BS@50: How India thrived in adversarial environment in the past 50 years

India at 77 stands as a country that has held its own, showing a remarkable capacity to manage an essentially adversarial external environment

Business Standard celebrates the 50th anniversary of its birth just as India marks the 77th anniversary of its independence. The newspaper was born in tumultuous times. Soon after its first edition appeared on March 27, 1975, the country was subjected to the dark days of the Emergency, which marked a major setback to its democratic dispensation. Fortunately, the political nightmare was short-lived with the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, holding fresh elections in 1977. She and her party, the Indian National Congress, had to face a humiliating electoral defeat. Democracy emerged stronger from this reverse. Since then