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The FinePrint

Does GI tag bring more business? Mysore silk & Jardalu mango rose, not Kannauj attar

In Karnataka, the GI tag has increased demand for Mysore silk so much that supply can’t keep up. Jardalu mango from Bihar was exported for the first time in 2021.

Hakki Pikki tribe has Bollywood celebs on speed dial—Adivasi hair oil on promotion drive

In one promotional video for Neelambari Hair Oil, a Hakki Pikki man opened his bun so that Bollywood filmmaker Farah Khan could see his long, straight, black hair unravelling to his waist.

Gun-toting IAS trainee vs academy director. 1981 scandal shaped dissent in civil services

In 1981, a drunk IAS probationer terrorised peers with a gun during a Himalayan trek. When Home Ministry didn’t act, academy head PS Appu quit in protest, setting off storm in Parliament.

Guwahati youth want to fix city’s problem. By talking

In most cities from Bengaluru to Mumbai, it’s senior citizens who drive civic reform and debate. But the students of Guwahati are flipping this stereotype by holding adda sessions to discuss issues facing the city.

How did East Bengal become Muslim-majority? Changing Ganga, Sufi entrepreneurs

Before and after 1947, Bengal experienced many episodes of religious violence, often driven more by 20th-century nationalism than by the region’s rich Islamic history.

Ghaziabad’s Pinky Chaudhary quit Bajrang Dal to ‘save Hinduism’. It wasn’t aggressive enough

A police officer said he tried to convince Pinky Chaudhary that the people living in the slum were not Bangladeshis. But the HRD Hindu Raksha Dal chief refused to listen.

Modi govt’s Plan A, Plan B are not working. There are 3 areas of worry

The government’s reputation for world-class governance takes a knock every week. The overall image of a drowning India is at odds with the Rising Bharat we were promised.

What the West wrote on India’s independence in 1947 — Observer, Scotsman to NYT

Many used the occasion to praise Britain, overlooking the financial exploitation of India’s resources and the role it played in exacerbating the Hindu-Muslim divide.

The many avatars of Manoj Soni—‘Chhota Modi’, UPSC chairman, now monk in obscure sect

Manoj Soni quit as UPSC chairman last month to devote himself to the Anoopam Mission, a Swaminarayan sect offshoot. Modi’s blessings defined his career before monkhood called.

Ram Rahim out of jail again, just before Haryana polls. Rape convict’s 235 days of freedom & counting

Out for 21 days, Ram Rahim will remain at Dera ashram in Barnwara village in UP’s Baghpat for entire duration of furlough. This is 6th time he has been granted parole/furlough since 2017.

On Camera

Bihar mimics 19th-century American South. Citizenship is now weaponised to exclude voters

Disenfranchisement by institutional fiat is profoundly undemocratic. The effect of the ECI's new documentary process in Bihar will tilt the scales in favour of the BJP.

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.