress, BJP & SAD Joined Hands’: Punjab CM Mann Blames Opposition For ‘Conspiracy’India-Pak Backchannel Talks Continue In Colombo And Bangkok Amid Diplomatic Freeze: ReportsIf Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID And Passport Aren’t Final Proofs, What Actually Makes You Indian?Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Meet Lok Sabha Speaker, Stress Constitutional Process On Party ClaimsArmy Officers, 40 Troops Booked For Allegedly Storming J&K Police Station, Assaulting Cops | WatchNagrasu Gurdwara Standoff Ends Peacefully, But Questions Mount Over Police Handling Of OccupationStrait of Hormuz Is Open, Crude Is At $75; So Why Is India Still Paying War Prices?India To Restart Tourist Visa Services For Bangladeshi Citizens From June 28123Photostories7 places on Earth that are compared to hell and yet travellers keep going10 baby girl names that symbolise renewal and positivity in different languagesSuccess quote of the day by Kunal Shah: ‘There are no over-ambitious people; only dreamers with no plans’Psychology says women comfortable being alone often share these 8 powerful traitsPushy parenting does more harm than good: What it is and 5 signs you may be oneThis everyday habit before work could be quietly damaging your performanceInside Samay Raina’s luxurious Mumbai house: A massive living area, a streaming room and morePM Narendra Modi loves this iron-rich South Indian dish; here’s how you can make it at homeThe surprising history of alta: Why Indian women paint their feet blood-redReal Madrid star Vinícius Júnior’s ₹64 crore-worth mansion is packed with a private cinema, two swimming pools and a football trophy cabinet123Hot PicksCharles OliveiraKetan Agrawal MurderMike Vrabel ControversyAashna DoshiSujata Rout KarthikeyanED KelceNHL Trade RumorsNFL Trade RumorsAndy RoddickTop TrendingSundar PichaiVenezuela NewsRithuparna KSFIFA World Cup 2026Venezuela earthquake NewsMumba Local Train MurderMEA PassportNandani BosmiyaMK StalinMumbai Local Train News South Africa Women 0/0 in 0.0 Overs Centre eases BIS quality compliance with new risk-based framework for manufacturers First in 96 years! Tom Latham-Devon Conway script history with record stand as New Zealand punish England ‘None of our MPs will split’: Sharad Pawar’s bold assertion in season of defections | India News R Madhavan opens up about receiving Padma Shri and Dhurandhar success: ‘People will expect more from me now’ | Hindi Movie News Google delays launch of Gemini 3.5 Pro that CEO Sundar Pichai said coming in June; says: It needs to spend extra time for … Ram Temple donation case: After 8 booked in FIR, Akhilesh says ‘big fish’ being protected | India News Women’s T20 World Cup: Shree Charani scripts history, becomes India’s most successful bowler in a single edition | Cricket News Rupee gains 10 paise as softer crude, firm equities lift sentiment Netra FOC dedicated to scientists, air warriors killed in ’99 ASP crash Best proverb of the day: Russian wisdom “All are not cooks that walk with long knives” teaches us reality vs pretense, encourages critical thinking Sonam Wangchuk in Geneva, Switzerland (Image courtesy: X) NEW DELHI: Activist Sonam Wangchuk on Thursday said the government has two more days to accept at least one of his two demands — fixing accountability in the NEET paper leak case and addressing environmental and cultural issues concerning his native Ladakh — failing which he will begin an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar from the following day.In a video posted on X, Wangchuk was seen outside the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, during his ongoing visit. The educator and environmentalist described it as the “Jantar Mantar of Geneva” — a reference to Delhi’s designated protest site.”Greetings From Palais de Nations Geneva… This is the Jantar Mantar of Geneva where all people can gather and demonstrate. Education & Environment are my two causes and I hope at least one of them would be resolved during this week,” Wangchuk wrote in the post accompanying the video.He first raised the demands while addressing protesters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), an online satirical platform that has evolved into a youth movement and is currently holding a demonstration at Jantar Mantar seeking the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.”If I do not receive a response by Saturday, I will sit on a hunger strike with all of you,” Wangchuk told the protesters.He also argued that citizens should have a say in decisions affecting education, while the people of Ladakh must be consulted on matters related to environmental protection and the preservation of their cultural heritage.CJP, which was launched last month in response to remarks made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a court hearing, held its first protest at Jantar Mantar over the NEET issue on June 6. It subsequently organised demonstrations in several cities before beginning its second Delhi protest last Sunday, co-inciding with the NEET re-exam.Although protests at Jantar Mantar are not permitted beyond 5 pm, the demonstrators have continued their sit-in, vowing not to leave until Pradhan resigns or is removed from office by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.More than 22 lakh students appeared for NEET (UG), the national medical entrance examination, on May 3. The exam was subsequently cancelled on May 12.