CATEGORIES

'Netaji' Didn't Start This Fire

So who is really to blame for the conflagration in the Mathura park? The dead, sadly, tell no tales.

Breaking Ice On A Winding Road

India-Nepal ties had hit a nadir. It’s up to Nepal’s visiting PM, Prachanda, to restore them to an assured ease.

Efficiency in Steel

VSP Rebars with superior and corrosion resistant properties are the new generation high strength ribbed reinforcement bars....

Mallika Srinivasan TAFE

Mallika joined TAFE in 1986 as general manager with a clear vision taking her heirloom to new heights. The Eicher acquisition did that for her.

Dr Verghese Kurien (1921-2012) AMUL

IN the paradoxical light that past events reveal themselves to us, two facts stand out. One, Verghese Kurien, father of the White Revolution, was as distant as possible from a certain ideal currently preferred. As The Economist noted wryly in its obituary, “He was born a Christian, became an atheist, ate beef, and liked a drink—but not milk. In fact, he actively disliked it.” And he spent all his working life in Gujarat—a different kind of laboratory then.

Noteworthily Spoken

Right-wingers lead a crowd who want Gandhiji out of rupee notes. They have their icons ready.

Just Short Of Full Disclosure

For slain journo J. Dey’s kin, it’s the end of a seven-year wait for justice—almost, for one accused is still in Dubai.

Victory Is Just A Number

Poaching, the BJP avers, is never its business. Yet the party won’t say how it is to muster the numbers it lacks.

Ping-Pongology: Table For Ten

The story behind the gradual, gratifying turn of Indian table tennis

I'd Make Sanju Even If I Hadn't Worked With Sanjay

They collapsed the boundaries between mainstream entertainers and meaningful cinema much earlier in the day and, released at crucial post-lib junctures, came to almost define a 21st century national cinema—passing muster with the masses and the classes alike. Just four films—Munna Bhai MBBS (2003), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014)—make Nagpur-born director Rajkumar Hirani one of the finest filmmakers of his generation. The 55-year-old auteur is now ready with his next, Sanju, a biopic depicting the turbulent life of Bollywood’s enfant terrible, Sanjay Dutt. With Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, the film, due for release on June 29, may well be the master filmmaker’s litmus test, as he has made a foray into the unfamiliar and dicey terrain of biopics with a movie on the life of somebody he has known professionally and personally for years. In conversation with Giridhar Jha, Hirani spells out the reasons behind making the biopic, dismissing the charge that he has made it to glorify his actor-friend, known for his chequered life and career. Excerpts from the interview:

On The Board In Testing Times

Pushed by WADA, the national anti-doping agency seeks cricketers’ samples. But BCCI hides behind the ICC Code.

All Those Colours Beyond Bling

Once again, glamour is not the sole yardstick for the success of an ­actress in Bollywood

The Many Merits In His Stars

Can Imran produce a nuanced India policy, beyond the patriotic rhetoric his past is studded with? It hinges on the exigencies of power—and the army.

Time For More Of The Same

Don’t expect a radical India policy from likely PM Imran

Go South, Young Man

Drawn by development, north Indians continue to migrate to the southern states in vast numbers

Tongues Of Lilting Grace

A band in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir singing lyrics penned by a legendary poet wins hearts in the Valley

They Stab Like A Butterfly

Pencak silat, sambo, wushu...the Asiad will bristle with martial arts events, and Indians are more than game for a throw

Outside The Realm Of Sacred Snips

Sacred Games underlines the power of freedom in the digital space

Not In His Hair

The scandal­hopping Trump is in a deeper soup, but safe for now.

Bullets Have Names

Who killed Gauri, Kalburgi, Dabholkar, Pansare? the puzzle cracks, slowly.

Meghalaya's Caves Are A Treasure Trove Of Unique Flora And Fauna

The unique caves of Meghalaya hold many secrets and provide a glimpse of Earth’s past.

Sharper Than Naked Injustice

Journalists small and mighty suffered the Emergency defiantly, then resisted and defeated plans to muzzle the press. We look towards their example in gathering dusk.

HQ, Nagpur

The RSS evokes a sense of parallel authority—a secretive fraternity with its own idea of India. Questions abound as it seeks to mainstream itself.

Why Modi Must Lose!

He has been bad for social cohesion, economy and institutions.

Will Narendra Modi Win?

Insulating PM Modi from accusations as election season hots up is top priority for the BJP. The rest can be managed, they say.

Mutiny On The Bounty

In poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, farmers’ anger grows despite a good harvest

A Long Shadow Of Deportation

Anxiety engulfs Rohingyas in Jammu after India sends back seven ‘illegal’ refugees to Myanmar

'Raman Singh Has Failed On All Counts. And Congress Is Irrelevant.'

In the run-up to the Chhattisgarh assembly polls, Ajit Jogi, the state’s first CM, seems confident of a good show.

Society Of Zombies

Legally dead due to clerical error or greedy relatives, thousands live in limbo

No Desert Storm So Far

All’s not well with the ruling BJP, but rival Congress is yet to show it has the chutzpah to win Rajasthan