More in Current Affairs
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The one where Narendra Modi can’t cry.
That Indian liberals harbour same sentiments for NaMo as vampires did for Buffy Summers, is possibly one of the most uncontested facts of Indian politics. Now, with the caveat that I am hardly a neutral observers to this, for many of these liberals, Narendra Modi is just a scapegoat to...
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Group Identities in Liberal Democracies
The Indian Express carried a series of articles recently about group identities and rights in a liberal democracy. Ignoring the by now familiar inanities about a much-analysed politician from western India, it was interesting to note that no author had bothered to address a most important construct: the nation. Fashionably considered archaic in some circles, the...
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There Is A Modi in Town And You Cannot Ignore Him Any More
There Is A Modi in Town And You Cannot Ignore Him Any More 6th February, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi “I have come from the land of Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel” he said quietly with some visible discomfiture. “When we glance at India’s freedom...
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Vishwaroopam: The Stark Reality Facing the Hindus
(Published as part of CRI’s continued committment to Free Speech Absolutism. While views expressed in the piece are that of the author, CRI is in agreement with the author’s larger case for free speech ) The recently released Kamal Hassan movie Vishwaroopam apparently portrays Afghan jihadis as offering quranic prayers...
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Government in the land of outrage
India has become a land of daily outrages, particularly its urban landscape. Outrages could be over anything. For e.g. Planning Commission defines poverty line at 32 Rs a day or Farmer suicides. A typical day starts off with the media or the social media picking up any such issue or...
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Terrorism to Tranquillity: The story of development in Tripura
[ Editor's Note : The author of this post is an entrepreneur from the state of Tripura. His identity has been withheld upon his request ] If you ask anyone in ‘Mainland’ India about Tripura, most people would have to test their knowledge of geography. Tripura is just another small state...
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The Politics of Kamal Hassan
Kamal Hassan: An Honest yet Naive and Inferiority-Complex Ridden Self-loathing Soul? The first thing I read as soon as I woke up today was Prasanna’s pithy review of Kamal Hassan’s “Vishwaroopam”. So I decided to add my two pence to this line of thought. I haven’t watched the movie, so...
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The Cricket of our entertainment: Bollywood
The past few weeks have heard and seen much comment on the typecasting of women in commercial Indian cinema with discussion centring on the consequences of cinema’s commodification of women as symbols of sexual desire. It is not a sentiment I have had disagreement with. My experience and opinion of cinema is...
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What is India’s Plutonium Story?
It was recently reported that the commissioning of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam has been further delayed, this time due to a shortage of plutonium. Touted as a one-of-a-kind reactor, the PFBR boasts of some of the latest safety mechanisms and will use a mixed oxide fuel of PuO2-UO2. India’s Atomic Energy...
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Coming Transformation of the Battlefield 2014
Coming Transformation of the Battlefield 2014 The 2014 General Elections may be still one and a half years away, but to a conscientious ear, the war cries appear loud enough not to go unnoticed. The recently concluded Congress Chintan Shivir, for once, addressed the right issues. Elevating Rahul Gandhi, if...
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Congress Party and Muslims – Part II
In part 1, we had checked out how the Congress Party has effectively kept the Muslims of India in ‘isolation’ using them to fulfill its political objectives. It might be worthwhile to explore how this has affected Muslims. (The term ‘explore’ is used to admit that the subject requires a more detailed...
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Delhi Shame : Beyond agendas
After a brave but futile fight the New Delhi rape victim has died. The loss of life and the inhuman circumstances of that tragedy which happened in the national capital make us all feel ashamed. We all share the grief and pain of her near and dear ones at this...
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Misogyny and Indian Politics
The fiery Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, in a spout of indignation, hit back at her Opposition Leader Tony Abbott who had called for the sacking of one of her party members over a sexist row, “I will not be lectured on sexism and misogyny by this man. Not...
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कौन बनेगा प्रधान मंत्री?
The recently concluded state elections in Gujarat, India, resulted in an unequivocal victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its incumbent chief minister, Narendra Modi. Despite the exuberance of his supporters, Modi and his party did not record a rampant victory and actually slid back by two seats compared to their tally...