Flash News
Rise of the veggielantes | Politics of meat
Tucked into the bustling lanes of College Street in Kolkata is an unassuming meat shop that old-timers say is more than a hundred years old. Inside it sits an idol of Maa Kali, the fierce and beloved goddess of Bengal. Each morning, she is propitiated with flowers, incense and chants; later in the day, she…
The constitution | Politics of Governors
On April 8, when the Supreme Court delivered a landmark verdict in Tamil Nadu vs Governor of Tamil Nadu, it once again laid bare fundamental questions about India’s federal structure, the limits of gubernatorial discretion and who ultimately decides when a constitutional office has overstepped its bounds. The apex court invoked its extraordinary powers under…
Caste census | Why the BJP played the caste card
The BJP-led Union government has performed a stunning pivot on the question of the caste census. After years of remaining ambivalent on the issue—and even deriding the idea as divisive—Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government now says it will enumerate the nation’s myriad castes in the much delayed decadal census. The unexpected turn is the result…
Real money gambling | A nation at stake
It’s a sweltering afternoon in Brahimpur in east Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district, but 35-year-old farmer Surya Pratap Singh seems oblivious to it. He is sitting beneath a neem tree, furiously tapping his phone screen. Around him, a few plastic chairs and a charpoy make up what is probably Brahimpur gram sabha’s unofficial gaming lounge. The…
Real money gambling | A nation at stake
It’s a sweltering afternoon in Brahimpur in east Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district, but 35-year-old farmer Surya Pratap Singh seems oblivious to it. He is sitting beneath a neem tree, furiously tapping his phone screen. Around him, a few plastic chairs and a charpoy make up what is probably Brahimpur gram sabha’s unofficial gaming lounge. The…
