Besides the extortionist nature of the electoral bonds scheme, at its heart is the government’s desire for complete control.

In this issue

19-04-202435 STORIES

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Tastes of the earth

Disarmingly honest, Food Journeys is very different from the gushing food books that come out every second day.

Anusua Mukherjee

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Another ‘India Out’ campaign, this time in Bangladesh

The anti-India campaign after Sheikh Hasina’s re-election now shows signs of dying out because of the ambiguity of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Electoral bonds: Why it is a giant scam

What the electoral bonds scheme has done is to ensure “ease of doing crony capitalism” and distort the market in a way that amplifies inequality.

Science & Technology

While you are asleep, your brain flushes out waste

Cash-strapped NASA may gradually shut down Chandra Observatory and researchers developed a device which produces high-intensity radiation.

R. Ramachandran

CORONA VIRUS COVID 19

Science & Technology

How do pandemics begin?

From a chimpanzee research centre in the Congo to a laboratory in China, pandemics have tangled origin stories that science struggles to unravel.

Brinda Karat: Communist with a bindi

Characterised by a lack of self-indulgence, this memoir narrates a story that describes her mission to end exploitation in the world.

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Maps of the mind

Reading Jayant Kaikini’s stories, one feels the pull of Mumbai, a city one can hate but never escape from.

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Close encounters with the third kind

Dream Machine: AI and the Real World is a praiseworthy attempt to create a hybrid narrative fusing polemic, meditation, and fiction.

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‘Enlightenment’: A Marathi story in translation

The hypocrisy of a cruel literary environment conditioned by casteism and unique to India. Translated from Marathi by Priya Adarkar.

Sharankumar Limbale

Meena Kandasamy: ‘A poet says what’s on their mind’

The poet, writer, and activist says poetry helps people make sense of what they have lived.

Aditya Mani Jha

The war that never was

Nimbly, and often wittily, Mukund Padmanabhan’s The Great Flap of 1942 recounts the mad exodus from Madras during the Second World War.

History and the ways of remembering

If we want to frame history as something from which we must yank moral lessons, let these lessons include more ideas and identities.

Prathyush Parasuraman

One nation, one election: A long and winding poll

The bigger malaise hidden here is the corrosion of a vital independent institution such as the Election Commission.

Nissim Mannathukkaren

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Chronicling the early years of LGBTQIA+ movement in India

How Pawan Dhall, queer rights activist, researcher, and writer, has single-handedly created a remarkable archive of the early years of the movement.

Bone connection

Animals inhabited the earth long before we did, and yet we have usurped their space. This series explores our relationship with the non-human beings.

Asha Thadani,Anusua Mukherjee

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Editor’s Note: Electoral bonds, and our tumbledown democracy

The BJP exudes an almost contemptuous confidence that no revelations can derail its ultimate victory. Where does this confidence come from?

New books on the shelves

Fiction about the idea of belonging and exile, non fiction about the idea of Asia, and much more.

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Letters

Readers respond to Frontline’s coverage.

‘There is a lot still unaccounted for’: Jagdeep S. Chhokar

The founder of Association for Democratic Reforms concedes that the disclosure of the electoral bond scheme will not reduce election expenditure.

T.K. Rajalakshmi

‘It was not about transparency at all’: Lokesh Batra

The transparency rights activist says the information from his RTIs shed light on the opaque workings of the electoral bonds scheme.

T.K. Rajalakshmi

Is the MoEFCC encroaching into the domain of Tribal Affairs Ministry?

A joint advisory by both ministries has triggered concerns, signalling the Environment Ministry’s intrusion on matters earmarked for the Tribal Affair

Rishika Pardikar

Anantnag-Rajouri: New seat, old battles

The newly created trans-Pir Panjal Lok Sabha constituency is one of the most closely watched seats for myriad reasons.

Ashutosh Sharma

Chhattisgarh: In the name of Ram

The BJP in Chhattisgarh seeks votes in the name of Ram Lalla darshan in Ayodhya as the Congress battles corruption allegations.

Ashutosh Sharma

Naveen Patnaik: The regional powerhouse

Patnaik is still popular, but there is discontent within the BJD over his apparent choice of successor, making him vulnerable to opposition attacks.

Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay

Jharkhand: Sympathy factor

Arrest of JMM leader and until-recently Chief Minister Hemant Soren may be just what opposition in Jharkhand needs in its fight against resurgent BJP.

Rajasthan: Modi magic on test

The BJP won all 25 seats from Rajasthan in 2014 and 2019, but this time its MPs seem to be battling anti-incumbency.

T.K. Rajalakshmi

Madhya Pradesh: Picking up the pieces

The Congress in Madhya Pradesh is banking on MSP promises and the tribal vote to make a dent in the BJP bastion.

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Kashmir: Valley of contention

Unable to arrive at an agreement, the major parties are going solo in Kashmir, while the BJP’s “proxies” are queering the pitch.

2024 general election is a masterclass in crony capitalism and authoritarianism

The nexus of Big Money and state power has created an unequal playing field, usurping democratic processes to sway election and silence dissent.

The totalitarian project behind the electoral bonds scheme

Beyond trade-offs and extortion, the scheme goes to the very heart of the Sangh Parivar’s long-term goal of an ideological dictatorship.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta,Abir Dasgupta

MUSIC_ACADAMY

The Carnatic wars

By honouring T.M. Krishna, The Music Academy champions the art of Carnatic music while subtly recognising validity in his critiques. Yet, protests aga

Lakshmi Sreeram

Did Periyar call for a genocide of Brahmins?

In hierarchical societies, reformers challenge the status quo with provocative and uncivil speech. Accusing them of hate speech is ill-intentioned.

Karthick Ram Manoharan

‘Bringing 1,000 elephants to Jamnagar makes no sense’: Raman Sukumar

Elephant ecologist on concerns surrounding the new Rules on captive elephant transfer, the emergence of zoos such as Anant Ambani’s Vantara, and more.

A pro-Palestinian activist wearing a mask depicting Britain Prime Minister Rishi Sunak carries a baby doll to mark the death of thousands of children in Gaza, along with supporters on a march through London on March 9.

In Britain, the Establishment confronts the Movement

The chasm between Britain’s political class and majority of voters on the Palestine issue raises the prospect of a full-blown crisis of legitimacy.

The hate artists of Hindutva

Kunal Purohit’s H-Pop is a gripping exposé of the far Right’s media machine and the vicious viral content it crafts to manipulate the masses.

Palash Krishna Mehrotra

Archive

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+ READ THIS ISSUE 03-05-2024

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+ READ THIS ISSUE 19-04-2024

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+ READ THIS ISSUE 05-04-2024

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+ READ THIS ISSUE 22-03-2024

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