The dramatic death (suicide /accident /conspiracy) of Gajendra Singh Kalyanwat, a farmer from Rajasthan, at the Aam Aadmi Party’s rally in Delhi on April 22, has important lessons for the ruling parties at the Centre and the State. The AAP ostensibly turned to populism to shift attention from the infighting … Read More
As it is almost certain that Netaji Subhas Bose lived in Siberia at the mercy of Josef Stalin and his heirs (most likely died/killed in 1956), it seems apt to recall Osip Mandelstam’s musing, if a man would ever find the courage to look into the eyes of the epoch … Read More
This article was published by The Pioneer, New Delhi, on 16 January 2001. Given the new interest in the Netaji mystery, we are reproducing it below. Amartya Sen’s ill-conceived decision to lend the glamour of his Nobel Prize to bolster the vested interests of Leftist historians and politicians at the … Read More
Inclement weather has wreaked havoc on the winter harvest in large parts of northern India, aggravating rural indebtedness, triggering farmer suicides, and ending the period of quiescence that follows the ascent of a new regime. Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged as much when he dwelt on farmers’ issues at the … Read More
In a judgment with far reaching consequences for reservation politics in India, the Supreme Court on March 17 scrapped the UPA government’s March 2014 notification that included Jats in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in nine States. In Ram Singh & Others vs Union of India (WP … Read More
Jammu & Kashmir is at a momentous crossroad. The coalition hammered out by the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party after two months of negotiations, necessitated by the need to respect the largest voter turnout in the State’s history and bridge the regional divide created by that verdict, … Read More
If one were to identify a single cause for the rout of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi earlier this month, it would be the astonishing fact that it fought this year’s election in a time warp of 2013, refusing to acknowledge, much less address, the crippling problems facing the … Read More
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ #SwissLeaks initiative on secret account holders in Switzerland’s HSBC bank has brought the spotlight back on the funding of Al Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden. A US Senate report of July 2012 had publicly revealed links between HSBC clients and Al … Read More
Several Chinese cities have been in the news over the past decade for blinding smog that made breathing difficult without surgical masks. Recently, New Delhi’s smog-laden air drew unfavourable attention due to the visit of US President Barack Obama for the Republic Day celebrations. American media reports said the US … Read More
The capital’s Assembly elections have emerged as an uneven three horse race, with each party determined to better its previous record. With barely a dozen days left for polling, it would be foolish to hazard a guess as to the outcome, but some points deserve mention. Contrary to media hype, … Read More
