Dostoevsky and Flaubert should be studied together as progenitors of the modern novel. The end of 2021 witnessed an unusual literary event: the bicentennials of two geniuses of modern fiction. They were arguably the leading novelists of their respective countries: the Russian Fyodor Dostoevsky (November 11) and the Frenchman Gustave Flaubert (December 12). No… Read More John Rodden: The Master of Petersburg and the Martyr of Style
Anyone who thinks that the anti-hijab campaign is about discipline and dress code needs to have his or her head examined. And anyone who thinks it’s about the emancipation of Muslim women needs to have a frontal lobotomy without any further loss of time. For it’s clear as crystal that this is just the latest… Read More Avay Shukla: Give them back their hijab and education
The photographer Jim Huylebroek travelled across the country with the international children’s agency Save the Children, from the drought-ravaged plains of the north to the freezing streets of Kabul, capturing the stories of children whose lives have been devastated by the humanitarian crisis, for the series titled: children on the edge of life. The images… Read More Children on the edge of life in Afghanistan
According to police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it was suicide. The young Muslim man they had brought into their custody had, out of despair, killed himself in the police station toilets. But, as photos of the scene emerged, so too did suspicions. The 22-year-old man, Altaf, was 165cm (5ft 5in) tall and… Read More Police in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh accused of unlawful killings
Sitting alone at a desk in a grand, columned Kremlin room, Vladimir Putin looked across an expanse of parquet floor at his security council and asked if anyone wished to express an alternative opinion. He was met with silence. A few hours later, the Russian president appeared on state television to give an angry, rambling lecture about Ukraine,… Read More Putin’s absurd, angry spectacle will be a turning point in his long reign
How do the banks continue to get away with it? The latest revelations about Credit Suisse provide yet another glimpse into the corrosive nexus of banks, corporations, accountants, lawyers and financial intermediaries that enables the wealthy and political elites to profit from illicit practices. The bank itself is no stranger to predatory practices. Since 2001 it has… Read More Prem Sikka: Credit Suisse leaks expose an industry that has got away with too much for too long /Joseph Stiglitz: Credit Suisse has allowed the morally bankrupt to steal from the poor
Gogannamattam Village (16°26’23.67″N, 81°57’3.13″E) located on the bank of Vainatheya which is a tributary of River Godavari. On the west side of the village flows river Vainatheya which opens up at nearby coast into Bay of Bengal. This creates a unique estuary from the coast where large area of Mangrove patches was formed. On… Read More Andhra Pradesh: Fisherpeoples' Protest Compel Stoppage of Mangrove Destruction
In a 30-minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sunita Viswanath explained why her organization played a lead role, alongside 16 other civil society organisations in the US, in lobbying the US Congress against the treatment of Muslims and minorities in India on the 12th and 26th of January. She said she did this… Read More Sunita Viswanath: Hindus for Human Rights to Keep Lobbying US Congress, Govt against India's Treatment of Muslims
Wokeness serves two functions for today’s ruling elites. The first is a kind of ideological control directed against Western working classes: wokeness covers over concrete class and economic injustices – massive wealth inequality, health precarity, stagnant wages and so on – with a thick fog of mystification. It creates an impression of furious change and even revolutionary activity. Yet… Read More The CIA and the New Dialect of Power. By River Page
Letter to the Readers, Mainstream Feb 19-26, 2022 Who are We A ‘Union of States’ or a ‘Nation’ | Karli Srinivasulu Remembering 2021 UP Panchayat Election Results | Bharat Dogra Silence Is No Solution To Evil | TJS George Lockdown As A Means of Controling Covid? | Kobad Ghandy Five State Assembly Elections of 2022: Scenario and Consequences | Prem… Read More Special Double number – Mainstream, February 2022 / Om Thanvi: Photos of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara's visit to India
After the truth-shower 