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Book Excerpts

How Sonia Gandhi kept Maneka from entering politics after Sanjay’s death

Sources close to Sonia said she felt Maneka Gandhi's inexperience and haughty behaviour would become a liability for Indira Gandhi.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee on why Kashmir didn’t need ‘special status’

In a 1952 Lok Sabha speech Mookerjee pointed to the arrogance of Sheikh Abdullah, the government’s meek acquiescence to the same and the dangers inherent in such action – or inaction.

How the imperial wives & daughters of Shah Jahan & Aurangzeb built Old Delhi

Of the nineteen major structures that Mughal women built in Shahjahanabad, fourteen are completed by 1650 by the wives and daughters of Shah Jahan. In...

Qandeel Baloch was right, Pakistan will never have another diva like her

Qandeel Baloch she was not afraid to call out the hypocrisy of the society she lived in. Sanam Meher, in this excerpt from her book 'The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch' talks of the fierce Pakistani actor.

Behind India’s glamour industry: Anorexia, Size Zero and the elephant in the room

While loudly denying anorexia exists in Indian modelling scene, many agree that misconceptions around being thin affect today's younger generation.

Bhaiyyuji Maharaj: The metrosexual godman who walked among the movers & shakers of govt

Bhaiyyuji Maharaj who died today, went from being an unknown godman to walking the power corridors of India. This is an excerpt from Bhavdeep Kang’s book, 'Gurus: Stories of India’s leading Babas'.

200 dead in five decades, but political violence still haunts Kerala’s Kannur

Kannur in Kerala has been a hotbed of political violence between the RSS and the CPI(M). Journalist and political commentator Ullekh N.P. in his book 'Kannur' writes about growing up in the 'Sicily of Kerala' was.

When Pranab recalled the churn RSS caused in Janata Party in ‘the Indira years’

Amid the controversy over the former President’s decision to address an RSS event, here is an excerpt from his book ‘The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years’ on the tumult that followed the Emergency.

RSS rallied behind Rajiv Gandhi’s bid for PM’s chair after Indira’s assassination: Book

In ‘Ballots: Ten Episodes That Have Shaped India’s Democracy’, journalist Rasheed Kidwai outlines the spirit of bipartisanship that followed Indira Gandhi’s murder by extremists. An excerpt:

Kalburgi & Lankesh questioned Lingayats, Modi & Rahul courted them

While critics saw Kalburgi as a serial provocateur and a habitual offender, his supporters, including Gauri, saw him as a product of the tradition of debate and dissent.

On Camera

Can Syria’s tiny Druze minority survive West Asia’s new storms? There’s little hope

Indians see West Asia as one uninterrupted wash of Islam, but the reality is more complex. For the Druze, support from Israel—where they are a recognised minority—is now critical.

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.