Innholdsfortegnelse for August 3, 2020 i India Today

In December 2002, while travelling with Narendra Modi on his campaign for his first state election in Gujarat, I was taken aback when in our casual chat he said: “Do you know the biggest tragedy of recent Indian politics is the decline of the Congress as a national party. The country would have been better off with two pan-national parties.” Little did I, or perhaps even he, know at the time that he would be the one to push them into insignificance. That’s not his fault. It is what opposing parties are supposed to do to each other. However, a robust Opposition is central to the functioning of a vibrant democracy. It presents a viable alternative to the incumbent government, promotes responsible debate and democratic discussion and holds the government…

CONSIDER this. Of the 303 BJP MPs in the current Lok Sabha, at least 31 are former Congress members. Between 2015 and 2020, some 120 elected Congress MLAs have switched sides to the BJP. The Modi tsunami in 2014 reduced the party to its lowest-ever tally of 44; a performance it improved only marginally by eight seats in 2019. Of the three heartland states it won in 2018, Madhya Pradesh has slipped out of its hands along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajasthan and Sachin Pilot are hovering around the exit door. In 2019, the party was unable to prevent 13 of its MLAs in Karnataka from resigning and bringing down the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government. In the 2017 assembly elections for Goa and Manipur, despite emerging as the single-largest party in…

Q. Is the Congress party in terminal retreat or can it revive itself? • SHASHI THAROOR A. I won’t deny 2019 was a disappointing setback—we were all expecting to do much better. Various factors played a part. In the North, for instance, we underestimated the impact of national security as an electoral topic (in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and Balakot strike) on the psyche of the voter. The ‘micro-projects’ in the villages also helped overcome people’s unhappiness over the economic problems of rising unemployment and the devastation caused by demonetisation. We must also give credit to the BJP for running a masterful campaign that deflected attention from their evident failures. But we rebounded well in half a dozen state assembly elections, where we either won or came close.…

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru, which emerged as the country’s best law university in the latest India Today-MDRA Best Universities survey, has not only carved an identity of its own but maintained its eminence since it was established over 30 years ago. NLSIU has become the template for legal education across the country. The hallmarks of the institution are its emphasis on quality education, a vibrant environment, an opportunity for students to interact with legal luminaries and a free-thinking culture. While NLSIU pioneered the five-year integrated BA LLB (Hons) course, it has given equal importance to postgraduate programmes, such as the Master’s Programme in Public Policy (MPP) and Master of Laws (LLM). Prof (Dr) Sudhir Krishnaswamy, who took over as vice-chancellor of NLSIU in 2019,…

acontagious virus emerges from East Asia. It bounces across the globe, killing millions while a feckless US president and global disarray can do little to stop it. There are lockdowns, a recession and no shortage of conspiracy theories. A vaccine seems far away. Welcome to 2020. And also to Lawrence Wright’s The End of October, a piece of research-driven fiction he began writing years before the current pandemic struck. “I meant to write a thriller that was also a cautionary tale,” says Wright, a New Yorker staff writer from Texas, ahead of the book’s July release in India. “But by the time the book came out, there was no need to caution people because we were in the middle of a terrible pandemic…. If there’s anybody that’s concerned about my…

1. GIORGIO ARMANI Cult designer and fashion impresario, Giorgio Armani’s ready-to-wear men and women’s clothing bears his signature style of relaxed yet luxurious. “I was the first to soften the image of men, and harden the image of women. I dressed men in women’s fabrics, and stole from men what women wanted and needed—the power suit.” 2. SHATBHI BASU Among many firsts to her name, Shatbhi Basu is acclaimed as India’s first woman bartender, who also started the first bartending academy - STIR Academy of Bartending. She authored India’s first beverage book: The Can’t Go Wrong Book of Cocktails. And is the first American Whiskey Ambassador of India. 3. ATUL KOCHHAR This Indian-born, UK-based chef, restaurateur, and television personality was the youngest Indian chef to receive a Michelin star, awarded…

