CATEGORIES

AT WORLD'S END

How do you trace the outlines of pain on a gigantic, subcontinental scale…a cartography of pain, if you like? Take as your sketching ink some extremes of the human condition. As it happens, it’s available in plenty in the real world. The basic facts will do. On May 23, a 48-year-old migrant labourer died on the Shramik Express—minutes before the train from Mumbai pulled into the last station, Varanasi. A fabled last station, civilisationally. But why did Jokhan Yadav die? First, there was the heat. Then, he had gone without food or water for over 60 hours, as he moved over the northern Indian plains, like lakhs of others, trying to reach his hometown Jaunpur. No food or water was served on the train during the entire journey. And stick-wielding GRP personnel wouldn’t let anybody get down from the train. It thus became, in a perversion of how it was intended, a moving concentration camp.

As He Lay Dying

Amrit and Saiyub’s bond of friendship, forged in childhood, would break cruelly on a hot, dusty highway. This is their story.

Tour De Force

Stranded in Vishakhapatnam, the five friends wanted to go home. Their bicycle journey up the coast to Bengal displayed endurance and willpower.

Say It Again, The Bat Is A Lonely Hunter

How brothers Sarfaraz and Musheer fought darkness and came around to be regarded among Indian cricket’s brightest talents

‘Vocal-for-local will stop unfair Chinese dumping of goods'

Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the RSS, is gung-ho over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for an Atmanirbhar Bharat as part of the post-pandemic economic revival. SJM national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan tells Bhavna Vij-Aurora that it is a vindication of the organisation’s 30-year-long struggle, and it is time to repose trust in indigenous talent, resources and knowledge.

Small Screen, Big Locha

As movies release directly on streaming platforms during the lockdown, theatre owners seethe and threaten ‘retributive’ measures

Smoke On The Horizon

Anti-Muslim sentiment related to the COVID-19 outbreak was at root of the recent communal flare-ups in Bengal

Meet the Teams and Zoom Ahead

On a covided planet, almost everyone is using a virtual platform to socialise, work from home, or ‘see’ a doctor

THE FLU SHOT

But is it the right vaccine for the econodemic?

Bully in Bear Den

In this Great Lockdown, why some stocks shot up by 60-70 per cent? What explains such bewildering trends?

Delimitation Challenge

In the new political setup following the bifurcation of the former state into two Union territories and in the absence of Article 370, the constitutional provision that gave Jammu and Kashmir a semblance of semi-autonomy, leading regional party National Conference has a tough decision on its hands.

COVID-19 WARD Diary

From The Screen To The Ward There is a purpose, as they say, for everything in life. When the prime minister announced a lockdown from March 25 onwards, I resolved to contribute to the fight against the global pandemic.

AUDI5: ‘Web series challenges you to try new things'

Actor Jaideep Ahlawat is winning accolades for his portrayal of a down-and-out cop in the web series Paatal Lok, a neo-noir crime thriller. The 42-year-old actor talks to Giridhar Jha about the web series and his journey in Bollywood so far. Excerpts:

Things That Got Covided

And things got Covided.

Has Covid-19 Brought The Congress Back In The Game?

Has COVID-19 brought the Congress back in the game?

Shovel For The Spindle

Shuttered silk looms force weavers to work the dirt in construction sites

The Men Who Pause

Lives matter more than holding a T20 tournament. IPL has to wait out the pandemic even if it means huge financial losses.

‘Liberal capitalism is bust'. But what next?

“The modern world-system, as a historical system, has entered into a terminal crisis and is unlikely to exist in 50 years. However, since its outcome is uncertain, we do not know whether the resulting system (or systems) will be better or worse than the one in which we are living, but we do know that the period of transition will be a terrible time of trouble.”

LEAGUE INTERRUPTED

Whoever once said emphatically that “It’s just not cricket”, a big shout-out for speaking too soon.

Raudra Raag In Darbari Strain

Shifting away from Srinagar, power goes right out of J&K

TAKE THE BULLYON RIDE

Gold may become a tool for revival of household fortunes and small enterprises

My Friend Siras

Ten years after an Aligarh Muslim University professor’s death, his friend mourns a beautiful life cut short by homophobia

Centre of the World

In the cricketing universe, IPL put India in the...

Dissent, Corona's Next Victim

Questioning the Manipur government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis could land you in jail.

Where Credit Is Due

Reviving microfinancing activity is key to economic recovery

There Will Be No Hugging

What do you do now that all plans are off, all hopes are replaced by the one hope that you will survive?

Turkish Airlines draws the world's biggest national flag in the sky to honor the founding of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Turkey’s national flag carrier performed one of the most significant flights on April 23, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Grand National Assembly, and National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.

SAHAKAR-22 FOR DOUBLING FARMERS INCOME

In line with the Prime Minister’s call for a New India, SAHAKAR-22 has been launched to double the farmers income. The focus is on primary cooperatives which have a bigger role to play in the post-pandemic era economic boost.

IRRFAN KHAN (1967-2020): SAHEB SUPERNOVA

It is a monumental loss that Irrfan was nowhere near his peak when he chose to call his final pack-up in life

Grief. Joy. Love. Loss. This virus kills them all

Pandemic or apocalypse, the cycle of life must go on. All plans and goals can be deferred, but not the inevitable. We explore how people are dealing with birth and death during the lockdown.