Innholdsfortegnelse for 18 July 2022 i India Today

The Bharatiya Janata Party was known till recently as a cadre-based party with its leadership schooled in the ideology and ways of the RSS. Now it has become a many-splendoured thing. In 2022, we find the BJP, along with their allies, ruling 17 states, covering over half of India’s population. With Modi and his chief strategist, the indefatigable Amit Shah, at the wheel, the broadening of the party’s footprint across the map has carried on relentlessly, without pausing for breath. The BJP has given tickets to 833 turncoats for the assembly polls in the last decade. Out of them, 44 per cent got elected, many of them twice. Within the same time frame, 462 moved out of the saffron fold too, but only 14 per cent of those could make…

In Uttar Pradesh, the Kurmi community is considered the second-most influential OBC (other backward classes) group after the Yadavs. Both the ruling BJP and the principal opposition, the SP (Samajwadi Party), have Kurmi allies—the BJP has the Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal (S), while the SP has the Apna Dal (K), led by her mother Krishna Patel, backed by her other daughter, Pallavi. The two factions are presently locked in a family feud to claim the legacy of Sonelal Patel, the founder of Apna Dal. Wife or daughter? Who should inherit the right to claim that they represent the community? A major flashpoint between the two came over the birth anniversary of Sonelal on July 2 at the Indira Gandhi Pratisthan in Lucknow. Krishna and Pallavi had sharp words for Anupriya,…

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay played perfect host to the partymen gathered for the BJP’s National Executive meet in Hyderabad by feeding them authentic flavours of Telangana at the Novotel Hotel. He persuaded the five-star hotel to allow Gudatipalli chef Golla Yadamma and her five-member team to whip up the cuisine. Guests got to gorge on the sumptuous biryani, and some lip-smacking mango daal, besides snacks and desserts in the Tel angana tradition. A repast to remember, surely.…

It is the season for celebrating milestones in Karnataka. Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s supporters plan to hold a month-long ‘Siddaramotsava’, in the runup to the former Karnataka CM’s 75th birthday on August 12. Mallikarjuna Kharge’s supporters, meanwhile, want to commemorate his 50th year as a lawmaker while G. Parameshwara’s followers want to release a commemorative book on their leader. It has been enough for party chief D.K. Shivakumar to call for ‘collective leadership’ ahead of the state election in 2023.…

At a time when the nation’s atmosphere is volatile and politically charged, and rancour and hatred are thick in the air, the fifth edition of India Today Group’s Conclave East deliberated, debated and opened up dialogue on some of the most polarising issues of our time. The intellectual churn of the event, over two consecutive days, spread clarity, buried misunderstandings, brought people closer and inevitably sparked fresh controversy. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, as a bulwark of the Opposition, not only gave glimpses of what a future, alternative leader would be like, she yet again warned that any Maharashtra-like experiment in Bengal would be the BJP’s biggest blunder. The 2021 assembly elections loss still possibly stings, but Amit Shah is undeterred. In her solo session—“National Affairs: The Vision for…

Q. Your many honours include the Pritzker prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture. Why is RIBA’s Gold Medal special? My association with RIBA early in my career played an important role in my architectural education. I used to spend hours at the RIBA library. Those memories make this special for me. In the late 50s, I was with Le Corbusier when he received RIBA’s Gold Medal. For me, to get the Royal Gold Medal that my guru got is even more humbling and gratifying. Q. You’ve worked with masters of modernism like Corbusier & Louis Kahn but you acknowledge Le Corbusier as your guru. Give an example of his influence on you? Visiting my drafting table, Corbusier explained to me the intricacies of space, movement, light and structure.…

Aweak currency need not necessarily reflect a weak economy, but it does indicate underlying issues that, if unaddressed, can do it harm. In that sense, the slide of the rupee ever since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February is worrisome. From 75.4 to a dollar on February 24, the day Russian troops advanced into Ukraine, the rupee slid to 79.14 to a dollar, its lowest ever, on July 5. Since the beginning of the calendar year, the rupee has fallen 6.2 per cent against the dollar. “Going by the way the rupee has been falling, it will certainly go up to 80 to a dollar,” says Jamal Mecklai, CEO of Mecklai Financial Services. But he can’t predict exactly when, since that result is subject to market forces…

In 1977, journalist and theatre critic John Heilpern wrote his magnum opus Conference of Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa, recounting the director’s 1972 journey through six countries, across 8,500 miles. Accompanying him were Helen Mirren, Yoshi Oida and other members of his team from the International Centre for Theatre Research, Paris—which Brook had founded in 1970, with a generous grant of close to one million dollars from international funders. Even in his years at the Royal Shakespeare Company in England, Brook had dreamt of a total subsidy for the theatre, which would break the constraints of commercial British theatre of the time and allow space for radical experimentation, including the possibility of complete financial failure. Impossible dreams of this nature, which he somehow managed to actualise, frequently…