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The book analyses five domains to argue how private intervention is inadequate to respond to public policy failures The principal premise of this book is that citizens who can afford to, respond to India’s public policy failures through private initiative and that this is neither optimal nor adequate. This is shown in five domains: water, health, education, power and security. The author makes his case with an impressive combination of historical analysis, policy initiatives, cited research and individual case studies of private responses. This would seem to be quite a challenge to coherence, but I found it superbly addressed. The narrative in each chapter is well stitched together and, at the conclusion, one is left with a clear geography of the problem and the response. The first chapter begins with…

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has an unusual call to take. The country’s richest temple body, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), says it’s facing a resource crunch due to the restricted flow of devotees during the current Covid pandemic. TTD chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy met Sitharaman and asked for Rs 50 crore in lieu of a pile of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 old (demonetised) currency notes. The notes are said to be offerings from devotees at the shrine after the demonetisation in November 2016. A highly unusual monetary headache for the minister. MLAs Going Cheap? While the Congress government in Rajasthan is battling the crisis triggered by dissident Sachin Pilot, Jharkhand finance minister and Congress state chief Rameshwar Oraon has accused the BJP of trying to lure party MLAs…

The Congress didn’t win the desired number of seats in the Lok Sabha election. The BJP may have won the election with a deceitful hypernationalistic rhetoric, but the victory didn’t last long. They were expected to win in Haryana and Maharashtra but did not make the numbers. The BJP was defeated in Jharkhand and Delhi too. Now they are desperately trying to topple democratically elected governments by offering bribes and using the central agencies to intimidate elected legislators. The Congress will fight this unprecedented attack on the fundamental values on which our nation was built with all our might. There is no internal turbulence in the Congress party. The disenchantment of a few leaders is not a setback to the party. The internal democratic nature of the party allows difference…

I left the Congress purely because the leaders failed to address the legitimate concerns I had raised. I did not demand any post or position, but I was not allowed to function in a way a sincere soldier of the party should. We now increasingly see the Congress being hypocritical. For instance, it criticises Veer Savarkar but joins hands with the Shiv Sena to form a government in Maharashtra. India needs a strong opposition. On so many issues, the BJP has got it completely wrong. The Congress can no longer take the space of Opposition for granted. If it is not competent enough, other voices will come up. Regional voices like ours will be heard more. Besides, the Congress needs to resolve its leadership issue. Tomorrow, if a political party…

THE CREDIT MARKET IN India is prone to perilous setbacks, with the extant prolonged non-performing asset shock being the latest one. At the heart of the subject is the increasing risk, in effect, due to the failure, over decades, to arrest a creeping banking sector-fiscalisation; ownership of banks as a means for day-to-day macroeconomic management rather than primarily for efficient intermediation between savers and borrowers. Indian finance ministers, somewhat unusually as compared to colleagues elsewhere, declare ‘credit budgets’ on behalf of banks in the annual finance speech; state chief ministers, for their part, announce quinquennial write-offs; in 2008, in the lead-up to elections in the following year, the Union government did both simultaneously! How we got here feels like a case of an Overton window in India’s political economy, where…

Alack of public transport. An antidote to corona gloom. Or perhaps just the latest fad for the well-heeled. These are some of the reasons that bicycle shops across India are filled with exhausted owners and little else. “Material hi nahin hai, (I’m out of stock),” shrugs Rajesh Girdhar, the owner of Cyclofit, a chain of cycle stores with four outlets across the NCR. He’s not alone in this most pleasant of business dilemmas. Several others also report absurd levels of demand. Some say they’ve done a year’s business in the past two months. Others just want their phones to stop ringing. The spike in demand is visible even at the industry level—Hero Cycles’ Pankaj Munjal recently said that the company’s order book for June was half a million cycles, up…

The Plague (Albert Camus) “It’s a wonderful novel. I think he wrote it mainly as a metaphor for the Nazi occupation of France. It’s a very illuminating book” Decameron (Giovanni Boccaccio) “It feels very contemporary, it’s a very interesting novel. There are remnants of the end of the feudal Middle Ages and you can sense the Renaissance is on the way. That’s what the Black Death did. It closed the door on the Middle Ages” Pale Horse, Pale Rider (Katherine Anne Porter) “A wonderful book, three little novelettes and one of them is a short novel about the 1918 flu. Porter was a reporter in Denver, and she got the flu. She was so ill, her newspaper set her obituary in type... it’s an extraordinary story”…

