First posted February 22, 2016 NB: This post deals with the political debate sparked off by the recent events in JNU. It is for the consideration of ordinary students as well as other concerned individuals, in India and abroad. It is offered in the belief that a forthright dialogue on divisive themes is the only way… Read More What is to be Undone (2016)
Jonathan Barrett Tens of millions of dollars worth of Australian retirement savings have been exposed to the beleaguered Adani Group as the Indian conglomerate faces a stock rout after allegations of fraud. Several major superannuation funds, including those that cater for government workers in Queensland and employees at the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), invested in the company after… Read More Adani stock rout leaves tens of millions in Australian retirement savings exposed
Bharat Bhushan No one can be allowed to rain on India’s parade just when Prime Minister Modi is on the cusp of being recognised as a world leader through India’s routine and rotational assumption of the G-20 presidency. Therefore, the breaking of informal red lines set for the domestic media by outsiders has to be… Read More Why only George Soros? Expose all “foreign hands
Kenan Malik In January, the BBC broadcast a two-part series, India: The Modi Question, which looked forensically at the role of Narendra Modi in fomenting the Gujarat anti-Muslim riots of 2002 in which at least 1,000 people were killed. Now the prime minister of India, Modi was then the chief minister of Gujarat. The response in… Read More India enjoyed a free and vibrant media. Narendra Modi’s brazen attacks are a catastrophe
Chelsea Lee, CNN In the north Indian desert town of Jaisalmer, also known as “The Golden City” for its array of yellow sandstone architecture, temperatures can reach approximately 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) at the height of summer. Here, buildings have long been designed to adapt to the heat, a tradition that New York… Read More How this school in the Indian desert stays cool even in extreme heat
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi Since Modi came to power in 2014, some journalists and other media workers have alleged that a systematic silencing of critical reporting has taken place and that journalists have been targeted as “anti-national” threats to the state. In this year’s World Press Freedom Index, India dropped down to 150 out of 180 countries,… Read More Indian journalists say BBC raid part of drive to intimidate media
A disclaimer is in order before I venture into the rest of this piece. These days, any hack of standing has to begin with a disclaimer to show that he is someone to be reckoned with, that his background is of interest to his readers, that he is pure as the driven snow, and that… Read More Avay Shukla: Of puppets, surrogates and the real Mccoy : a ‘crash’ course on the Indian stock market
J Jagannath US short seller Hindenburg Research fired another salvo at Adani Group and it involves Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Gautam Adani. “Forbes is out with a major article evidencing hidden Adani promoter pledges: A private Vinod Adani-controlled Singaporean entity pledged Adani promoter stakes for $240m in loans from a Russian bank. Zero disclosure of these… Read More Hindenburg alleges Gautam Adani’s brother pledged Adani Group promoter stakes for $240-mn loans from Russian bank
The declaration proclaimed on June 25, 1975, under Article 352(1) of the constitution that a grave Emergency existed whereby the security of India was threatened by internal disturbance was the declaration of a phoney Emergency. Its real cause was the erosion of Indira Gandhi’s hold on power. The occasion to declare it on that day… Read More Ashok H. Desai: How the Judiciary Defied the Government to Uphold Constitutional Values During the Emergency
On June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India that lasted for 21 months. The period saw widespread human rights violations, jailing of members of the Opposition and a clampdown on press freedom. Forty three years later, journalist Ajoy Bose, author of a newly relaunched book on the Emergency, interviews Nayantara Sahgal, who… Read More Nayantara Sahgal speaks to Ajoy Bose: ‘We have a nightmare which is worse than the Emergency’
After the truth-shower 