In the evolutionary history of life-forms, there has always been a curious phenomenon: species that dominate the ecology. Numerically, and in their capacity to impart changes on the ecosystem itself. Ideology may seem a vastly different field from biology—and it is indeed reductionist to draw a line from one to the other—but something unfolding on the Indian landscape over the last decade begs the comparison. If ideas exist in a space of contestation, locked in mutual combat, the spectacular growth of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the reign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows us a clear winner in that crowded arena. If seen as a singular organism—a metaphor that the party’s tightly-knit structure invites—it looms over all other political life-forms. But that misses a key nuance. The jaw-dropping…

ASSAM HIMANTA BISWA SARMA From: Congress to BJP in 2015 USP: Chief architect of the BJP’s expansion in the Northeast. A leader of the masses, he has mastered the art of backroom management SARBANANDA SONOWAL From: AGP to BJP in 2011 USP: Ex-AASU leader is a symbol of Assamese regionalism. Clean image helped the BJP gain ground initially, par ticularly in Upper Assam TRIPURA MANIK SAHA From: Congress to BJP in 2016 USP: The dental surgeon is known for his organisational skills. Was made president of the state unit within four years of joining the BJP MANIPUR N. BIREN SINGH From: Congress to BJP in 2016 USP: A trusted lieutenant of former Congress CM Okram Ibobi Singh, his departure opened the floodgates. Over twothirds of the top Congress leadership followed…

TWELVE YEAR OLD VIKAS (name changed), a student of class IV at the government run CM RISE school in Barkhedi area of Bhopal, is diffident when asked to write his name in English. It’s not surprising—the first generation learner, is just one of millions of children students who spent the past two years at home due to Covid-induced lockdowns. Moreover, government schools have long been afflicted by low-quality teaching and dearth of infrastructure, leading to learning gaps. Vikas has been promoted every year without an assessment of his learning. The Madhya Pradesh government’s latest, but not the first, intervention in school education aims to address this. Students at the Barkhedi government school returned to the campus after two years to find swanky classrooms with electronic teaching aids, new furniture, air-conditioned…

Founded by writer Mulk Raj Anand in 1946, Marg has tried achieving its aim of “developing a socially active and culturally engaging language of art” with admirable courage. At a time when niche-interest magazines are going out of vogue and print, Marg is evidently not in the game only to survive. To celebrate its 75th year, the art magazine has released Readings on the Temple, a sumptuous “bumper issue” that collects many articles it has previously published on temples in India and beyond. A temple is hardly ever without meaning. As Khajuraho somewhat predictably proves, even its walls are significant. Though essential to a temple’s fabric, devotion oftentimes has a tendency to blanket detail with fervour. By assigning scholars the task of deconstructing the complex symbology, architecture and art of…

Curious for a lesser-known slice of Delhi history, historian Rana Safvi and author Sam Dalrymple recently visited the Charan Das ki Baghichi temple. Built by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah Rangeela (1702-1748), the temple’s existence is a story of the religious cross-pollination that has impacted much of North Indian culture. Local legend states that the Mughal was himself a devotee of the Hindu saint Charan Das—a bhakti ascetic who was believed to be an avatar of Lord Krishna. Upon their arrival to this intricately-crafted mandir, however, Safvi and Dalrymple were greeted by an unwelcome surprise. In the name of renovation, someone was painting over the temple’s Vaishnav frescoes, modifying a piece of the city’s artistic and historical heritage with a few casual brushstrokes. Having seen the original frescoes four years ago,…

We must know what we are up against—how immense the challenge before us is—as we look at India’s ban on single-use plastic that kicked in on July 1. Anyone who has been to a beach and has received a message in a bottle knows it’s a stark one. The bottle is made of plastic. So is the water—almost. That’s the message. The bottle may seem tiny compared to the vast sea, but have you heard of trash vortexes? The largest one, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is estimated to have an area of 1.6 million sq. km—a floating bridge of semi-dissolved trash between California and Japan. We have one of our own, in the Indian Ocean, toxifying the blue waters between South Africa and Australia. Scientists have called it a…

SEPT. 2013 MAR. 2018 JULY 2022 GUJARAT 2017- Defections and defeats in bypolls reduce Congress tally to 64 seats from 77 won in 2017 polls; helps BJP win extra seat in 2020 RS polls MAHARASHTRA Jun. 2022 40 Shiv Sena MLAs along with 10 others rebel against Uddhav Thackeray govt. BJP returns to power with Eknath Shinde-led Sena faction GOA Jul. 2019 10 out of 15 Congress legislators join BJP. Two had joined earlier, as had 2 MGP legislators. Numbers allow BJP to cross majority mark of 20 in the assembly. In March 2022 poll, BJP fell short of a full majority on its own by one seat UTTARAKHAND Mar. 2016 9 Congress MLAs rebel against then Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat. Briefly, President’s rule is imposed. Rawat challenges it in…

