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Friday, September 27, 2024
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Book Excerpts

During Emergency, Jayaprakash Narayan was detained in a hospital & could have been poisoned

In his memoirs, J.P. Goyal, a key lawyer for Raj Narain in his case against Indira Gandhi, wrote about meeting detained opposition leaders during the 1975 Emergency.

Siri, Cortana, Alexa: Why our AIs have personalities and a female voice

Conversation designers widely report that people flirt with, sexually proposition, and even harass bots.

Why India’s prime ministers give their Independence day speech from Delhi’s Red Fort

Every year on 15 August, the serving prime minister mounts Aurangzeb’s barbican to address the cameras, and the nation.

‘RSS is family’ and what to do with non-Hindus: An RSS trainee’s camp notebook

Many RSS camp participants keep notebooks, in which they record the words of patriotic songs, take notes on physical exercises, and games.

Argumentative & individualist – Why Modi was an unusual RSS swayamsevak

Whereas many RSS apparatchiks were grounded in inherited certitudes, Modi was forever pushing the frontiers of his own intellectual development.

Grammy-nominated Lakshmi Shankar’s dream debut was shattered by gossip and jealousies

Singer Lakshmi Shankar’s interest in Hindustani music was by now unshakable and she was not ready to give up on her dream.

But where will I live? The right to residence of domestic violence victims in India

The centrality of securing women’s right to adequate housing as a vital step in the fight against domestic violence needs be recognised urgently.

What was Amit Shah like as home minister of Gujarat? Biographers give an insight

After 2008 Ahmedabad blasts, Gujarat took down the terrorists and as Shah had promised, such acts were never again repeated in Gujarat.

Hindutva rise must be pinned on historians who told us Hindus, Muslims lived peacefully once

Imperialism, for India’s ‘secular’ historians, was destructive only when Europeans did it. When Asians did it, it was a cultural exchange programme.

Babur to WWII to Sonia Gandhi, all connected through the tamarind tree in India

The Arabs, who had trade relations with India as early as 600 AD, loved the tree as much as we do. They gave it the name Tamar-i-Hind.

On Camera

India has 2 women CMs now. Atishi and Mamata Banerjee are both victims of bad PR

Women look up to women in power as role models. But so far, Atishi’s public image is that of a woman-in-waiting rather than a woman-in-charge.

Tamil Nadu govt & Ford go way back. How carmaker’s return is new chapter in story that began in 1995

High value of 350-acre Ford plant property drove TN to encourage Ford to return over nearly a yr of negotiations. It's expected to reinforce state's resurgence as global manufacturing hub.

A fitness & fighter aircraft enthusiast, who is Air Marshal AP Singh, the next Chief of Air Force

Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh will take over as chief on 30 September. During his service of nearly 40 yrs, he has served in variety of command, staff, instructional & foreign appointments.

Lesson from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan: if you have no patience, you don’t deserve democracy

Sri Lankan transition was smoothly managed. Check Bangladesh for contrast. They forced their incumbent into exile, installed a mostly unelectable govt of non-political people.