The government justified the demolitions by saying the structures are “illegal” and has said it intends to rehome some of the affected communities. But activists have questioned the timing, claiming instead that the demolitions are part of a “beautification” project – a campaign to rid the city of its beggars and slums – to impress… Read More India, voice for the poor, clears slums as G20 draws near
Ashoka University’s treatment of Sabyasachi Das for his working paper on possible voter suppression in Indian elections has focused attention on the future of elite private universities in India Mukul Kesavan Ashoka University’s (henceforth Ashoka) treatment of Sabyasachi Das after he uploaded a working paper that touched on possible voter suppression in Indian elections has… Read More Ashokan Edicts
Water levels at Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world and South America’s largest – are dropping precipitously after an unprecedented winter heat wave. The shocking decline is affecting tourism, fishing and agriculture, which locals rely on to make a living. “We don’t know what we will do from now until December because the… Read More Titicaca: the world’s highest navigable lake is drying out
NB: The link between India’s political and economic life is explained well in this reporter’s report on th latest revelations of the OCCRP. Behind the mask of Hindutva, sections of the Indian corporate business houieses have taken over the regulatory institutions of the Indian state. The BJP/RSS have become their willing collaborators, hence they have… Read More Modi-Adani Nexus: बीजेपी की नोटबंदी
The RSS… is aware that Hindu–Muslim couples are only acting out the oldest impulse of our species—the pairing off of two persons attracted to each other. This impulse is not easily curbed. It resurfaces in even the most difficult of circumstances. This means that its prevention requires the constant threat of violence, which can only… Read More Casting Them Out
Lionel Trilling crystallizes the cynical Cold War liberalism that sacrificed idealism for self-restraint.. Organized as much against the left as the right, these defenses not only rang hollow; they have failed to forestall the political crisis they promised to transcend. The result has been the reversal of Cold War liberal triumph into today’s mood of… Read More Liberalism in Mourning
A new draft law that would enshrine harsh punishments for women and girls who fail to wear a hijab in Iran could amount to “gender apartheid,” UN experts said in a statement on Friday. “The draft law could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as authorities appear to be governing through systemic discrimination… Read More ‘Gender apartheid’: UN experts denounce Iran’s proposed hijab law
Joanna Moorhead A British landscape artist who recreated a climb made 150 years ago to document the impact of the climate crisis on western Europe’s highest mountain says what he found was so grim it reminded him of the “dark paintings” of Francisco de Goya. French painter Gabriel Loppé’s artwork The Shadow of Mont Blanc at Sunset, painted… Read More Artist captures the impact of climate crisis over 150 years on Mont Blanc
Current decolonisation project drips with resentment. It conflates modernity merely with colonialism. To see the insidiousness of this project, just ask this question: What should be the terms on which citizens relate to each other? “Decolonise!” This imperative seems to be the ideological flavour of the moment. It is behind the calls to restructure education,… Read More Pratap Bhanu Mehta: The current talk of decolonisation is about an exclusionary political agenda
BRIAN KAREM On Wednesday, the news was all about a big bag of wind destroying Florida and flooding the South, spreading destruction and threatening pestilence and death. Then there’s Hurricane Idalia. Also on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze and stood motionless in front of an assembly of reporters — for the second time this… Read More The dumbing of America, from Reagan to Trump and beyond
After the truth-shower 