- Has brute majority in Parliament helped the Bharatiya Janata Party government to conveniently put the Lokpal law in cold storage? Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri in the The Hindu explain how the anti-corruption law has been derailed.
- In the Mint, a Dalit priest narrates why he got into the profession, the trappings of caste that dominate temple worship and his aspiration to get a job in a government temple.
- In the context of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif getting a breather from the Supreme Court in the Panama papers scandal, Abbas Nasir in the Dawn tells you why propriety has become a rare virtue among politicians.
- Tavleen Singh in the Indian Express argues that stone-pelting youngsters of Kashmir can no longer be dismissed as “misguided youth”. They are recruits in a holy war to establish the supremacy of Islam and countering this would require use of war strategies.
- What should be the Left’s focus in the snap polls that British Prime Minister Theresa May has called for in June? Richard Seymour in the Jacobin says reviving the Labour Party is more important than winning the elections.
- Fox News ended celebrity anchor Bill O’ Reilly’s contract last week after the New York Times exposed how he had been a serial sexual offender. But why is it that O’ Reilly loses his job but Donald Trump, accused of similar crimes, gets to be head of the government? Christina Cauterucci in the Slate has an explanation.
- Can Donald Trump learn on the job? In the New Yorker, Jeff Shesol, former speechwriter for Bill Clinton, tries to makes sense of the changes in the Trump’s statements and their tone.
- Yavuz Baydar in the Guardian says President Erdogan’s win in the recent referendum in Turkey sounds the end of the Republic as we know it.
- Should we break-up with Google? What does it mean to encourage technology monopolies that have become so intimately relevant to our lives. Jonathan Taplin in the New York Times on the need for antimonopoly movements.
- Javier Farje in the Al Jazeera gives you an overview of why thousands in Venezuela have taken to the streets against their government.
Reading
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1
‘Inviting Modi for Christmas event ignores plight of persecuted Christians,’ says citizens’ group
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2
Shyam Benegal (1934-2024): The conscience keeper of Indian cinema
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3
‘Dune: Prophecy’ review: Palace intrigue overtakes magic in fantasy series
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4
What a meeting with a woman entrepreneur in Kolkata taught a German diplomat about women in India
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5
Translated fiction: Gyan Chaturvedi’s novel about the free-market economy and excessive consumerism
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6
Interview: East India Company to Big Tech – how corporations think about knowledge
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7
Centre changes election conduct rules days after HC tells EC to provide poll documents to petitioner
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8
Why has the number of Hajj pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir fallen sharply?
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9
Haruki Murakami and the challenge of translating Japanese’s many words for ‘I’
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10
Shirish Patel: The man and the public good