Let us rewind the past week.
Counterpoint: Why I object to a Kolkata filmmaker’s account of how he was barred entry from a mall
The first flaw in Ashish Avikunthak’s argument is hyperbole. He was stopped briefly by a guard, but let in soon after. The second is his mischaracterisation of why he was prevented from entering – “because I was wearing a dhoti and kurta”. And yet he states he has been to the mall several times in the past wearing similar attire. Read more here.
Also read: Social apartheid: I was barred from entering a Kolkata mall because I was wearing a dhoti
A Danish musician discovered her origins in a briefcase – they led to a holy city in Maharashtra
Having blended in so well in her adopted country, Denmark, Maria Badstue said she felt apprehension about coming to India. Finally, it took a professional gig – the opera Il Matrimonio Segreto, which she will be conducting at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai from July 27 to July 29 – to bring her to the country of her birth. Read more here.
Niti Aayog and health ministry prepare model contract for privatising urban health care
The proposal, reviewed by Scroll.in, allows private hospitals to bid for 30-year leases for parts of district hospital buildings and land to set up 50- or 100-bed hospitals in towns. They would provide treatment for cancer, heart disease and respiratory ailments at prices not higher than those prescribed under government health insurance schemes. Read more here.
Also read: A Maharashtra committee wants to restrict access to all abortions – even legal ones
In Taj Mahal’s shadow, the heritage of Jaunpur is rapidly decaying for want of state help
One would imagine that Jaunpur, with its abundance of ornate monuments, would be an obvious choice for heritage preservation and tourism development anywhere in the world. But not in Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh. Since Jaunpur is dotted with mosques and tombs of a “Muslim” dynasty. Read more here.
Will Supreme Court’s verdict on Manipur fake encounter killings force the Centre to rethink AFSPA?
The July 14 judgement directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to look into alleged staged killings takes an important institutional step, but can it work a change in the government’s position that such violations are “isolated incidents”, the work of a “few bad apples”? Over 1,500 cases in one petition in one state alone suggests this violence is not incidental but systemic. Read more here.