Of all the books that have been published on the Coronavirus and the Lockdown, Professor Arun Kumar’s Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis is the first book to examine the impact of these global phenomena on the Indian economy. Initially, I thought it exaggerated to claim that the current crisis is the greatest one that India has […]
Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis by Arun Kumar Read More »
With agents, sub-agents, double agents, and intrigues within the system – The Khalistan Conspiracy reads like a thriller. Yet it throws light on highly-current questions, such as: should today’s protesting farmers be dubbed as Khalistanis? How astute has India been historically in dealing with farmers? With Sikhs? Further, was it the Indian Government which actually
The Khalistan Conspiracy: A Former RAW Officer Unravels the path to 1984 Read More »
The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social freedom, and moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular -Mahatma Gandhi The opening quote of Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement by Mahatma Gandhi sums up the true
Moin Qazi’s Review: “Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement” by Dr Licy Bharucha Read More »
Bharara describes this book as a treatise on “the rule of law, and faith in the rule of law”. Such a treatise is desperately needed in India today. Why? Because, as is the case with most non-Reformation cultures, our culture is inherently against the spirit of the Rule of Law. Most Indians understand neither the
Doing Justice by Preet Bharara Read More »
Reading The Zoo in My Backyard, the first thought that comes to mind is how apt the title is. In just the first few chapters, a black monkey, a baby elephant, a mouse deer, and numerous birds and rabbits have pranced through the pages, kindling amusement, occasional bouts of trepidation, and a heavy dose of nostalgia.
Navmi Krishna’s Review: “The Zoo in My Backyard” Read More »
Justice Rajindar Sachar will be most-remembered for having Chaired a committee constituted by the Government of India to document the social and economic condition of Muslims in India. The committee’s report documented their poor condition in devastating detail and included a host of suggestions about the sorts of initiatives that ought to be taken to
In Pursuit of Justice by the late Justice Rajindar Sachar Read More »
The strange title of The Brass Notebook is a nod to Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, and that (in my view, quite inappropriately!) suggests a comparison of the author’s life to brass vessels which were used in Indian kitchens. Was my generation the last to see such vessels in our kitchens, or do such vessels
The Brass Notebook by Devaki Jain (Foreword by Amartya Sen) Read More »
In approximately 5 weeks the United States will hold the most important Presidential election in its short and violent history. Bookmakers and Psephologists alike think of it as a 50-50 proposition. The incumbent Donald Trump has been hinting that the election, whatever the result, will be tainted, rigged and that, as such, he would not
Romi Mahajan’s Review: Arundhati Roy’s “Azadi” Read More »
Dispossession without Development: Land Grabs in Neoliberal India. Michael Levien. Oxford University Press. Reviewed by Dr. Nikhil Deb in the LSE Review of Books blog; used here by permission. In Dispossession without Development: Land Grabs in Neoliberal India, Michael Levien examines how the shift from state-directed capitalism to neoliberalism in India from the 1990s has led to