Q. You joined the shoot of India’s Best Dancer a week after your colleagues. Were there nerves? I thought what’s the big deal, everyone has to eventually resume work but as the first day of shoot neared I broke out with zits. There was apprehension but the channel has followed all the guidelines. There’s no live audience, the unnecessary frills are gone. And I am a walkingtalking chemist now with my bag full of masks, sanitisers, gloves and medicines. Q. The paparazzi like to follow you about. Have you missed them? They are so much a part of our lives. It’s been a nice, healthy break for everybody. We have all had a chance to press the reset button, however bizarre the situation may be. Having said that, it’s their…

As the world changes the way it perceives and consumes luxury, so do auction houses and art curators. There is an unprecedented shift towards online engagement with buyers and connoisseurs alike investing in art, watches, jewellery and handbags. The new auction calendar for June and July 2020 included the rescheduled Geneva, Hong Kong, and New York Luxury Weeks, live and online sales across Christie’s global sale sites spanning Paris, Hong Kong, Geneva, New York and London. A total of 22 live and online luxury sales took place from June through the end of July, featuring over 1,500 lots of jewels, watches (above), handbags, accessories, and fine wine with estimates ranging from $500 to $4million. While June featured three online sales leading into the 19 distinct auctions hosted in July, beginning…

Before the pandemic I would have said that the biggest trend in fashion was also the biggest problem for us all: a trend toward excessive production of collections, driven by the mass market, fast-fashion methodology. This was leading to some tension since, there also existed a parallel, gradual move towards a more mindful attitude to consuming. For years, I have been raising similar questions, but it is the current emergency that has brought home the fact that a careful and intelligent slowdown is the only way out to finally bring value back to our work. COVID has, in my opinion, helped accelerate the realisation that we should be designing, producing and consuming in a more considered way, and I believe that the enforced experience of living differently will have a…

Going out to an elegant cocktail bar with friends has a delightful ritual associated with it ; the joy of dressing up; the thrill of ambient lighting and mood music, especially with a brilliant bartender mixing drinks. Granted, the thought of reproducing some of these cocktails at home does not provoke the same excitement level. But if you plan well and in advance, you can create great drinks and even better conversations around them. In fact, it’s often a good idea to choose your drinks, prepare a batch before time and keep them cold, then assemble them just before serving. Another great time saver are pre-mixes, which are a great way for you to enjoy your evening too while leaving your guests in complete awe. All you need now is…

Historically, Indian women have always revelled in the knowledge of self beauty care from home; traditional wisdom handed down in homemade recipes for hair and skin included how to nourish the skin and hair with ubtans, peethis and oils. Over the years, however, quick-fix beauty in jars and overnight fix-it creams and lotions have managed to overwhelm grandma’s potions. But the series of lockdowns and the onset of a work-from-home culture has made the home the centre of focus again. Ayurveda, a science that literally means “life knowledge”, helps nourish the body and soul in tune with individual needs and natural rhythms. Ayurvedic rituals are preventive with a focus on self-care, cleansing and detoxifying. But the operative word is daily; any routine in self-care will empower the body to enhance…

With the average Indian man becoming increasingly discerning with respect to sartorial choices, we see a new crop of well-heeled, well-dressed and well-groomed men that are at the core of a new dapper revolution, opting for new, homegrown, indie brands that are pushing the Make in India agenda showcasing local craftsmanship and creativity. At the core are homegrown premium brands with interesting stories. Bespoke Suits: Osman Abdul Razak This bespoke tailor and his eponymous brand operates out of a chic boutique in downtown Chennai. Osman Abdul Razak dresses the bold and he beautiful of south India’s elite and is, himself an example of impeccable sartorial style. “I started my brand, Osman Abdul Razak, in 2016, and I went on to get a tailoring certification from Savile Row with Andrew Ramroop,…

