CATEGORIES

India's Gaming Moment

With india becoming a large gaming market, will the centre’s push for a task force help create more world-class developers and jobs for the youth?

Chasing their Tale

Best new beastly books

MARKING THE SPOT

RIAZ DEAN BELIEVES HE HAS FOUND THE LOCATION OF THE HISTORIC TOWER THAT STOOD BETWEEN ASIA AND EUROPE

Gizmo GAGA

From the latest tech toys to reviews and views, this is all you need to know about appliances for your home

All Fur Love

IT’S RAINING CATS AND DOGS IN THE WORLD OF INDIAN LITERARY ANTHOLOGIES

The Hijab Face-Off

Should it be banned in schools? Is it essential to the practice of islam? How will the outcome impact the nation?

‘HINDUTVA IS NOT RIGID. IT BELIEVES IN UNITY, NOT UNIFORMITY' - Bhupender Yadav

Before Bhupender Yadav became the Union minister of environment, forests, climate change, and of labour, he was a key general secretary in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In that role, he played a significant role in building the party into a formidable electoral machine that won two consecutive Lok Sabha elections. Now, along with economist Ila Patnaik, he has penned The Rise of the BJP, a book that offers a clinical analysis of the party’s evolution, its ideological moorings, its economic philosophy, and the lessons its phenomenal growth can teach us. In a conversation with Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa, Yadav and Patnaik discuss what their new book is about. Excerpts from the interview.

TREADING THE FAULT LINES

Ethnic divide, insurgent threats, AFSPA, unemployment, difficult allies—the ruling BJP and rival Congress face multiple issues and new challenger NPP in elections to this border state

The Shake-Up

Mamata junked the old posts, including nep­ hew Abhishek’s, and has put in place a new 20­member wor k ­ ing comm ittee

Economic Offensive Wing

Over the past two years, the Madhya Pradesh government has launched a broad crackdown on crime.

It Takes A Village...

...to show how to keep Covid at bay. Welcome to Veewan, a remote hamlet in Kashmir

GUJARAT'S SECRET HUMAN PIPELINE

Illegal immigration from Gujarat to the US is on the rise. Hopefuls risk death, exploitation and human traffickers to reach the promised land

CATTLE BATTLE

Will the BJP’s bovine obsession dent its electoral fortunes in the cow belt state?

NO LOVE LOST

WITH THE RJD MAKING NO CONCESSIONS IN THE RECENT POLLS, THE CON G RESS WAS FORCED TO TAKE ON ITS ALLY

Master of the Rough Road

Known for speaking his mind, India’s top industrialist championed domestic competitiveness while also changing swiftly with the times

THE FOREIGN HAND OF FRIENDSHIP

In his new book, Rebels Against the Raj, historian Ramachandra Guha tells us stories of seven Indian freedom fighters who all came from the West

Rahul's Congress: An Empty Bench

‘Team Rahul Gandhi’, the band of young leaders touted as the Congress scion’s able lieutenants, lies in disarray. Several of them have quit the party, others sulk openly week

Covid's Long Shadow

For Natasha Sharma, homemaker and mother to four-year-old twins, 2022 began inauspiciously. The 34-year-old Pune resident tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the first week of January. For two days, Sharma had a consistently high fever and a sore throat. Following her doctor’s advice, she treated her symptoms with paracetamol and multivitamins. By day three, her fever had gone and her throat began to improve. But over the next 10 days, Sharma continued to experience weakness, aches in her leg muscles, insomnia and tiredness. Her doctor diagnosed her with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, a complex, multisystem disorder, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

War Of The Sardars

Four Strong Contenders Are Pitched In A Multi-polar Electoral Battle. Who Will Win The Day—and Punjab?

United Colours of Lata

Apart from melody and octave range, Lata Mangeshkar’s songs were lit by a rare emotional intelligence

Divide and Rule

Come Ugadi, the Telugu New Year on April 2, and Andhra Pradesh will double its number of districts to 26. The move is in keeping with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s 2019 assembly election promise to improve governance. The advantages, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government claims, are plenty. For one, the reorganisation will bring district headquarters closer to the average citizen, except perhaps in the proposed Araku district. More districts also mean a greater share of Union government funds from programmes that take the district as a unit. “The reorganisation of districts is based on geographical boundaries and demographics and is not merely on the basis of parliamentary and assembly constituencies,” says G.S.R.K.R. Vijaya Kumar, planning secretary, Andhra Pradesh.

'I am 100% Original'

Usha Uthup’s authorised biography The Queen of Indian Pop demystifies the powerful voice that transcended genres and languages. It also reminds us why the 74-year-old singer remains a legend

TORONTO CALLING

A THIRD CHEAPER THAN THEIR US COUNTERPARTS AND WITH A MUCH MORE FLEXIBLE WORK PERMIT PROGRAMME, CANADIAN COLLEGES ARE BECOMING THE NEW DESTINATION FOR INDIAN STUDENTS

SOUTH SIDE STORY

BOLLYWOOD REMAKES OF SOUTH INDIAN FILMS HAVE LONG BEEN A TREND. NOW, THE MULTI-GENRE ENTERTAINERS FROM THE SOUTH ARE CHALLENGING HINDI FILMS ON THEIR OWN TURF

MISSING THE MIDDLE CLASS

Once an engine of India’s economic growth, now reeling from the pandemic, India’s middle classes find little comfort in Budget 2022

NEGLECTED BASTIONS

CAN THE ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS BECOME THE FOCUS OF INDIA’S MILITARY STRATEGY AGAINST A BELLIGERENT CHINA? THERE IS PLENTY OF INTENT, BUT INSUFFICIENT MILITARY CAPACITY ON THE GROUND

FOUR CORNERED VISION

Busy on their respective campaign trails, the Big Four of this Punjab election take time out to answer a few key questions, in exclusive interviews to Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa and Senior Editor Anilesh S. Mahajan. Excerpts

Union Budget 2022 - Betting Big On Infra

The Modi government wants to put the country on a high-growth trajectory by opening the purse strings for infrastructure development rather than offer palliatives. But effective implementation holds the key to achieving this ambitious objective

‘E' FOR EDUCATION

The expanded e-Vidya scheme sees a big push in the education budget. Can it bridge the divide?

MANDAL ON THE MANDOVI?

Amidst all the personal and party rivalries, a novel factor—backward caste politics— reshapes Goa’s electoral map