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Friday, August 1, 2025
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Book Excerpts

When my father Balraj Sahni showed the ills of capitalism to me in Kashmir

Whatever happened, sooner or later Balraj Sahni would return to Marx and Engels and the example of the Soviet Union. That was his answer to every social ill.

English-medium schools, cars, Europe markets: How this tribe became richest in Western Ghats

These families shifted from the core area of the Periyar Tiger Reserve to the buffer zones seventy- two years ago.

East India Company to World War: How Brahmaputra river was militarised

The river became an ally for the EIC’s military expeditions from the early 19th century and became a way to gain control over the northeast's untamed geographies.

The other Kejriwal who was named in Panama Papers and chose to call himself ‘chowkidar’

Since the publication of the Panama Papers, Anurag Kejriwal has joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

How Xi Jinping, whose father was expelled from Communist Party, became China’s ‘Dada’ Xi

When Xi took over as general secretary of Communist Party in 2012, western media portrayed him as a ‘compromise candidate’ with little qualification to run China.

What Indian politicians, bureaucrats and military really think about each other

Tensions between civilians and the military are not new in India. However, the proliferation and reach of social media has only amplified differences.

Bisibele bath to rava idli: How Bengaluru’s MTR mixed tradition and innovation perfectly

MTR today does not want to change its core product – even though, ironically, its founders kept innovating in early 20th century to make it what it is today.

How Tihar jailers protected Sikh inmates after Indira Gandhi’s assassination

Sunil Gupta began working in Tihar Jail in 1981. In a new book, he tells all about being a jailer in Asia's largest prison.

Amartya Sen & Jean Drèze are Left heroes but it would be wrong to call them simple statists

Amartya Sen’s emphatic plea for liberating Indian entrepreneurship has not received attention. Neither has Jean Drèze’s concerns over a hostile state.

Why the police class of 1983 was feared by Mumbai’s underworld

In the late 1980s, there was only one destination of choice for ambitious, young policemen: Mumbai. And 90 cadets from the infamous Nashik 1983 batch was posted there.

On Camera

Trump tariff forces India to shed illusion. Stop conflating status with power

India’s future lies in pragmatism. Protectionism must be phased out gradually, not in disruptive shocks.

BJP MPs go full throttle against Trump even as govt hails enduring India-US ties amid tariff tension

New Delhi: While the Indian government has made a measured response to the 25 percent trade tariff imposed by Donald Trump, many in the BJP...

India to get last of Spain-built C-295 next month, focus now on 1st India-made aircraft

New Delhi: The last of the C-295 transport aircraft that is replacing the ageing Avro fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be...

Modi’s Bharat vs Indira’s India: 11-yr report card of politics, diplomacy, economy, nationalism

As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.