CATEGORIES

All Red in the Rear View Mirror

Former Naxalite Ashim Chatterjee looks back at the rebellion that made him.

New Maoist Revolts Didn't Identify Enemy, Have Plan for Land Capture

Santosh Rana was a 23-year-old student at Calcutta’s Presidency College in 1967 when the Naxalbari rebellion erupted. Having immediately plunged into the movement, he later went on to question a few of its methodologies and tactics. As the movement turns 50 in May this year, the 74-year-old, who is a cancer-survivor, reminisces in an interview with Dola Mitra.

The Balladeer's Mutiny

For decades, the shirtless bard’s stirring songs lent punch to a class struggle. Gaddar may carry on singing, but his opting to be a voter implies the mutation of a rebel note.

Rubble of Heritage

Shoddy clean-up of a 12th-C shrine digs up artefacts. Some have been damaged.

Few Biopics Stand the Test of Time...you Have to Get It Right

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who recently stirred the social media with his picture as Saadat Hasan Manto, continues to do interesting projects that have him making characters come alive in a way that only he can. At his work-cum-house space at Yari Road in Mumbai, he speaks to Prachi Pinglay-Plumber about the processes that an actor must go through, his choices ranging from small films like Haramkhor to a lavish series with BBC, the Hindi film ind ustry and his brother’s short film on triple talaq. Excerpts:

Has The Start-up Story Ended?

The much-touted start-up scene is cracking up. Is the boom over then? No, say experts. It’s necessary course-correction.

A Riddle of Hill and Valley

As two national parties battle it out, the faultlines that run through the north-eastern state only come out sharper.

Who Wants a Bound Script?

After a flurry of coups and near ­coronations, TN may settle down to a Thevar­ Gounder tug of war.

Winning By A Bye

A US policy waffle in Asia, fed by a paucity of diplomats, will allow China to gain ground.

Comprehensive National Power

India needs a strategic effort to understand that it is no longer competing with China, but seeking to cope with an increasing asymmetry of power

'Kashmir Could Lead To A Nuclear Accident If There Are No Talks'

In Kashmir, the students are protesting in the streets demanding azadi, while the Election Commission of India has cancelled the Lok Sabha bypolls in Anantnag. Mirwaiz Umer Farooq of the All Parties’ Hurriyat Conference, who is under “house arrest”, tells Naseer Ganai in a telephonic interview that New Delhi knows whom to talk to in Jammu and Kashmir, but wants to avoid dialogue. “It is not a question of whom to talk to, but what to talk about,” says Mirwaiz. 

Kabuliwala's Bag Of Tricks

With the googly and a disarming smile, Rashid Khan confounds batsmen and raises high his national flag 

Thinking Out Of The Witness Box

Mahmood Farooqui’s rape conviction for forced oral sex opens a hectic debate about the ‘lacunae’ in the amended criminal law

Scripting A Good Ending

To the PDP, ‘permanent solution’ means dialogue and the opposite to its ally, the BJP.

A Bird's Past, and Future...

The Praful Patel years, which all but grounded AI, come under the lens just as privatisation looms.

Doctors And Their Devices

Imported medical devices are often indispensable. But 1,000 % mark-ups in prices? Hospitals, traders and doctors are playing a fast, smooth game, pushing patients towards financial ruin. Will the government ever wake up to these immoral medical practices?

The Monk Who Stung A Hornet

The Dalai Lama’s Arunachal visit worsens Sino­Indian ties, as neighbours reap the benefits of their competing largesse

New-Found Mahatma Love

The PM’s appropriation of Gandhi is helping the BJP shape a new political persona

Vaccine Vendors' Greed Gone Viral

Immunisation is a nexus controlled by big private vaccine makers, mostly foreign, that decides your baby gets 15 shots more for the doctor to make money. Even if the vaccine is useless—not to talk of the huge mark-ups.

Shompa Sengupta

Tales of women who fought against taboos and gender bia­ses, not to mention poverty and illiteracy, to emerge successful businesswomen abound in Calcutta, women who, without so much as the rudiments of training, have beaten competitors by dint of innate intelligence and hard work.

A Prayer Sent Out Loudly

Mamata Banerjee’s token gestures towards Muslims have caused a communal divide without really empowering the community

Optical Poetry

Modern theatre students discover the benefits of classical training in the Koodiyattam tradition

Playboy Diary

Playboy diary

RaGa Road To Gujarat Navsurgence

Rahul hits BJP with slowdown and scandal with faultless timing, but can it be termed a Congress reawakening?

'Gujarat Polls Will Be The Turning Point'

Congress general secretary in-charge of Gujarat, Ashok Gehlot, tellsBula Devi his party will defeat the BJP in the state and Rahul Gandhi may become Congress president before the year ends. 

Reconnect Switch Is On

The CM is on an outreach mission, sensing a drain in people’s support. Opposition dubs it political stunt.

Depressing Window To Middle Class

Weak private investment, automation and redundant skills are gnawing at white-collar jobs. A political hot potato is in the moulding.

Many Quarters Of The Patriarch

Keeping a ‘small house’ for the ‘other’ woman is a long-standing practice in Tamil Nadu, embraced and legitimised by former CMs

Taint Tales From Lalooland

The RJD chief is no stranger to controversy, but this time, the political future of his family members is at stake

The Lahori Gate Is Closed Still

A decline in Nawaz Sharif’s political stocks means more army control. It bodes ill for talks with India.