MADHYA PRADESH JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA From: Congress to BJP in 2020 USP: A scion of the Scindias of Gwalior, he was one of Rahul Gandhi’s most trusted lieutenants. He broke away with 22 MLAs, resulting in the fall of the Kamal Nath government in 2020. He is currently Union minister for civil aviation and steel KP YADAV From: Congress to BJP in April 2018 USP: Joined the BJP in 2018 to contest the Assembly election from Mungaoli. Lost the election, but won the Lok Sabha poll in 2019 in Guna, defeating Scindia SANJEEV KUSHWAHA From: BSP to BJP in June 2022 USP: A lone ranger of the BSP. Has presence in the Bhind region. His father, Dr Ramlakhan Kushwaha, was a four-term BJP MP for Bhind RAJESH SHUKLA From: SP to…

KARNATAKA BASAVARAJ BOMMAI From: JD (S) to BJP in 2008 USP: Son of former Janata stalwart S.R. Bommai, he carried his father’s legacy and, as CM, represents the powerful Lingayat community. BASAVARAJ HORATTI From: Janata Dal (Secular) to BJP in 2022 USP: Was chairman, Karnataka Legislative Council, eight times MLC. Is now BJP’s MLC PRAMOD MADHWARAJ From: Congress to BJP in 2022 USP: Was state PCC Vice President and now working to expand BJP K. SUDHAKAR From: Congress to BJP in 2019 USP: He was MLA, Chikkaballapur and is now Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Medical Education Department. And is most trusted minister of the chief minister KERALA A.P. ABDULLAHKUTTY From: Congress to BJP in June 2019 USP: A Muslim face of BJP in Kerala, Abdullahkutty–is two times CPI…

MAA NEELLA TANK [ZEE5] Set in a small village in Nellore district, the Telugu romcom starts off when a wannabe influencer threatens to do a Veeru and jump off a water tank if he doesn’t get to marry the woman he wants. A police officer reluctantly intervenes. TAMILROCKERZ [SONYLIV] A police officer fights against time and unruly fans as he looks to stop the notorious piracy group from leaking a big-budgeted and highly anticipated film THE VILLAGE [AMAZON PRIME VIDEO] Based on a graphic novel, the Tamil series follows a family on a road trip that finds itself attacked by a clan of mutants. Arya of Sarpatta Parambarai fame headlines the cast. DHOOTHA [AMAZON PRIME VIDEO] A Telugu supernatural horror in which ‘possessed inanimate objects’ wreak havoc on the lives…

SHAHIDUL ALAM’S AFFINITY with Kolkata runs deep. His parents lived and got married here. The acclaimed photojournalist came to the city shortly after Bangladesh was liberated in 1971: “We saw three films a day and went to every concert we could fit in.” Crucially, many of the artists, philosophers, poets and activists the 67-year-old admires all have a Kolkata link. It seems only fitting that Singed but Not Burnt, Alam’s first Asian retrospective, has come here before curator Ina Puri travels the country with it. This city is no stranger to revolution, and Alam’s work hits home with the force of a sledgehammer. Alam took to photography by accident. While he was on a hitchhiking trip in the US, a friend asked Alam to buy him a camera. “He didn’t…

THE HINDU TEMPLE: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms by George Michell UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Rs 3,400; 194 pages If you’re looking for a primer on the temple’s cultural, religious and architectural importance, this 1988 book serves as a perfect introduction. Michell helps illuminate the path from Khajuraho to Angkor Wat. GODS IN THE TIME OF DEMOCRACY by Kajri Jain DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS Rs 2,589; 360 pages At 597 ft, the Sardar Patel Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest, but the 823 ft statue of Lord Ram being built in Ayodhya might well beat its record. This book examines how scale is today a measure of piety. TEMPLE TALES: Secrets and Stories from India’s Sacred Places by Sudha G. Tilak HACHETTE INDIA Rs299; 200 pages Where would…

THE RAJ NEEDED THE SACRIFICE BY COLONIAL SOLDIERS, BUT WAS UNWILLING TO GRANT A COMMISSION TO A DESI OFFICER WHO MIGHT GIVE ORDERS TO A WHITE MAN In an odd refraction of historiography, recountings of the First World War, especially the stories of Indian soldiers are only now cutting through the massive curtain of material about the Second World War. For King and Another Country by Shrabani Basu was an eye-opener about the long obscured million-strong desi participation that basically saved the skin of Britain and France in the conflict. While Basu’s book concentrates on the testimonies of ordinary foot-soldiers, the books under review here reveal the stories of two complete outliers, Hardit Singh Malik and Nariman Karkaria. The two young men have a few things in common: first, neither…

THE INDIAN EMPIRE AT WAR: From jihad to victory, the untold story of the Indian Army in the First World War by George Morton-Jack LITTLE, BROWN ₹699; 592 pages The First World War took nearly two million Indians on many a journey. Most turned soldiers, some became prisoners of war, while others travelled as spies. This book collects their extraordinary stories. INDIAN TROOPS IN EUROPE by Santanu Das MAPIN PUBLISHING ₹1,850; 160 pages How did the Indian soldier survive Europe during the Great War? This visual record of Indians in the continent’s trenches, fields, farms, billets, markets, towns, stations and hospitals offers some answers. THE HALFMOON FILES (2007) by Philip Scheffner (Director) Indians interned in the German city of Wünsdorf during World War I were made to record their voices…