Deeply researched and lucidly written, Gandhi’s Assassin does a good job in its portraiture of Nathuram Godse and in reporting details of the plot to kill MK Gandhi NB: The murder of Gandhiji has been immersed in ideological sophistry ever since 1948. Thousands of Sangh Parivar allies celebrate his assassination on the one hand (especially… Read More Gandhi’s Assassin. By Dhirendra K Jha
A Manhattan jury has found two Trump Organization companies guilty on multiple charges of criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records connected to a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation for top executives. The Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. were found guilty on all charges they faced.… Read More Trump Organization found guilty on all counts of criminal tax fraud
Bharat Bhushan Two weeks before the football World Cup begins in Qatar, the forcible eviction of migrant workers from dozens of buildings in Doha’s Al Mansoura neighbourhood made headlines. The evictions were a bid to make Doha look like another international city in the first world. In some cases, the migrant workers were reportedly given… Read More Migrant worker deaths: The dark underbelly of Qatar Football World Cup
Daniel Boffey The wife of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is preparing a lawsuit in the US against the spyware maker NSO Group, claiming she was targeted with the Israeli company’s Pegasus software. Hanan Elatr, 52, is also planning to sue the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for their involvement in the alleged attempts… Read More Jamal Khashoggi’s wife to sue NSO Group over Pegasus spyware
Reviewed by Mani Shankar Iyer NB: True to the ethics of the journalist profession, Nilanjan Takle has performed a public service by following the trail of questions and shadows in which this death of an upright judge is veiled. It is a matter of comfort that such journalists are still doing their work, despite all… Read More Book Review: ‘Who Killed Justice Loya’ Delves into Many Unanswered Questions
Farrukh Dhondy, who was Charles Sobhraj’s arm’s-length friend for much of his corpse-strewn career, leaves what the reader really wants to know for the epilogue: “How did he manage to seduce so many women ― is he really charismatic and charming?” Dhondy reports that he is “an average bloke”, but “there was something in his… Read More Book review: Charles Sobhraj, the Average and Slippery Bloke With Notions of Being a Super-Criminal
Around the world, many countries are becoming less democratic. This backsliding on democracy and “creeping authoritarianism,” as the U.S. State Department puts it, is often supported by the same industries that are escalating climate change. In my new book, “Global Burning: Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis,” I lay out connections between these industries and the… Read More Big Oil, Rising Authoritarianism and worsening climate. By Eve Darian-Smith
A historical study of the opium and heroin trade and its political context, based on primary and secondary sources, including interviews with some of the key players of the developments in Indochina in the 1950s through 1970s. Alfred W. McCoy; The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Central… Read More Book review: Alfred McCoy on the Politics of Heroin & CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade
According to police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it was suicide. The young Muslim man they had brought into their custody had, out of despair, killed himself in the police station toilets. But, as photos of the scene emerged, so too did suspicions. The 22-year-old man, Altaf, was 165cm (5ft 5in) tall and… Read More Police in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh accused of unlawful killings
How do the banks continue to get away with it? The latest revelations about Credit Suisse provide yet another glimpse into the corrosive nexus of banks, corporations, accountants, lawyers and financial intermediaries that enables the wealthy and political elites to profit from illicit practices. The bank itself is no stranger to predatory practices. Since 2001 it has… Read More Prem Sikka: Credit Suisse leaks expose an industry that has got away with too much for too long /Joseph Stiglitz: Credit Suisse has allowed the morally bankrupt to steal from the poor
After the truth-shower 