Oxford University and Astra Zeneca The vaccine uses a non-replicating virus and is the first to have published its safety and efficacy in Phase 1 and 2 trials; it has now advanced to Phase 3 Moderna Trials are still in Phase 2; Phase 3 is expected to start at the end of the month. This is the only mRNA vaccine to have advanced to Phase 3. Wuhan Institute of Biological Products/ Sinovac It has begun recruiting for Phase 3 trials in Bangladesh and the UAE, but there’s no peer-reviewed data at present Beijing Institute of Biological Products/ Sinopharm Preliminary studies showed promising results with antibodies, but data is not available yet for peer review. Company expects the vaccine to be ready by year-end. 155 vaccine candidates across the globe 23…

A narrow 5 km-long embankment along the Ichhamati river’s tributary Dnasha in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal has become home for some 2,000 displaced people from the nearby Bainara village in Hingalganj. Ever since Cyclone Amphan struck on May 20, families have been camping here—some with their cattle—in makeshift shelters, made of plastic sheets, saris and even lungis strung on bamboo poles. The makeshift shelters are no protection from the scorching sun and heat nor the lashing rain that beats down periodically, but they have nowhere to go. High-velocity winds and rain caused massive devastation in six of the 16 districts Amphan barrelled through. Over 100 lives were lost, 100,000 ha of crops inundated and at least a million houses destroyed. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government pegs…

Nepal’s prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli recently declared the real Ayodhya to be in Thori, a village in Nepal near the India border, adding that Nepal was a victim of cultural encroachment. He rationalised that the distance between Ayodhya in India and Janakpur in Nepal would have been far too great for a prince to traverse in ancient times, even for his bride! Based on this analytic heft, reports suggest the Nepal Archaeological Department may soon start excavations at Thori. This latest revisionism comes soon after PM Oli’s attempt at territorial grab, by including in the map of Nepal around 325 sq. km of Indian territory in Uttarakhand. A constitutional amendment reflects this in the Coat of Arms of Nepal, which includes an outlined map of Nepal. The areas incorporated…

1967 CHARAN SINGH Uttar Pradesh Came to national limelight in 1959 by opposing the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s policies Formed his own political party Bharatiya Kranti Dal Became deputy PM in 1977 in Morarji Desai cabinet, and PM for 23 days in 1979 1969 MORARJI DESAI Maharashtra The deputy PM and finance minister in Indira Gandhi cabinet regularly sparred with her Joined Congress (organisation) Defeated the ‘Indira’ Congress in 1977 and became prime minister in the first ever non­Congress government at the Centre 1988 VISHWANATH PRATAP SINGH Uttar Pradesh The defence minister in Rajiv Gandhi cabinet had differences with the PM over Bofors scam Founded the Janata Dal by merging Jan Morcha, Janata Party, Lok Dal, Congress (S) Became PM in 1989, heading the National Front government 1997 MAMATA BANERJEE…

THE INTELLECTUALS 1. CHRISTOPHE JAFFRELOT, Research director, CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris 2. ZOYA HASAN, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi 3. PAVAN K. VARMA, Former Rajya Sabha member 4. SUHAS PALSHIKAR, Chief Editor, Studies in Indian Politics 5. MAHESH RANGARAJAN, Professor, History and Environmental Studies, Ashoka University 6. SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI, Socio-political activist and columnist THE CONGRESSMEN 1. SHASHI THAROOR, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram 2. SALMAN KHURSHID, Senior Congress leader and lawyer 3. MANISH TEWARI, MP, Sri Anandpur Sahib and national spokesperson, Congress 4. TARUN GOGOI, Former Assam CM 5. ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY, Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha 6. RANDEEP SURJEWALA, Congress communications in-charge…

Q. What changes have been made in the past three years to improve the quality of education in IIT Delhi’s postgraduate programmes? A. We have deeply integrated our postgraduate programmes with high-quality research, and have invested in building a research facility. In the past three years, we also have started a few new programmes that are funded by the industry. [A principle] of postgraduate education at IIT Delhi is that students should get to demonstrate their research skills—that’s why industry sponsorship has been brought in. It helps students understand what the industry requirements are, and to get hands-on training. There are two types of students who come to IIT Delhi for postgraduate studies—those who want to find a job after earning their Masters’ degree, and those who want to pursue…

