CATEGORIES

Twisting Facts and Narratives

Immediately after the Odisha train tragedy, when the minds were the most vulnerable, why was an attempt made to feed the conspiracy theory angle?

Out of The Loop

Why did three trains collide in Balasore? Were the railway systems in place and working? Or was there any meddling at the signalling and interlocking points?

TRACKS OF TRAGEDY

The Balasore train accident is a grim reminder of shattered hopes and separated families. But what has made it worse is the politicisation of a catastrophe

A REQUIEM FOR VICTIMS

Photographs captured at the site of the recent train accident in Odisha's Balasore district tell multiple tales of tragedy. A trigger warning.

A Timeless Video Loop of Disaster

A temple was touted as a mosque; a process of 'othering' began soon after; and, sabotage permeated the media, WhatsApp and everything else. But for now, we must give dignity to the dead

Mewat In The Mirror

Jasraj was one of the early popularisers of Hindustani classical, his voice timbrally pleasing and rich, but ductile enough to be drawn into thin filigree

Kamala, Here She Comes

First Indian-American to run for US vice president

A Covid-Era How-To For The Money-Wise

Lessons on investor behaviour during the unprecedented pandemic

Towering Inferno

The draft Environment Impact Assesment has triggered outrage for watering down earlier provisions to protect the fragile ecology

Turncoats: An Open Season

As Trinamool embarks on an aggressive rehabilitation and induction drive, BJP keeps looking for poaching opportunities

‘I am happy about the new phase in my life'

Bobby Deol made a grand entry into Bollywood with Barsaat way back in 1995 and followed it up with major hits like Gupt (1997) and Soldier (1998). The youngest son of Dharmendra, however, failed to hold onto his early successes and had to sit at home without any work for three years in the new millennium. The 51-year-old, who makes his digital debut with Class of ’83, a Shah Rukh Khan-Netflix production on August 21, speaks to Giridhar Jha about his latest film, his 25 years in movies and how he handled his failure. Excepts:

Styled Yours, Mahi

Seen from the perch of his great brand appeal, Dhoni is in the sublime present, and as grounded and undemonstrative as ever .

Bharat Cadre

The IAS isn’t a preserve of the elite any longer. Candidates from the hinterland, often with disadvantaged backgrounds, are laying claim to its hallowed ranks.

Language of politics

More voices from the state demand learning of Hindi

A Rotor Blade

MSD impressed as rookie, champ, skipper in the quest to excel for India

THE GLOBAL DALIT, THE INDIAN BLACK

“We come together as voices, as figures, as persons who are willing to live and to die for that quest for truth, beauty, goodness, and justice.”

Parity in Disparity

Despite differences on how to get there, Ambedkar and the Congress shared a common goal: an egalitarian society

Tried Axone With Paneer Yet?

BEING a Northeasterner in India is not easy—a shadow of suspicion, that oddballish mistrust, tails each one who ventures west of those river valleys and forested highlands of the tourist brochures.

New Guard Against Uneven Bounce

English sports has gracefully acknowledged the Black Lives Matter movement. But cricket, football and all other sectors need to have people from diverse ethnicities in senior management positions.

Noir and Rouge: Getting Under the Skin of Indian Cinema

India, a land fertile in caste and colour racism, readily embraced the bias against ‘Black’ inherent in cinema technology and Western cinema—sometimes nakedly, as in Bollywood, and sometimes mediated through twisted, conflicted desires, as in regional films

PERIYAR Sunset?

Dravidian ideology is in regression. And the Hindu Right is at work trying to render irrelevant the small sites of struggle that may breathe life into it.

Full Citizenship Chai, With Ilaichi

Denial of the right to love still kills young people in India. For LGBT couples, not even the law is on their side.

Muslims and the MIRAJ

The Hindutva upswing since 2014 has catalysed a new Muslim identity. Will it unveil another paradigm of Indian politics?

Harry Them Not

From food to dialect, the jibes, sneers and bias directed at Biharis all over India aim to reduce them culturally

A Quarter Renaissance

Even with its self-deprecating tropes, the acme of ‘the modern Indian’—as seen by the Bengali in the mirror—was built around exclusions of ‘non-Bengalis’ and other marginalised groups

New Flint Knapping

From PPE kits to diagnostics, informatics and ventilators, tech start-ups have repurposed their expertise and preferences for the fight against COVID-19.

‘Our education must be culturally rooted and suit 21st century needs'

Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ tells Prakash Kumar that the National Education Policy 2020 aims to “transform India into a ledge society and global knowledge superpower”. Excerpts from the interview:

Ethnicity Leaking Red

A real-life Bollywood drama is stoking the dormant antipathy between Bengalis and North Indians in West Bengal. Sensing opportunity, politicians are jumping into the fray.

‘An actor is bound to shine under Mira Nair's guidance'

In Mira Nair’s latest offering, A Suitable Boy, based on the novel by Vikram Seth, Ishaan Khatter plays Maan, a prominent politician’s son. He talks to Lachmi Deb Roy about working with Mira Nair, the chemistry between Tabu and him in the show and his choices as an actor.

TURN TO CHAPTER THREE

The national education policy promises ‘large-scale’ changes, but can it complete unfinished lessons