True financial inclusion is slow, institutional, and often unglamorous. It requires legal identity, consumer protection, financial education, and integration with the real economy. Crypto can complement these efforts, but it cannot substitute for them. When promoters portray crypto as a standalone emancipatory tool, they conflate access with empowerment and technology with trust.

Cryptocurrency emerged from a deeply philosophical conviction: that money should be decentralized, insulated from political discretion, and freed from the control of governments and banks. At its core, this belief reflects a distrust of centralized authority—born from repeated historical episodes of inflation, capital controls, financial repression, and crisis-driven bailouts. Crypto promised an alternative monetary order: rule-based rather than discretionary, global rather t

“Cryptocurrency is driven by the belief that money should be  decentralized , not controlled by governments or banks. It champions  financial sovereignty , giving individuals absolute ownership of their assets. The movement favors  code over institutions , replacing intermediaries with transparent, trustless systems. Promoters see it as a pathway to  universal financial access , beyond geography or status. At its core lies a conviction in  economic freedom and censorship resi

trends in Padma awardees Over the last three decades, the announcement of Padma Awards has quietly evolved into more than a ceremonial recognition of individual achievement. In my view, it has become a mirror reflecting India’s changing ideological and philosophical self-understanding. While officially apolitical, the pattern of Padma Award recipients reveals how the Indian state’s conception of merit, contribution, and national identity has shifted over time. In the mid-1990