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Friday, April 3, 2026
HomePageTurnerBook Excerpts

Book Excerpts

How a rickshaw puller’s son from Sirsa cracked Haryana’s administrative machinery

In 'Beyond Dynasties', Sushil Manav recounts how the Haryana state machinery was built on merit and how it has changed over the last ten years.

What Kuki-Zo families left behind in Manipur—books, pets, photo albums

In 'Stories the Fire Could Not Burn', Hoihnu Hauzel describes the night of terror when her parents’ home in the tribal enclave in Imphal, where she grew up, was burnt down.

The mystery of an Islamic-style mausoleum in Dhaka Christian Cemetery

Recent research posits that ‘Columbo’ arose from a corruption of ‘Clerembault’—a name on one of the headstones in the mausoleum noted by historian Walter Firminger in 1917.

How BJP’s support to Mamata Banerjee was critical for Bengal’s political landscape

In ‘Battleground Bengal’,Sayantan Ghosh sketches how identity, patronage, and fear continue to shape West Bengal’s politics, regardless of who is at the helm.

When 24 Mossad agents stole proof of Iran’s secret nuclear programme—0.5 ton of hard files, CDs

In 'Target Tehran', Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar tell the inside story of the tumultuous, and often bloody, history of how Israel has managed to outmanoeuvre Iran.

How Khomeini sidelined secular, Leftist, nationalist allies to make Iran an Islamic Republic

In 'Dictators', Priya Narayanan presents an intimate portrait of the deeply flawed men behind some of the world’s most terrifying dictatorships.

Lawrence Bishnoi regrets that his younger brother followed his footsteps in crime

In 'Gangs of Punjab', Jupinderjit Singh takes readers into the underworld, tracing the rise of men who blur the line between outlaw and icon.

Vande Mataram in Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath is a violent, anti-Muslim war cry: TM Krishna

In 'We, the People of India', TM Krishna invites readers to reconsider the significance of each of the nation's symbols.

How a Bengali woman became doctor to the King of Nepal in the 19th century

In her book 'Daktarin Jamini Sen', Sen's great-niece Deepta Roy Chakraverti takes readers on a journey through the life of one of the first Indian women to enter the medical profession.

How Raja Ravi Varma Press revolutionised printing in modern India

Ravi Varma imported machinery for steam-driven presses from Germany in 1892 and employed the help of two German litho-transfer artists to install and operate them.

On Camera

Asiya Andrabi is no women’s rights advocate. She does not speak for Indian Muslims

International news media calling Asiya Andrabi a defender of women’s rights shows how narratives are constructed and what they choose to omit.

Tanker with 600,000 barrels of Iranian crude shifts course from India to China midway

The shipment earlier bound for Gujarat’s Vadinar has changed course amid payment concerns; could still reach India if issues are resolved, according to Kpler.

India commissions its third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine—INS Aridhaman

INS Arihant was first vessel under SSBN project and was quietly commissioned in 2016. The second indigenous SSBN, INS Arighat, was commissioned in August 2024.

Gulf war exposed India’s fragilities. It’s time for navel-gazing, in the national interest

It’s easy to understand why the government can’t speak the hard truth. When this war ends, as all wars do, India’s interests will lie with both the winner and the loser.