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Wednesday, September 18, 2024
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Book Excerpts

Vajpayee was an oddball of an RSS man, who ate non-vegetarian food and enjoyed his whisky

Ullekh N.P. in his book, The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox, writes how RSS backed a reluctant Advani for leader of opposition instead of Vajpayee.

Ex-ISI chief on why terrorism is as hard to define as pornography

Asad Durrani served as a three-star general in the Pakistani army and headed the ISI between 1990 and 1992.

Vikram Sarabhai, India’s space-man torn apart by the loss of Indira Gandhi’s trust

On the death anniversary of Vikram Sarabhai, one of the minds behind India's space programme, we take a look back at his life through his biography by Amrita Shah.

Naveen Patnaik’s political eye is so sharp he spotted Dharmendra Pradhan’s talent 18 yrs ago

Odisha CM Patnaik, who has never lost an election, is known to have a strong gut feeling and 'X-ray' eyes ‘Oh! I’ve got a problem,’...

Osho Rajneesh used sex and promiscuity to keep his cult loyal only to him

Attempts to enforce sexual participation at the Pune ashram did not always stop at psychological pressure. Sometimes it allegedly extended to use of violence.

Poet Neeraj said his ‘fattest royalty cheques’ came from Dev Anand songs

Gopaldas Neeraj passed away Thursday. This excerpt from 'S.D. Burman: The Prince Musician', tells how Neeraj wrote 'Rangeela Re' for Dev Anand's Prem Pujari.

Jairam Ramesh recounts what really happened behind the scenes of the Simla agreement

Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh in his new book ‘Intertwined Lives’, drawing on P. N. Haksar’s archives, presents a compelling chronicle of the people...

When a Bihar policeman’s decision to nab a local don set off a chain of deadly events

Amit Lodha in his book, published by Penguin India writes on how a Bihar don played a crucial role in leaking question papers of...

Book on Priyanka Chopra shows why ethnicity of Quantico’s protagonist was not a big deal

Many Indians were waiting for Priyanka Chopra to fail in Quantico and they found her failure in her accent.

Karan Thapar on how his childhood friend Sanjay Gandhi took him on a daredevil jeep ride

Sanjay Gandhi was a daredevil in contrast to his shy & quiet character, writes Karan Thapar in his book 'Devil's Advocate'.

On Camera

IAS, IPS reshuffle won’t do. Mamata Banerjee must change advisors, improve MLA connect

The RG Kar incident became the nucleus around which public angst against years of rot coalesced; as a former street fighter, the CM needs to worry about her MLAs’ lack of ground connect.

Five debt defaults, two NPAs & 100% value erosion. MTNL barrels towards a major financial crisis

Since 2019, govt has pumped Rs 3.22 lakh crore into MTNL & BSNL. Both remain in losses. MTNL has begun to default on loans & bond payments, possibly the first large PSU to become NPA.

Did Captain & fiancée ‘attack’ cops or were they ‘manhandled’? Army to take up case with Odisha authorities

While police are quoted as saying that officer & fiancée created fracas & injured four police personnel, Army’s situational reports and his statement present a different picture.

BJP’s Northeast policy has lit new fires & reopened old wounds. And it still won’t blink

Manipur represents BJP’s unique ideological approach to governing Northeast by playing identity politics jiu-jitsu. It hasn’t gone well yet, is getting worse, but the party insists on continuing.