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.About the AuthorTOI News DeskThe TOI News Desk comprises a dedicated and tireless team of journalists who operate around the clock to deliver the most current and comprehensive news and updates to the readers of The Times of India worldwide. With an unwavering commitment to excellence in journalism, our team is at the forefront of gathering, verifying, and presenting breaking news, in-depth analysis, and insightful reports on a wide range of topics. The TOI News Desk is your trusted source for staying informed and connected to the ever-evolving global landscape, ensuring that our readers are equipped with the latest developments that matter most.”Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosWhy India Has Given Dinesh Trivedi Cabinet Minister-Equivalent Status In Bangladesh?From Deportation Calls To Racist Attacks: The Rise Of Anti-Indian Sentiment In The US’Congress, BJP & SAD Joined Hands’: Punjab CM Mann Blames Opposition For ‘Conspiracy’India-Pak Backchannel Talks Continue In Colombo And Bangkok Amid Diplomatic Freeze: ReportsIf Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID And Passport Aren’t Final Proofs, What Actually Makes You Indian?Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Meet Lok Sabha Speaker, Stress Constitutional Process On Party ClaimsArmy Officers, 40 Troops Booked For Allegedly Storming J&K Police Station, Assaulting Cops | WatchNagrasu Gurdwara Standoff Ends Peacefully, But Questions Mount Over Police Handling Of OccupationStrait of Hormuz Is Open, Crude Is At $75; So Why Is India Still Paying War Prices?India To Restart Tourist Visa Services For Bangladeshi Citizens From June 28123Photostories7 places on Earth that are compared to hell and yet travellers keep going10 baby girl names that symbolise renewal and positivity in different languagesSuccess quote of the day by Kunal Shah: ‘There are no over-ambitious people; only dreamers with no plans’Psychology says women comfortable being alone often share these 8 powerful traitsPushy parenting does more harm than good: What it is and 5 signs you may be oneThis everyday habit before work could be quietly damaging your performanceInside Samay Raina’s luxurious Mumbai house: A massive living area, a streaming room and morePM Narendra Modi loves this iron-rich South Indian dish; here’s how you can make it at homeThe surprising history of alta: Why Indian women paint their feet blood-redReal Madrid star Vinícius Júnior’s ₹64 crore-worth mansion is packed with a private cinema, two swimming pools and a football trophy cabinet123Hot PicksCharles OliveiraKetan Agrawal MurderMike Vrabel ControversyAashna DoshiSujata Rout KarthikeyanED KelceNHL Trade RumorsNFL Trade RumorsAndy RoddickTop TrendingSundar PichaiVenezuela NewsRithuparna KSFIFA World Cup 2026Venezuela earthquake NewsMumba Local Train MurderMEA PassportNandani BosmiyaMK StalinMumbai Local Train News From Amazon, ABB to Google, AirTrunk & more: Global giants commit billions of dollars to India Aamir Khan quit college after he was thrown out of class for wearing shorts when it was raining, recalls Vindu Dara Singh: ‘We were scandalised’ Lost money to cyberfraud? 2 things to do immediately and 1 mistake to avoid Meet Shankh Mitra, Indian-origin executive ranked second-highest paid CEO in the world after Elon Musk BCCI Ombudsman disqualifies KSCA secretary Santosh Menon after completing maximum term Panchayat’s Binod aka Ashok Pathak recalls meeting PM Narendra Modi: ‘He greeted me with ‘Sun raha hai na Binod?” Lohagad murder case: Siya Goyal’s father hospitalised as probe into fiancée Ketan Agarwal’s death gathers pace Controversial Streamer Johnny Somali loses South Korea appeal, court upholds six-month prison sentence The room they built for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Rhea Chakraborty opens up on the trauma post Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, her brother Showik says he has post-traumatic stress disorder: ‘You do therapy’ OFFSIDE: Too many goals at