P. B. Mehta: With eyes wide open, we’re hurtling into an abyss / In Jahangirpuri, bulldozers leave trail of despair

 Anyone who has ever genuinely immersed themselves in Ramcharitmanas will recognise the singular poignancy of one moment in the Sundarkand where Hanuman meets Sita. Until that point the story is hurtling towards disaster. Sita has been abducted. Ram is distraught and unsure of himself. But the moment Hanuman meets Sita is the point at which… Read More P. B. Mehta: With eyes wide open, we’re hurtling into an abyss / In Jahangirpuri, bulldozers leave trail of despair

Dilip

Richard Wolffe: The Role of Capitalism in the War in Ukraine

To the motives for war in human history, capitalism added another: profit. That motive drove technological advancement and created a genuine world economy. It also built new capitalist empires such as the Spanish, Dutch, British, French, Belgian, Russian, German, Japanese, and American empires. Each of these countries built its empire by various means including wars… Read More Richard Wolffe: The Role of Capitalism in the War in Ukraine

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: Communal djinn and the vanishing State

NB: It would appear that the ruling dispensation known as the Sangh Parivar wishes communal hatred to become widespread and ‘spontaneous’. Contrary to their expectations however, this push towards violently imposed homogeneity is not a step toward national unity but a recipe for disintegration and the end of the Indian Union as a law-governed state.… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Communal djinn and the vanishing State

Dilip

Books reviewed: Beebology, or the history of the ‘British Bastard Corporation’

Margaret Thatcher hated the ‘British Bastard Corporation’, as her husband liked to call it. Coverage of the Falklands War was an inevitable flashpoint, with Thatcher raging against reporters’ references to ‘British’ forces rather than ‘our’ troops. The tabloid press sensed an opportunity to put the boot in, with the Sun wheeling out the tiredest of tropes by… Read More Books reviewed: Beebology, or the history of the ‘British Bastard Corporation’

Dilip

Peter A Smith: How a decades-long boom in licit opioid production was fueled by Tasmanian-grown poppies

Heading into the highlands of Tasmania, some 250 miles south of the Australian mainland, narrow black-topped roads meander through a wide river valley bounded by distant mountain bluffs. Two-track paths splinter off into grassy pastures, past skeletal trees bleached by sun and drought. All along the way, small signs dangle from wire fence lines: Danger Prohibited… Read More Peter A Smith: How a decades-long boom in licit opioid production was fueled by Tasmanian-grown poppies

Dilip

The good news – Karnataka: Belur temple continues tradition of starting festival with Quran recitation / Hindus protected mosque during Ramnavmi procession in Bihar / ‘This is Hindustan’: Hindu woman protected Muslim shopkeepers during riots in Rajasthan

“Reading excerpts from the Quran is a tradition but this year, there was a confusion as the temple authorities had initially issued a notice barring Muslim traders from setting up stalls. However, the endowment department took the suggestion of various priests and decided to go ahead with the tradition,” an official from the Endowment department… Read More The good news – Karnataka: Belur temple continues tradition of starting festival with Quran recitation / Hindus protected mosque during Ramnavmi procession in Bihar / ‘This is Hindustan’: Hindu woman protected Muslim shopkeepers during riots in Rajasthan

Dilip

Jonathan Haidt: Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid

NB: Yes, however the stupidity is not confined to the USA… DS The story of Babel is the best metaphor I have found for what happened to America in the 2010s, and for the fractured country we now inhabit. Something went terribly wrong, very suddenly. We are disoriented, unable to speak the same language or… Read More Jonathan Haidt: Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid

Dilip

Incredibly, current climate pledges could keep heating below 2C – but our work isn’t over

The battle to get countries and companies to sign up to net zero is being won. Now let’s keep pushing for more ambitious targets. he climate crisis is often seen in binary terms. Precise temperature targets – limiting global heating to 1.5C or 2C – imply decisive moments of victory or loss. Headlines warn that… Read More Incredibly, current climate pledges could keep heating below 2C – but our work isn’t over

Dilip