In Moksha, a short documentary, three Nepali women find freedom on wheels. Usha Khanal, Nishma Shrestha and Roja K.C. are trailblazers in their home country—they’ve taken to mountain biking through the challenging terrain of the Himalayas. And they want more women to join them in their journeys across the high altitudes. “I wanted to show my parents that I could earn a living by staying [in Nepal] and working in the outdoor industry, rather than taking the path chosen by many others—to study abroad and never come back,” says Roja, who is one of the first certified guides in the sport in Nepal. Moksha shines a light on a growing movement in that country, which sees outdoor sports as a means to empower women. In a country where, according to…

The lockdown being what it is, couch potatoes must be excused if a general sense of apathy prevails. But stir we must out of our indolence, and what better way than round up the gang (virtually), plug in, and kill as many (or die) as the day allows. Which is perhaps why the PUBG Mobile game made $226 million globally in May, a 41 per cent jump YOY. Data analytics firm SensorTower says the mobile gaming industry is seeing a boom in earnings. The main source of this is in-app purchases; for PUBG, this would be artillery, ammo and passes to tournaments. India is not exempt from this global phenomenon. Indeed, a 17-year-old from Kharar, Punjab, spent the Rs 16 lakh that his parents had set aside for emergencies on…

I THINK WE CAN ALL HONESTLY agree that in 2015 not a single person had the right answer to the question: “Where do you see yourself five years from now”? To say that the world has altered dramatically would probably qualify as the biggest cliché of the new decade. What a difference a pandemic makes. While the world grapples with the unholy trinity of a mutating virus, collapsing economies and a New Normal that seems anything but normal, this issue of Spice veers away from platitudes. Instead of judging the glass as half empty or half full, we focus on toasting what remains and how we can do better: thriving in circumstances not of our casting. The first voice welcoming the disruption as a game changer is fashion impresario Giorgio…

Deep Dive The Tissot Seastar 1000 Chronograph is the perfect pick for water sports lovers. Don’t miss the striking green dial. Availability Brand boutiques Back to the Future We love that the Omega Speedmaster 57 has some subtle nods to the original and very first Speedmaster ever made. Availability Brand boutiques Stay Amazed A fully loaded smartwatch, the Amazfit Stratos 3 maps heartrate, distance, calories, sleep and high endurance workouts. And stays put in sweat and water. Phew! Price $407 Availability Brand boutiques and online Stay Connected Stay smart with the Tag Heuer Connected watch that comes with a plethora of integrated apps to make health tracking a breeze. Availability Brand boutiques Groovy Time The limited edition Breitling Super-ocean Heritage ’57 Capsule collection pays tribute to the original 1957 Super-Ocean…

ASMA KHAN Raan Ingredients • Ghee melted 200 gm • Onions thinly sliced into half moons 100 gm • Yogurt full-fat natural (plain) 100 gm • Salt 3 tsp • Chilli powder 2 tsp • Coriander powder 2 tbs • Garam masala 1 tsp ground • White pepper 1 tsp ground • Besan flour 4 tbs • Almonds 1 tbs ground l Poppy seeds 1 tbs ground • Cardamom 1/4 tsp ground • Mace 1/4 tsp ground • Raw green papaya 4 tbs grated • Saffron 10 strands infused in 1 tbs of tepid milk • Clotted cream (heavy) 6 tbs (or khoya) • Kewra water (screw pine essence ) 3 tbs • Leg of lamb 1.5 kg In a deep saucepan, heat the ghee over a medium–high heat. Add…

Timeless elegance has long been Breguet’s calling card and the Classique line embodies the brand’s trademark style at its purest. The House of Breguet revisits the Classique models 7137 and 7337—inspired by historic watches—-with one of its specialties: traditional engine-turning. The traditional engine-turning crafted by hand finds its full expression in the Classique line. Just like two centuries ago, the artisan uses an engine-turning lathe for circular decorations or a “straight-line machine” for linear designs. The Classique 7137 features a panier maillé basket weave pattern for the power reserve display, a damier checkerboard pattern for the date display and a clous de Paris hobnailing pattern for the main part of the dial. While the dial of the white gold version is in Breguet blue, in the rose gold version, the…