World Cup 2026? Wait for the knockout rounds… | Football News Abu Dhabi orders closure of Safari Plaza restaurant after inspectors flag food safety violations Rajinikanth’s ‘Dharman’ poster, Mammootty’s reaction to AMMA controversy, Darshan moves SC: Top 5 South stories of the day | Tamil Movie News Netra, IAF’s ‘eye in the sky’ gets final operational clearance Kash Patel’s girlfriend says it’s an honor to sing national anthem at Freedom250, she is not taking payment Around fifty years ago, students at a government engineering college in Ahmedabad walked out over a steep hike in their monthly food bill. From an OPEC meeting in Vienna in October 1973 to the midnight broadcast on All India Radio on June 25, 1975, a chain of economic shock, popular fury, political mobilisation, and institutional crisis unfolded without interruption. In December 1973, the food bill had gone up in a Gujarat’s engineering college.The monthly charges at the hostel mess of Lalbhai Dalpatbhai College of Engineering in Ahmedabad rose around 20-40%. Political scientist Ghanshyam Shah noted what the manager of the mess told him directly: “About 45 to 50 per cent of the students found it difficult to pay the mess bill regularly.” A final-year student from Morvi told Shah why the complaint was not new: “Ever since I joined the college, we have been complaining against the quality of food and sometimes we boycott our lunch or dinner.”The numbers behind the price rise were not mysterious. Shah’s Surat survey, conducted in real time between December 25, 1973 and January 10, 1974, recorded that “the prices of foodgrains, edible oil, ghee, vegetables and meat rose from 30 to more than 100 per cent during the last one year.” Source: The times of India archive Certain commodities — oil, ghee, butter, baby food, kerosene — “were not to be found in the open market.” A ration cardholder in Gujarat could get “only one kilogram of wheat per month per head in November and December from the ration shops. Rice was not distributed at all.” In Surat district, the monthly wheat supply had fallen from 6,900 tonnes in May 1973 to 1,100 tonnes by December. Historian Bipan Chandra confirmed the national dimension: “Severe drought and the failure of two crops in succession had caused a rise of more than 100 per cent in the prices of foodgrains and cooking oil in Gujarat during 1973. In addition, a 60 per cent reduction in the central allocation of foodgrains to this deficit state had resulted in a sharp cut in supplies to ration shops.” The mess bill at LD College was the most immediate expression of a national crisis with roots in a geopolitical event that unfolded 8,000 kilometres away.The oil shockOn October 6, 1973 – Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar — Egyptian and Syrian forces launched co-ordinated surprise attacks on Israeli positions in the Sinai and the Golan Heights. The US responded with an emergency military airlift to Israel. Arab members of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) acted within days and announced an oil embargo. The Federal Reserve’s account of the price consequence is direct: “These cuts nearly quadrupled the price of oil from $2.90 a barrel before the embargo to $11.65 a barrel in January 1974.”The December 1973 OPEC meeting that set the $11.65 price was chaired by the Shah of Iran. For India, a country that imported a large share of its petroleum and whose agriculture — mid-Green Revolution, dependent on high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice – ran on petroleum-derived inputs, the shock was not merely financial. In 1974, India could afford only half the fertilisers it needed for maximum crop yields. India’s oil import bill stood at approximately $414 million in 1973 and was projected to reach $1,350 million in 1974 — a more than threefold increase, amounting to roughly 40 per cent of India’s potential export earningsDrought, scarcity, and a floundering govtThe oil shock arrived in India atop a pre-existing agricultural crisis. A declassified CIA Intelligence Memorandum of February 1973, described near-famine conditions across central and western India, with several million people having already migrated and the government having drawn down its buffer foodgrain stocks by 6.5 million tonnes. In Gujarat, Shah’s fieldwork identifies a local grievance that gave the national crisis a face and a target. At a meeting between oil dealers and the state government in October 1973, Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel is reported to have told the dealers: “You know my interests and I know your interests. You protect my interests and I will protect your interests.” Shah records the consequence: the government subsequently gave up the