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Sunday, November 23, 2025
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Book Excerpts

Akbar’s Rajput wife was Harkha, not Jodha Bai. But chronicles say nothing about ‘love’

In ‘Akbar of Hindustan’, Parvati Sharma writes that the fact of a Rajput bride entering the Mughal dynasty is remarkable perhaps only in retrospect.

How Xi Jinping’s ‘mole hunt’ led to CIA losing dozens of Chinese informants

In ‘Chinese Spies’, Roger Faligot writes about Chinese intelligence services that now rival CIA, Mossad, R&AW, DGSE, and MI6.

Even Usain Bolt can’t match the speed of Army cadets’ daily duties at Indian Military Academy

In 'The Force Behind the Forces', Swapnil Pandey shows why she thinks the Indian military is the best in the world.

‘Hullabol’ movement that liberated Azad Nagar’s Kol tribe from modern slavery in UP

In ‘Azad Nagar’, Laura T. Murphy embarks on a retelling of a complex murder story that captures why slavery continues to exist in the 21st century.

Corporate wars are common in India’s oil sector. But it all started with govt, ONGC, OIL

In ‘Unfilled Barrels’, journalist Richa Mishra recounts India's upstream journey in the oil sector from KD Malaviya to ONGC.

Bombay was microcosm of post-Partition India. Now it’s for ‘Mumbaikars’, rest are outsiders

In 'A Clown for God, A Clown for Others: Recollections of an Indian Jesuit', Rudolf Heredia talks about how Mumbai changed through his eyes.

‘No one wants to be the last man to die’ — What happened on final day of 1971 Bangladesh War

In ‘December in Dacca’, KS Nair writes about 15 December 1971, when the end of the war was in sight, but by no means certain.

Roaming, grooming, protecting – Three activities that define young men in New India

In ‘Becoming Young Men in a New India,’ Shannon Philip shows how men in urban India engage in elaborate rituals of seeing and being seen.

‘You as Editor will be respected by politicians’ – Ajay Singh was told, he still quit media

'Fiji: A Love Story' is diplomat Ajay Singh's memoir, which was left unfinished when he passed away in 2020.

Ambedkar tried taking the caste issue to the United Nations. It had lessons for India

Ambedkar was committed to making caste an issue of international concern. He saw this as the only way to get justice for Dalits, writes Suraj Yengde.

On Camera

Communists are shy of daylight. There’s something wrong with their ideology: C Rajagopalachari

On 23 May 1953, C Rajagopalachari delivered a speech at the Malabar District Political Conference in Palghat, examining the rise and fall of communism in India.

At Charcha 2025: Local entrepreneurship, not just big IT, will drive next wave of distributed AI work

While global corporations setting up GCCs in India continue to express confidence in availability of skilled AI engineers, the panel argued that India’s real challenge lies elsewhere.

From a small Kangra village to Tejas cockpit: IAF fighter pilot Namansh Syal’s journey cut short

Wing Commander Namansh Syal is survived by his wife, their 6-year-old daughter and his mother. Back in his native village, relatives and neighbours wait for his remains for last rites.

A tribute to Tejas. India’s delay culture is the real enemy in the skies

It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.