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Sunday, July 20, 2025
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Book Excerpts

When Hope Cooke, the American socialite wife of Sikkim king, asked for return of Darjeeling

In ‘Sikkim’, former diplomat Preet Mohan Singh Malik writes about the Namgyal dynasty that ruled the Himalayan kingdom until it became India’s 22nd state.

This Urdu newspaper was banned after criticising General Dyer. Here’s what it did next

In ‘Print and the Urdu Public’, Megan Eaton Robb writes about the impact and role of popular Urdu newspaper Madinah and how it pushed back against censorship.

Paid news not recent concept, Bihar saw it 35 years ago. But Germany, China, US started it

In ‘Power, Press and Politics’, Alok Mehta gives us an insider account of the workings of the Indian media — both print and electronic.

Hours before the start of the historic 1971 West Indies tour, Indian team had no kit to play

In ‘1971: The Beginning of India’s Cricketing Greatness’, Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya write about the twin tours that made the Indian team a force to reckon with.

Ecology, cricket, Marx, history — The many Rams in Ramachandra Guha

In ‘A Functional Anarchy?’, historian David Gilmour writes about Ram Guha, the essayist and political journalist, whose articles reveal the most about his mind.

Infinite exponential economic growth is a myth, says Sam Pitroda

In ‘Redesign the World’, Sam Pitroda argues that hyperconnectivity and Covid-19 have offered a unique opportunity to redesign the world to meet future challenges.

Many blame me for not building on Modi-Sharif meet. I did what was in Pakistan’s best interest

In Hostility, former Pakistan high commissioner to India Abdul Basit writes about his tenure in Delhi from 2014 to 2017 — a difficult era in India-Pakistan ties.

Anand Bakshi almost gave up on Bollywood. Then came Bhagwan, Bhala Admi, a ticket collector

In ‘Nagme, Kisse, Baatein, Yaadein’, Rakesh Anand Bakshi gives readers an intimate peek into the life of the soldier-turned-lyricist Anand Bakshi.

Rape is born in adolescent minds. But where does it end?

In ‘After I Was Raped’, Urmi Bhattacheryya writes about a 4-year-old girl, two Dalit women, an 8-month-old infant and a young professional and their stories of sexual violence.

Modi’s India plans to be ‘vishwaguru’ but forgets soft power is useless without hard muscle

In ‘India and Asian Geopolitics’, Shivshankar Menon writes that being a vishwaguru plays well with Modi’s Hindu constituency but is hardly a realistic goal when India is a net importer of knowledge.

On Camera

Fauja Singh’s death shows Indian roads remain a national emergency—474 lives lost every day

Fauja Singh, 114, died after being hit by a speeding car. His death renews questions about India’s deadly roads, rising accidents, and poor traffic discipline.

India-US set to ink mini trade deal soon, reach understanding on agricultural & dairy products

Mini deal will likely see no cut in 10% baseline tariff on Indian exports announced by Trump on 2 April, it is learnt, but additional 26% tariffs are set to be reduced.

Not just AK-203, India & Russia to jointly manufacture AK-19 and PPK-20 for domestic use and export 

India-Russia JV is also racing to deliver 7,000 more AK-203 assault rifles by 15 Aug. These are currently being made with 50% indigenisation and this will surge to 100% by 31 December.

Strategic partner one day, tactical nightmare the next: India’s learning Trumplomacy the hard way

Public, loud, upfront, filled with impropriety and high praise sometimes laced with insults. This is what we call Trumplomacy. But the larger objective is the same: American supremacy.