CATEGORIES

ART: VIRTUALLY MASTERFUL

In Reena Mohan’s 1992 documentary about Kamlabai Gokhale, there’s a moment when the remarkably lively nonagenarian actor remembers Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, whose 1913 mythological Mohini Bhasmasur made Gokhale one of the first Indian women to appear on the screen. Her gaze settles contentedly on an image she has clearly held in her mind for nearly 80 years. “Black sherwani, pagri on his head, spectacles,” she says. “He was like someone in a Ravi Varma painting. It made you happy to see him.”

THE COVID BATCH

The pandemic has disrupted the academic year and forced students and colleges to rethink the admission process. Here’s our annual guide to the best colleges, with a difference

Jammu & Kashmir Is Homegrown Militancy In Retreat?

Hizbul Mujahideen, the separatist militant outfit active in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989, maybe in terminal retreat.

Leisure: Perfect Track Record

The toast of Indian hip-hop, rapper Prabh Deep is discovering a new groove with every track

Countering China In Nepal And The Neighbourhood

On May 15, India’s army chief suggested what many were afraid to say—bringing up the border dispute in the Kalapani region with India, he noted that Nepal “might have raised the issues at the behest of someone else”, obviously referring to China. This was swiftly followed by a flurry of paranoid China analysis. On television, talking heads bellowed about a Chinese “puppet government” in Kathmandu, even asking India to use its “assets” to topple it.

Yoga Against Covid

Asanas move from studios to smartphone screens as wellness enthusiasts rediscover yoga in a new online avatar

THE ROW OVER ROWLING

HER NEW STORY MAY BE DROWNED OUT IN THE OUTRAGE OVER HER TWEETS ON TRANSPEOPLE. HAS J.K. LOST THE PILOT

BRACING FOR THE SURGE

With a national peak in Covid cases expected by mid-July, health experts emphasise the need to ramp up testing and contact-tracing in order to map the spread and keep the death rate low

Checking CHINA

WHAT EXPLAINS CHINA’S CURRENT AGGRESSION? AND WHAT ARE INDIA’S MILITARY, DIPLOMATIC AND ECONOMIC OPTIONS TO COUNTER IT?

Bobindra Sangeet

IF BOB DYLAN’S SONGS WERE SCRIPTURE, THE DOCUMENTARY IF NOT FOR YOU PROVES KOLKATA IS OBEDIENT

BLOODBATH RIDGE

AN AGGRESSIVE CHINA SPARKS OFF A BLOODY BORDER CLASH, LEADING TO THE BIGGEST MILITARY STAND-OFF ON THE LAC SINCE 1962

A STAR SNUFFED OUT

What caused an intelligent young actor to take his life? The industry—and his fans—try to make sense of Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic and untimely demise

Virtual Campaigns - Campaigning Goes Virtual

Is electioneering in India set to go all virtual in the time of the pandemic? Well, all eyes are on Bihar, which goes to the polls in October-November, and where a physical campaign seems an impossibility, at least for the next few months. Standard poll practices like gathering crowds for rallies, door-to-door campaigning or even a street corner meeting will be a challenge now, given the new physical distancing norms. Alive to this emerging situation, political parties have started gearing up for virtual campaigns.

Hoping Against Hope

Thousands of small businesses are on the brink, with the government rescue package falling short of their expectations

The Covid Survivors - How They Beat Fear, Stigma And The Disease Itself

The testimonies of those who have had a tryst with the disease reveal that a majority experience its mild manifestation. Those who do need critical care can take heart from the relatively high recovery rate and low fatality rate.

Ventilator Scam - Gasping For Air

Last month, after an investigation in a local newspaper, the Gujarat government was forced to defend the purchase of locally-made ‘Dhaman-1’ ventilators that bureaucrats and doctors alleged were substandard.

RESTAURANTS - Cancelling the Reservations

Hit hard by the pandemic, India’s restaurant industry is trying hard to survive and keep its chin up

SAVING THE BREAK POINT

By helming the campaign ‘Love All’, Somdev Devvarman is trying to help Indian tennis survive Covid

‘There is no threat of cross-voting in RS polls'

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has had an eventful two-and-a-half months on the job after his party, the BJP, overthrew the Congress government just before the lockdown was clamped on March 25. Excerpts from an interview with Rahul Noronha:

ON THE WARPATH

The BJP is doing its damnedest to unsettle and discredit Mamata Banerjee in the run-up to the assembly election next year. The Bengal chief minister must also deal with malcontent in her own party

“It will now truly be ‘one nation, one market'”

Union agriculture secretary SANJAY AGARWAL spoke to India Today group editorial director RAJ CHENGAPPA about the significance of three major ordinances passed by the government: the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance and an amendment to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Excerpts:

GUEST COLUMN - AMERICAN UPRISING

The great American writer James Baldwin wrote an essay in 1966 in which he spoke of black neighbourhoods being “policed like occupied territory”. Since the police know that they are hated, he wrote, “they are always afraid. One cannot possibly arrive at a more surefire formula for cruelty”.

Unquiet In The Himalayas

The Chinese pla’s incursions across the line of actual control in ladakh test the vulnerability of india’s newest union territory

In The Hot Seat

As Maharashtra becomes the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray faces a severe test of leadership. Will he be equal to the task or will an over-reliance on bureaucrats prove his undoing?

‘We can't make propaganda'

A quick glance at his Twitter account will tell you that Anurag Kashyap staunchly resists narratives the establishment broadcasts, but the filmmaker says that while directing the Netflix release Choked, a film set against the backdrop of demonetisation, he didn’t let his politics interfere with his storytelling.

WHOSE HAND IS IT ANYWAY?

AS RAHUL GANDHI GETS BACK TO THE THICK OF THINGS IN THE CONGRESS, THE PARTY VETERANS LOOK TO THWART HIS TEAM’S PLANS. ANOTHER POWER STRUGGLE SEEMS TO BE ON IN THE GRAND OL’ PARTY

STATES OF ALARM

The easing of lockdown restrictions in Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat, among the states worst-affected by Covid, is fraught with high risk. How prepared are they?

First-Mover Advantage

BY CHOOSING TO STREAM HIS FILM ON A DIGITAL PLATFORM, SHOOJIT SIRCAR IS SHAPING BOLLYWOOD’S ‘NEW NORMAL’

THE LOSS OF FAITH

On June 1, Moody’s Investors Service, which rates bonds issued by governments and commercial entities, downgraded India’s foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings by a notch to ‘Baa3’ from ‘Baa2’, adding that the outlook remained ‘negative’.

Q+A The Mindy Project

In her writing and performances, Mindy Kaling often celebrates her Indian-American identity without resorting to self-mockery. Her latest Netflix show Never Have I Ever keeps the flags flying