The postcards from Jamnagar frame some other stories that have emerged as a theme in the 'New India'. These are stories of unrivalled pomp and power, of material riches beyond compare, of an elite space where forces work differently from the way they work elsewhere on the planet.
It is noteworthy that a strong and vociferous point of view against the developments in Ayodhya has come from religious leaders rather than the political opposition, which has struggled to frame its line of argument clearly.
It may serve Infosys to have zombies but it can never serve the nation to valorise this as the route to a national revival. Many in India suffer low wages, zero benefits and long work hours. Murthy’s remarks will be used to legitimise these malpractices.
The report notes that India has the highest child-wasting rate in the world, at 18.7 per cent, reflecting acute undernutrition. It places India way below a neighbour like Bangladesh, which has a score of 19, a rank of 81 and is categorised on the GHI Severity of Hunger Scale as “moderate” – a class jump over the Indian numbers.
At the root of this fall is the belief among the BJP that assertion means aggression; that hitting out is the best form of defence; that violence is in our grain and must be met with double the violence; that the 'other' must be put down; that the grammar of leadership is masculine in form, shape and action.
The industry prefers a winning formula to creative exploration, particularly in big-budget films populated by rocking stars with fancy fees. Will that change from hereon with the success of ‘Jawan’? We have on offer a new path for Bollywood, a path that can use its huge and unrivalled soft power to drive home some significant messages of the…
No one in ISRO said ‘I’ did it. The ISRO leadership gave full credit to leaders, past and present. They showcased the team spirit that is so crucial for the mission. In the words of the ISRO chief: “This is not our work alone. It is the work of a generation of ISRO leadership and ISRO scientists … This is incremental progress.”
Manipur is burning and the government knows not what to do next. This is a sensitive state in a sensitive region with not very friendly neighbours. The collapse of State machinery here should be a cause for alarm.
Herein lies the paradox of Karnataka. The rest of educated India and the world knows the state mostly through the stories of its tech leaders and the vibrancy of Bengaluru, which has sometimes been voted as the top city to work for many and certainly for IT professionals. On the other hand, the state of Karnataka has become a tinderbox of…
On the one hand, India sees itself as the rising global power, the head of G20 today, and with an economy that is the fifth largest in the world by GDP. On the other hand, India is the story of flourishing gangsters who when they get too big must be taken to a secluded spot and shot.