practice of procuring oil through levy from groundnut oil mills and prices “shot up sharply”. Bipan Chandra confirms the political charge: “Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel was in particular accused of having entered into a deal with traders in groundnut oil by which they were allowed to increase oil prices in return for ‘donations’ of lakhs of rupees to party funds.” Ramachandra Guha is more blunt in India After Gandhi: Chimanbhai Patel, he writes, “was popularly known as Chiman chor (thief).”Against this background of scarcity, the Indira Gandhi government in April 1973 nationalised the wholesale wheat trade, aiming to eliminate traders blamed for hoarding. The 1973 wheat crop was worse than 1972, international foodgrain prices were rising, a rust disease was attacking the high-yielding Kalyan Sona variety, and farmers and wholesalers resisted procurement. The policy was reveresed.Shah’s survey data captures the political consequence at the level of individual experience. In Surat, 91 per cent of respondents felt that officials “do not pay attention to what persons like me say.” Forty per cent had “lost faith in the elections.” A white-collar worker earning Rs 250 a month told Shah: “The economic situation is worsening and we do not know what will happen tomorrow . . . We voted for Indira Gandhi in the hope that she would do something for the common man, but she has not done anything.” His feelings, Shah noted, “were widely shared.” Sixty-seven per cent of Surat respondents now considered “strikes, gheraoes, dharnas” to be legitimate. It was in this environment that the students of LD Engineering College walked out in December 1973.The Navnirman agitationOn December 20, 1973, Shah records, students at LD Engineering College “became violent, setting fire to the furniture and other belongings of the rector” in protest against the mess fee hike. When the college administration called the police on January 3, 1974, “eight truckloads of policemen were said to have cordoned off the area, fired teargas shells, forcibly entered hostels, and arbitrarily arrested over 300 students from their rooms”, researcher Sahil Kureshi recorded. The police action, Kureshi notes, “was not a frequent occurrence in Gujarat,” and provoked “widespread condemnation”. The first demands of the Yuvak Lagni Samiti — the student body that coalesced in the agitation’s first week — were economic and educational: mess bills should not exceed Rs 70 per month; police should not enter university campuses; hoarders should be arrested; good foodgrains distributed to the masses. Shah records them verbatim. There is no ambiguity in the primary record: the agitation that eventually dissolved a state assembly began as a demand for cheaper food and an end to police violence.The movement’s sociological character was described by Shah in terms that have not been surpassed. The Navnirman Andolan was “essentially an urban middle class agitation,” he wrote. “Being unorganised and diffused in its interests, the middle class could not direct the agitation. It supported and participated in all anti-government protests, whether it helped or harmed the middle class itself.” The most organised sections of that middle class — teachers and students — spearheaded it, but, Shah observed, “lacked direction, commitment and sense of purpose.” But what followed was, as Shah recorded, unprecedented in independent India. The agitation widened, paralysed normal administration, and exposed deep public anger over corruption and inflation. The scale and persistence of the protests forced the political establishment onto the defensive, and marked one of the most dramatic popular upsurges in post-Independence India.One figure placed in this ecosystem was Narendra Modi. Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot records on the basis of biographical sources: “Modi was made a pracharak in 1972. The following year, he became involved in the Navnirman protest movement, a movement against corruption started by students in Gujarat. He took part in the movement after the RSS deputed him to the local branch of the ABVP.” Under pressure from persistent agitations, on February 9, 1974, Chimanbhai Patel resigned “despite his claim of having a majority in the state Assembly.” President’s Rule was imposed. By early March, 95 of 168 MLAs had resigned. The Assembly was dissolved on March 15, 1974. Guha records in India After Gandhi: “Chiman chor was compelled to resign, and Gujarat came under President’s Rule.” Gujarat as political laboratory: Who was watchingAmong those observing what Gujarat had demonstrated was Jayaprakash Narayan. On February 11, 1974, JP visited Ahmedabad. Chimanbhai Patel had just been forced to resign; the