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In this issue

02-07-202125 STORIES

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Interview: Professor Gulammohammed Sheikh

Interview with Professor Gulammohammed Sheikh: Towards an alternative visual language

An interview with Professor Gulammohammed Sheikh.

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Interview: Laura Spinney

Interview with Laura Spinney: The flu that changed the world

Interview with Laura Spinney, science journalist and author of “Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World”.

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ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT POETRY

Poetically defiant

Regime after regime has clamped down on anti-establishment poetry, but the Narendra Modi government in the last seven years has sought to demonise art

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The Sahel region of Africa is experiencing a spiral of jehadi activity, political instability and violence

The Sahel region in Africa faces an increase in jehadi activity, political uncertainty and violence, as demonstrated most recently by the second coup

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End of the Netanyahu era

Disparate parties come together to form the new anti-Likud coalition government denying Benjamin Netanyahu yet another stint in office. In the power-s

Maratha reservation: quota confusion

The twists and turns in the Maratha reservation issue and the impact it can have on electoral politics in Maharashtra.

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Governor: A colonial relic

Successive governments at the Centre abused their power to plant their men in State capitals as Governors, wrecking the parliamentary system in the St

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The virus of hate

Amid the lockdown, there have been reports of attacks against Muslim men in parts of north India. In many instances, they were asked to chant ‘Jai Shr

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The Centre vs West Bengal

Mamata Banerjee vs New Delhi: Wrong arm of the Centre

Relations between the Centre and the West Bengal government reached a new low as the Centre, in an unprecedented act seen as a blatant attempt at subv

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College draft syllabus: Messing with history

The UGC’s new draft of college-level history syllabus is a continuation of the Sangh Parivar’s attempts at saffronisation of Indian history.

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Free bus travel for women

Tamil Nadu launches free bus travel for women’s empowerment

Tamil Nadu’s scheme facilitating free bus travel for women is laudable as it will boost their work participation rate, but the government must evaluat

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Children as victims of the pandemic

The discriminatory impact of the pandemic is resulting in poverty, rising malnutrition rates and mental trauma among children. Many of them have lost

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MoU between the Union Ministry of Agriculture, Microsoft India and CropData Technology Pvt. Ltd for a pilot project to develop a farmer interface may lead to these private companies gaining access to farmers’ personal data

The Union government is preparing a national database comprising a wide range of data on farmers. But the project has raised serious questions becaus

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Unearthing the story of the sand burials on the banks of the Ganga

The ghats of Varanasi were overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of cremations and even sand burials in April-May during the devastating second wave

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Tribute: Mythily Sivaraman

Mythily Sivaraman: Quintessential Marxist

Mythily Sivaraman (1939-2021), a veteran Marxist leader who played a pioneering role in raising public awareness on women’s rights and class issues an

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Dismantling regulatory mechanisms governing vaccines

Having blundered on the COVID-19 vaccine front, the Narendra Modi government now appears to be pandering to the demands of the vaccine multinationals.

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The BJP’s leadership tussle centring around Uttar Pradesh intensified ahead of the 2022 Assembly election

The not-so-secret conflict between Narendra Modi and Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh intensifes ahead of the State Assembly election in 2022.

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Farming in a crisis

If agriculture was the only sector to grow during the first wave of the pandemic, the picture is not so rosy now in Maharashtra as the COVID restricti

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India's vaccination policy: A U-turn and a spin

Intense pressure from the opposition and the Supreme Court’s reprimand force the Prime Minister to announce free vaccination for all in the 18-44 age

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COVID-19 Update

COVID-19: Perils of vacuous claims

The Central government’s claim of having controlled the second wave in the shortest possible time is hollow. Studies indicate the challenges to come:

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Mehul Choksi case

The law and an outlaw: the hunt for Mehul Choksi

The Mehul Choksi extradition saga takes a new turn, involving a honey trap, violence and a dramatic escape, but legal hurdles and confusion over citiz

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COVID-19 Update: Tamil Nadu

COVID-19: Chennai’s success story

The city Corporation’s new strategy of expanding emergency care infrastructure, conducting door-to-door surveys and follow-ups and encouraging public

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Economic Perspectives

Communique released after G7 Finance Ministers’ summit does not have much to offer beyond commitments already agreed upon

The global minimum tax proposal that the G7 Finance Ministers’ summit agreed upon falls disappointingly short of what is needed and possible. And the

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Buddhadeb Dasgupta: Master of surreal art

With Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s (1944-2021) death, Indian cinema has lost one of its most original, iconoclastic figures who helped put it back on the world

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Baghjan blowout

A gas well explosion that is now an ecological nightmare

An inquiry report lists the massive damage to ecology and wildlife caused by the five-month-long blowout and explosion at OIL’s gas well at Baghjan in

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