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Friday, April 26, 2024
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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

BJP has a problem of plenty in Phase 2. It can only go down from that

BJP’s fate in the second phase of 2024 Lok Sabha election will be decided in Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, where it performed very well in 2019 but faces a stiff competition now.

Kotak Mahindra Bank shares drop 10% after RBI bans it from taking new customers via digital channels

The private lender's shares tumbled to be top Nifty 50 loser after India's central bank barred it from taking on new customers through online and mobile banking channels.

Rafale to Exercise Garuda, a look at Indo-French defence ties as Chief of Defence Staff visits France

Another addition to military cooperation has been the Strategic Space Dialogue, inaugurated in Paris in 2023. Last month, India participated as an observer to France’s AsterX.

These 6 states are key for Modi’s ‘400 paar’ target. They’re also where Opposition can stop him

While this contest looks so predictable in large swathes of our political landscape, it is also more keenly contested than 2019 in some states.