Assembly was suspended but not yet dissolved. Bipan Chandra, in In the Name of Democracy, quotes JP’s own reflection on what Gujarat had demonstrated — the passage that established the causal link between Navnirman and what followed: “For years I was groping to find a way out. In fact, while my objectives have not changed I have all along been searching for the right way to achieve them . . . Then I saw students in Gujarat bring about a big political change with the backing of the people and the moral support of Ravishankar Maharaj and I knew that this was the way out.” Chandra is direct about the connection: “The Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti had drawn its inspiration from the youth of Gujarat, whose Navnirman movement … had forced the corrupt Congress chief minister, Chimanbhai Patel, to step down.”Guha records JP’s own account of why he agreed to lead the Bihar movement. JP agreed on two conditions: “that it should be scrupulously nonviolent, and that it should not be restricted to Bihar.” On March 19, 1974, immediately after clashes in Patna, he said he could no longer “remain a silent spectator to misgovernment, corruption and the rest, whether in Patna, Delhi or elsewhere.” At the Gandhi Maidan rally on June 5, 1974, he called for Sampoorna Kranti — Total Revolution — and told the crowd: “India had been free for twenty-seven years, yet hunger, soaring prices and corruption stalk everywhere. The people are being crushed under all sorts of injustice.”Bihar, the railways, and a nation on edgeThe Bihar movement began in March 1974, weeks after Chimanbhai Patel’s resignation in Gujarat. Like Navnirman, it started with student protests against corruption and high prices, then expanded under JP’s leadership into a demand for fundamental political transformation. Simultaneously with the Bihar movement, the Indian Railways ground to a halt. George Fernandes, as president of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation, led a strike from May 8, 1974. Guha writes in India After Gandhi: “Led by the socialist George Fernandes, the strike lasted three weeks, bringing the movement of people and goods to a halt. As many as a million railway men participated. Western Railways, which serviced the country’s industrial hub, was worst hit.”The government’s response was crushing. Mrs Gandhi “responded to the strike with tough measures,” Kapoor wrote. “Some 30,000 people, including Fernandes, were imprisoned. Thousands lost their jobs and were evicted from their quarters. The Army was called out in several places. The government’s ruthlessness paid off. The strike was broken within three weeks.” Fernandes himself who had slept on the benches of Chowpatty beach as a young trade unionist, who was, as Kapoor writes, “a rebel all his life” and “a romantic symbol of resistance to the Emergency” was arrested before the strike even began, on the night of May 2.Then came a moment Guha notes with a wry precision: while the railway strike was on, India exploded a nuclear device at Pokhran on May 18, 1974. MPs gathered in the Central Hall of Parliament to congratulate one another — for them, Guha writes “the railway strike and the country’s numerous economic problems had suddenly disappeared from view.”The road to June 25: The verdict, the rally, the midnight broadcastThe immediate legal trigger of the Emergency was a judicial verdict. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractice under Section 123(7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.The case had been filed by Raj Narain, the Socialist candidate Gandhi had defeated in Rae Bareli in 1971. The specific finding was that she had obtained the assistance of Yashpal Kapoor, a gazetted officer, in her election campaign. Her election was declared void. She was disqualified from holding public office for six years. But the Allahabad verdict was in fact the final stress on a structure already under severe strain.Journalist Coomi Kapoor reproduced in The Emergency: A Personal History, a handwritten note by West Bengal Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray, dated January 8, 1975, addressed to Indira Gandhi. It reads in part:”Nothing has been done — no list prepared . . . nothing whatsoever. Some people here do not realize the seriousness of the situation in the country . . . We have decided on the guidelines and we are meeting again at 9 am at Gokhale’s tomorrow. So that we can come to you with something. I told Om to do this thing and I would want you to order Brahmananda Reddy to do this thing immediately. A secret telex message should go at once to every chief minister (Congress) directing him to prepare a list of all prominent . . .”The note was written, Kapoor notes, in