Five nations in South Asia go to the polls this year in an increasingly troubled milieu where there is a power struggle between India and China and a slide in democratic values across the region.

In this issue

26-01-202431 STORIES

How rising tiger population has made life dangerous for families in Uttar Pradesh

Escalating human-tiger conflicts near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve are attributed to deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and the lure of village livestock.

Uttar Pradesh’s rising crime rates challenge BJP’s narrative on women’s safety

As the BJP faces criticism for shielding leaders accused of sexual crimes, the disturbing cases continue to raise questions about the safety of women

Ashutosh Sharma

Invisible lives

A documentation of India’s disadvantaged Dalit communities, and their unseen labour. Text by Ramjee Chandran and photographs by Asha Thadani.

Asha Thadani,Ramjee Chandran

Science & Technology

Solar panels mitigate climate change faster than forest cover

Also, the connection between loneliness and Parkinson’s and drones that can help rescue teams after a disaster in this edition of Science Notebook.

R. Ramachandran

Telangana: Tale of two white papers

Ahead of crucial budget, Congress paints a grim economic picture in two policy documents. BRS hits back, triggering a data battle.

‘Literature has to retrieve spirituality from the clutches of religion’: Ashok Vajpeyi

The Hindi poet and public intellectual has been a fearless critic of all tyrannies, whether of ideologies, markets, or fundamentalists.

Ashutosh Bhardwaj

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For the love of Urdu

Once a treasure trove of bookshops, the grand old Urdu Bazaar in the walled city of Delhi faces an existential crisis.

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The grotesque fetish for realism in cinema

A lot of our schooling on what good and bad acting is has come from theatre. But what are we giving up in our fixation for this realism?

Prathyush Parasuraman

Pedestrians walking past the Bombay Stock Exchange building, in Mumbai, on December 11, 2023.

Is the Indian stock market headed towards a crash?

The current boom is fueled by FII inflows and retail frenzy, and raises concerns of overvaluation and bubble risk.

C.P. Chandrasekhar

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India in the South Asian neighbourhood: Friendship or friction?

In 2024, three relationships will be closely watched: the US-China rivalry, the emerging India-US partnership, and India-China ties.

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Remembrances of repasts past

Peppered with recipes, Forgotten Foods spans a vast spectrum of Muslim cuisines and customs from across South Asia.

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A.K. Ramanujan’s uncut gems

The 22 unpublished poems collected in Soma bristle with emotions and are best savoured on their own.

Recording a visually spectacular Tamil theatre tradition

Hanne de Bruin’s Kattaikkuttu places the tradition within the context of larger Tamil theatre histories and influences, including Tamil cinema.

When Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott test your patience

The Running Grave, the latest detective novel of Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling, is not good enough to justify its girth.

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Death, decay, and disintegration

Vauhini Vara’s This is Salvaged is a brooding analysis of loss that is sometimes weighed down by its theme.

Dumpster diaries: Unconventional camaraderie between a man and an itinerant garbage dump

In a world obsessed with constant movement, a man finds a companion in a garbage dump that defies eviction.

Palash Krishna Mehrotra

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Will green tea revive Darjeeling’s ailing tea industry?

As traditional black tea falters, Darjeeling turns to green flush for a shot in the arm. But will it be enough?

Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay

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New books on the shelves

A quaint little shop that sells dreams, a dream run at the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and much more.

‘The Dystopian Times’ by Appupen

Letters

Readers respond.

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Editor’s Note: Idea of South Asia as the next EU now a distant dream

India’s own diminishing democracy and rising corporate oligarchy is likely to have a cascading effect on the region.

‘We got nothing from the Centre’: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

He says the disaster-hit State received only routine allocations from the Modi government, unlike what Uttarakhand or Gujarat received in the past.

T.K. Rajalakshmi

Centre’s decision to strip passports of Goans stirs up controversy

Critics say such “one-size-fits-all” nationalism raises questions about identity and belonging; it has no place in a changing world.

Albertina Almeida

Deep state pulls strings in Pakistan’s February elections. Will 2018 repeat?

Nawaz Sharif’s PML(N) faces uphill battle on economy, foreign affairs after potential election win.

D. Suba Chandran

Sri Lanka election: Bumpy road ahead for India

Regardless of winner, China’s deep engagement in the island’s economy pose long-term challenges for India.

R.K. Radhakrishnan

Security tightened ahead of Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande’s visit to Rajouri district on December 25 to review the security situation.

Custodial deaths of Gujjars in Poonch puts Army and BJP in a spot

Gujjar-Bakarwals demand criminal prosecutions as unrest boils over, threatening the BJP’s key voter base in an election year.

Hasina retains power, but can she hold Bangladesh together?

The challenges Sheikh Hasina faces at home and abroad, and how she handles them, will be decisive not just for Bangladesh but also for South Asia.

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Israel-Hamas war highlights clashing visions for regional stability as China seeks alternative to US-led Abraham Accords

Can China’s focus on an Iran-Saudi peace plan bring lasting stability to West Asia?

Maldives power play: Muizzu consolidates control, leaving Yameen in exile

President Muizzu has orchestrated a de facto political coup, taking over the party that nominated him and sidelining former President Abdulla Yameen.

R.K. Radhakrishnan

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India braces for a potent brew of majoritarianism and authoritarianism in 2024

Clearly, the grand all-India narrative is sought to be built around Lord Ram and “Supreme Leader” Modi.

The amended Biological Diversity Act puts profits over people

One amendment uses “ease of doing business” as a rationale for conglomerates to be excused from paying a share of their profits to tribal populations.

Priyansha Chouhan

Archive

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