Opposition women leaders slam Smriti Irani over Manipur incident, demand CM’s resignation / ‘Deeply disturbing’: SC takes suo motu cognisance of purported Manipur video

Opposition women leaders slammed the Union minister for sharing the video on Twitter, however, not taking quick action even as the incident reportedly took place two months ago and a case in this regard was lodged last month. After the Opposition parties on Thursday slammed the Centre’s silence on Manipur and questioned the Bharatiya Janata… Read More Opposition women leaders slam Smriti Irani over Manipur incident, demand CM’s resignation / ‘Deeply disturbing’: SC takes suo motu cognisance of purported Manipur video

Dilip

‘The father of the atomic bomb’ spent his final days as a Caribbean castaway

When the Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949, US President Harry Truman ordered American scientists to embark on a new programme to build a hydrogen bomb, whose nuclear explosion could be 1,000 times more powerful… Oppenheimer, the government’s chief scientific advisor on nuclear policy and defence, objected on moral and practical grounds, reportedly telling… Read More ‘The father of the atomic bomb’ spent his final days as a Caribbean castaway

Dilip

Trump under investigation for civil rights conspiracy

Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results have evidence to charge the former president with three crimes, including section 241 of the US legal code that makes it unlawful to conspire to violate civil rights, two people familiar with the matter said. The potential charges detailed in a target letter sent to… Read More Trump under investigation for civil rights conspiracy

Dilip

A Medieval Age of Disruption: On Nicholas Morton’s “The Mongol Storm”

Reviewed by Nile Green THEIR ARRIVAL WAS described in the deceptively mellifluous Persian of medieval historian Juvaini: “Amadand o kandand o sokhtand o koshtand o bardand o raftand”—“They came, they uprooted, they burned, they killed, they looted, and they left.” It is one of the tersest lines in world history-writing, summarizing in a single sentence the… Read More A Medieval Age of Disruption: On Nicholas Morton’s “The Mongol Storm”

Dilip

Govt goes into pantomime mode to assuage foreign critics

Bharat Bhushan From Washington DC and Cairo to Paris and Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the season’s flavour. However, the recurrent charge that his government is antithetical to India’s religious minorities hobbles his stride across the world stage. On the day he was guest of honour at France’s Bastille Day Parade, its premier… Read More Govt goes into pantomime mode to assuage foreign critics

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The atomic age was born 78 years ago — ‘cover-ups’ have held sway ever since

Scientists warned of dangers to those living downwind from the Trinity site but, in a pattern-setting decision, the director of the bomb project, General Leslie R. Groves, ruled that residents should not be evacuated and kept completely in the dark (even after they were sure to spot a blast brighter than any sun before dawn… Read More The atomic age was born 78 years ago — ‘cover-ups’ have held sway ever since

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Digital authoritarianism: How technology was seized by autocrats

*Originally published on November 12, 2020. This is Part 4 of the six-part 2020 Massey Lecture series Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society. Find the rest of the series here. The internet was supposed to be our salvation. While historically power has remained in the tight grasp of a select few, the initial vision of the internet… Read More Digital authoritarianism: How technology was seized by autocrats

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Uki Goñi – A grandmother’s 36-year hunt for the child stolen by the Argentinian junta

Practically all of Argentina cried on this one… First posted June 08, 2015 NB: The generals who performed these barbarities were Catholics and received support from sections of the Church. But it must be said that their leftist opponents also received support from radical priests. A brief history of Argentina’s ‘dirty war’, in which 30,000 people… Read More Uki Goñi – A grandmother’s 36-year hunt for the child stolen by the Argentinian junta

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