Renuka Chowdhury to file defamation against PM Modi over ‘Surpanaka.’ ‘Lets see how fast courts act now’

Calling PM Modi a ‘classless megalomaniac’, Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury said she will now file a defamation case against PM Modi for his alleged ‘Surpanakha’ comment made in Parliament in 2018. “Let’s see how fast courts will act now…’ The former Union minister said tweeting the old clip of Narendra Modi asking the Rajya Sabha… Read More Renuka Chowdhury to file defamation against PM Modi over ‘Surpanaka.’ ‘Lets see how fast courts act now’

Dilip

My only love

Brian Ferry: Roxy Music Do I ever wonder?More than words can sayHeaven knows it’s hard enough to prayLet me tell you something There’s a change in meEven now you’re gone you’ll always beMy only loveDoes it seem so funny For a fool to cry?Do you know the meaning of goodbye?There’s a river flowingBy a willow… Read More My only love

Dilip

Bálint Magyar: Systemic characteristics of the post-communist mafia state

First posted January 20, 2017 Earlier I published several reports on Bálint Magyar’s theory of the mafia state. In fact, I devoted three consecutive posts, the first of which appeared on June 18, 2013, to his description of Orbán’s system of government as a new kind of autocratic regime. Magyar’s analysis of the current Hungarian political system elicited widespread… Read More Bálint Magyar: Systemic characteristics of the post-communist mafia state

Dilip

Why the ‘Mother of Democracy’ brooks no criticism

Bharat Bhushan The belligerence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s MPs against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is not letting Parliament function. This is unprecedented, and especially galling because Parliament needs to pass the Budget in this session, irrespective of whether Gandhi apologises for comments made in the United Kingdom on the erosion of democracy in India. Forget his… Read More Why the ‘Mother of Democracy’ brooks no criticism

Dilip

एक अजीब-सी मुश्किल / My Uncanny Paradox

कुँवर नारायण एक अजीब-सी मुश्किल में हूँ इन दिनों / मेरी भरपूर नफ़रत कर सकने की ताक़त / दिनोंदिन क्षीण पड़ती जा रही An uncanny paradox grips me these days / My capacity for fulsome hatred seems to be weakening every day अँग्रेज़ी से नफ़रत करना चाहता / जिन्होंने दो सदी हम पर राज किया… Read More एक अजीब-सी मुश्किल / My Uncanny Paradox

Dilip

A million lives later, I cannot forgive what American terrorism did to my country, Iraq

NB: George Bush and Tony Blair are as culpable for war crimes as is Vladimir Putin. If we can’t see this and say it, we are at an advanced level of Orwellian doublespeak. DS Sinan Antoon In early 2003, I was living in Cairo and carrying out research for my doctoral dissertation on a famous… Read More A million lives later, I cannot forgive what American terrorism did to my country, Iraq

Dilip

Downfall of a British institution: London Metropolitan police found to be racist, sexist and homophobic

It may be an understatement to say this is a cataclysmic disaster that has befallen the Metropolitan police, the people it serves, the trust it has squandered and the bullied and overworked staff repeated leaders have let down. Lady Casey’s report details the fall of a British institution, tumbling harder than any organisation at the centre… Read More Downfall of a British institution: London Metropolitan police found to be racist, sexist and homophobic

Dilip

Rescuing endangered seabirds: world’s biggest single operation to remove mice from island

Patrick Barkham Non-native house mice are to be removed from Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean to protect the wandering albatross and other endangered seabirds, in the world’s largest eradication programme of its kind. Mice accidentally introduced on to the remote island by 19th-century seal hunters have thrived in warmer and drier conditions over… Read More Rescuing endangered seabirds: world’s biggest single operation to remove mice from island

Dilip

2023 B.G. Verghese Memorial Lecture: Nafrat se Itni Mohabbat Kyo? Why Do We Love to Hate?

Chameli Devi Jain Award 2023 – India International Centre The Lady Vanishes Gandhi’s Assassin. By Dhirendra K Jha Four Indian intellectuals who were murdered for their ideas (2013-2017) George Orwell: Ignorance is Strength; Freedom is Slavery; War is Peace George Orwell – Freedom of the Park (1945) George Orwell’s Final Warning: “If you want a picture of the… Read More 2023 B.G. Verghese Memorial Lecture: Nafrat se Itni Mohabbat Kyo? Why Do We Love to Hate?

Dilip

The invasion of Iraq was a turning point on to a path that led towards Ukraine

Peter Beaumont n 20 March 2003, as bombs and missiles from the US-led coalition rained on Iraqi cities in the opening “shock and awe” campaign against Saddam Hussein, the tectonic plates of the post-Second World War international order shifted permanently. For those of us who covered the run-up to the war, the invasion and the long… Read More The invasion of Iraq was a turning point on to a path that led towards Ukraine

Dilip