Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Tiananmen: Hong Kong vigil organiser arrested on 32nd anniversary // Louisa Lim: By banning Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong, China is trying to rewrite history

Pro-democracy activist Chow Hang Tung has been arrested by Hong Kong police on the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Ms Chow is vice chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance which organises : annual vigils for victims of Beijing’s deadly crackdown on democracy protesters. She has been arrested for promoting unauthorised assembly.  It comes… Read More Tiananmen: Hong Kong vigil organiser arrested on 32nd anniversary // Louisa Lim: By banning Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong, China is trying to rewrite history

Dilip

Vrinda Grover: How Tejpal judgement ends up slandering the rape survivor / Tejpal case: Trial court verdict like ‘manual for rape victims’, says HC

The 527-page document is so cluttered with references to the past sexual history of the prosecutrix that it effectively invisibilises the accused    On May 21, 2021, the court of additional sessions judge Kshama M Joshi, Mapusa, pronounced her judgement acquitting former Tehelka editor, Tarun Tejpal, of all charges of sexual  harassment, molestation, rape etc… Read More Vrinda Grover: How Tejpal judgement ends up slandering the rape survivor / Tejpal case: Trial court verdict like ‘manual for rape victims’, says HC

Dilip

Shell: Netherlands court orders oil giant to cut emissions // Why a ‘crushing’ day for Big Oil represents a watershed moment in the climate battle

By 2030, Shell must cut its CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels, the civil court ruled. The Shell group is responsible for its own CO2 emissions and those of its suppliers, the verdict said. It is the first time a company has been legally obliged to align its policies with the Paris climate… Read More Shell: Netherlands court orders oil giant to cut emissions // Why a ‘crushing’ day for Big Oil represents a watershed moment in the climate battle

Dilip

Arjun Appadurai: Ripping Apart the Central Vista Is Nothing Short of the Reconquest of Delhi / Romi Khosla: Central Vista Project is Government’s Desire to Change History

The will cannot will backwards… That time does not run backward, that is his wrath; ‘that which was’ is the name of the stone he cannot move. And so he moves stones out of wrath and displeasure, and he wreaks revenge on whatever does not feel wrath and displeasure as he does. Thus the will,… Read More Arjun Appadurai: Ripping Apart the Central Vista Is Nothing Short of the Reconquest of Delhi / Romi Khosla: Central Vista Project is Government’s Desire to Change History

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: Half-life of half-truths: Can diplomacy stop decaying governance?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in a visit to Washington DC last week strongly defended “the governance record” of the government at the Hoover Institution, blaming perceptions to the contrary as “political imagery that has been concocted”. He claimed that the Modi government was being harshly judged because its leaders being less familiar with English… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Half-life of half-truths: Can diplomacy stop decaying governance?

Dilip

Father Stan Swamy tests positive for coronavirus after being moved to private hospital

NB: What remains to be said about Indian justice? When an 84 year old Jesuit father with Parkinson’s disease and loss of hearing is repeatedly denied even a medical bail hearing, kept in jail without trial during a deadly pandemic, and is now found infected with Covid, what may we think? All he ever did… Read More Father Stan Swamy tests positive for coronavirus after being moved to private hospital

Dilip

Tom Phillips: Tens of thousands of Brazilians march to demand Bolsonaro’s impeachment

Tens of thousands of protesters have poured on to the streets of Brazil’s largest cities to demand the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro over his catastrophic response to a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly half a million Brazilian lives. The demonstrators turned out in more than 200 cities and towns for what is the biggest anti-Bolsonaro… Read More Tom Phillips: Tens of thousands of Brazilians march to demand Bolsonaro’s impeachment

Dilip

Jawaharlal Nehru's 57th death anniversary / ‘हिंद के जवाहर’ का जाना…

Today, May 27, is Jawaharlal Nehru’s 57th death anniversary. Jawaharlal (1889-1964) was an anti-fascist activist, fighter for India’s freedom, Mahatma Gandhi’s chosen political heir, India’s first & greatest Prime Minister &, above all, a decent human being. I recall being a 14 year-old schoolboy, in Sainik School Kunjpura, on a trek to the Pindari glacier, when… Read More Jawaharlal Nehru's 57th death anniversary / ‘हिंद के जवाहर’ का जाना…

Dilip