January 1975 — before the Allahabad judgment, before JP’s Ramlila rally, before the Gujarat election results, and at a time when “JP’s Total Revolution movement was not at its peak … The countrywide railway strike had been put down six months earlier.” The plan for an internal Emergency and mass arrests was conceived by Ray, Law Minister H.R. Gokhale, Congress president D.K. Barooah, and Bombay Pradesh Congress Committee’s Rajni Patel, months before the judicial provocation arrived. On June 24, Supreme Court Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer granted a conditional stay: Mrs Gandhi could remain Prime Minister but could not vote in Parliament. JP held a rally at the Ramlila Maidan, Patna on June 25. Sarvodaya leader Jai Prakash Narayan addressing a meeting organised by Janata morcha at Ramlila ground in New Delhi on June 25, 1975.Kapoor, who was there, records: “A solid phalanx of humanity covered the historic Ram Lila grounds on the night of 25 June, endorsing the call for Indira Gandhi to step down. JP recited Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s evocative poem, ‘Singhasan khaali karo / ke Janata Aati hai’ [Surrender your throne, for the people are coming], to thunderous applause.” JP announced there would be non-violent demonstrations to compel Mrs Gandhi to resign. He asked those present to indicate if they were willing to go to jail. Kapoor records: “There was a sea of raised hands.”That midnight, the Emergency was proclaimed. Guha writes: “Police swooped down on the opposition leaders, taking JP, Morarji Desai and many others off to jail.” The arrests, Kapoor records, were conducted in chaos: warrants were processed without grounds, in blank; MISA forms were hand-cranked on failing machines; the Delhi District Magistrate “was trembling like a leaf” when he met his additional magistrates at his residence past midnight, having been told by R.K. Dhawan that any resistance “would be fraught with danger to me personally.” Pradipto Ghosh, then ADM (South), recalls: “Ironically, at the time we were filling out the forms, nobody told us that a state of Emergency was in place. That we got to know only when we reached home at around 8 am. We were implementing a procedure without even knowing the constitutional position.”Mrs Gandhi then gave an address on All India Radio. “The President has proclaimed Emergency. There is nothing to panic about.” This was a necessary response, she said, to “the deep and widespread conspiracy which has been brewing ever since I began to introduce certain progressive measures of benefit to the common man and woman of India.” PostscriptThe oil shock created the economic conditions that generated popular mobilisation. Popular mobilisation created the political crisis. The political crisis exposed pre-existing institutional weaknesses. The institutional weaknesses created the conditions in which a personal decision to suspend democracy could be taken. The OPEC ministers who met in Vienna in October 1973 were not thinking about a hostel canteen in Ahmedabad. The Shah of Iran, proposing $11.65 a barrel in December 1973, was not considering the fertiliser supply to Gujarat’s kharif fields. And yet the chain is real and its links are documented: from the Federal Reserve History of the oil price quadrupling, to the CIA’s February 1973 memorandum on India’s food crisis, to the food supply table in Shah’s EPW study showing Surat district’s wheat allocation falling from 6,900 to 1,100 tonnes, to the hostel mess bill rising from Rs 85 to Rs 120, to the police entering LD Engineering College campus on January 3, 1974, to the dissolution of the Gujarat Assembly on March 15, to JP’s Ramlila Maidan rally, to the S.S. Ray handwritten note of January 8, 1975, to the midnight broadcast.Coomi Kapoor documents what the Emergency meant in lived experience: the trembling magistrate at 4 am, the blank MISA warrant, the sea of raised hands at the Ramlila Maidan, JP’s ruined kidneys, Snehalata Reddy’s diary. It also reminds the adman who placed, somewhere in the Emergency, a small notice in the Times of India: “Death of D.E.M. O’Cracy, mourned by his wife T. Ruth, his son L.I. Bertie, and his daughters Faith, Hope, and Justice.” Gyan Prakash has written that the Emergency is “a cautionary tale for all democracies.” What the 1973 oil shock adds to that tale is a dimension that purely political histories tend to elide: that democracies are not threatened only by leaders who reach for authoritarian instruments, but also by the economic conditions that first make those instruments feel necessary — to those who use them, and to those who permit them.Get the latest India news and live updates. 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