Among the first to speak up about rape in Bollywood in the #MeToo India campaign is Vinta Nanda, filmmaker, and writer of film and TV scripts. She recounted her gut-wrenching story of being raped by actor Alok Nath as part of the campaign. You are a big name in the industry. Why did you hold back from speaking about the incident (the rape by A
His films Chalbaaz and Jalwa were box-office hits. The TV serial *Karamchand*, with Pankaj Kapur as the detective of the title and Sushmita Mukherjee as his assistant, is considered a cult classic. Pankaj Parashar, known for the twists in his film plots as much as the kooky angles of the shots, has some firsts to his credit too: computer animation for the titles of Jalwa,
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has chosen Atishi as its candidate for the East Delhi constituency in the 2019 elections. The activist known for the transformation she wrought in state government-run schools in Dehi talks about why she thinks voters should choose her as their MP. What are the major challenges of the East Delhi parliamentary co
Forget sainthood. Mahatma Gandhi has been put through the whole gamut of deification. From lurid calendar and poster art to austere and sublime works by great artists, every genre has painted a halo around him. There are images of him blessing the nation. He is depicted in the dashavatar of Lord Vishnu as the ninth avatar, a place otherwise given to Lord Buddha. There is even a calendar art p
With high economic growth and many welfare schemes in place the state, has the situation on food and nutrition of people of Odisha improved over the decades? Rajkishor Mishra, former advisor of supreme court on right to food brings out key discussion of food governance in Odisha. Recently CM Naveen Patnaik announced to launc
Google Assistant, Rekognition and Tay. All these, often seen in news, have a common thread – they are powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Only difference is that while some have been in news for right reasons, some others have made it to the headlines for all the wrong reasons. For instance, Google Assistant is an AI assistant that connects with several devices. Other companies are n
1.33 billion. Let that large number sink in. That number is nearly 18 percent of the total global population, and almost the number of people estimated to currently reside in the republic of India, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies. These 1.33 billion people are spread across an area of more than 3.28 million square kilometres, speak 22 major languages in over 1,600
Love Sonia is not a film you would want to watch if you knew its subject: sex trafficking. Without even a scene experienced, the subject induces visceral revulsion. However optimistic the screenplay, it can only deal in ugly dregs and bring up retching bile. Even so, Love Sonia, gritty and traumatising, is a movie you must force yourself to watch. Much in the way some of its a
Understanding civil-military relations brings to mind the story of the three blind men examining an elephant. Since each can only sense what he is touching and has no concept of the elephant as a whole, each concludes that the beast is something different from what it really is. In general, there are two lenses through which to examine these questions. The first is the military as an org
In politics, the coining of slogans is nothing less than the work of literature. Like any good and creative piece of poetry or prose finds resonance with people, smart slogans set the political mood for the nation. ‘Ajeya Bharat, Atal BJP’ is one such smart slogan coined at the party’s national executive that concluded on Sunday. Of course, this is just the begi
The development trajectory for most nations has come at the backbone of a strong ecological resource base. In fact, economies such as those in the Middle East are largely based upon exports of crude oil and thus in effect are dependent upon their endowment of natural resources. This illustrates why natural resources are now considered a part of capital stock (natural capital) of a country. This
Personalised banking, relationship managers, courteous but insistent calls to sell cards, insurance and other services – these are the positives one has come to associate with private and multinational banks. Equally, they have become notorious for making hidden charges, not warning customers about ruthless penalties, and dealing with complaints opaquely. What is worse, if one were to go
Democracy, in its broad sense, tolerates dissent, allows freedom of expression and hence diversity of views by protecting minority views and human rights. The functioning of any democracy is characterised by checks and balances between legislative, executive and judicial organs of the state on the basis of rule of law. In contrast, authoritarian regimes enforce strict obedience to authority at
Govind Namdev`s performances, whether on stage or in films, are always memorable for their fine touches of characterisation, presence, style. He attributes them to his rigorous training at the National School of Drama (NSD) and long years as a stage actor. His most well-remembered performances on stage are as Ashwattama in Dharamvir Bharati`s Andhaa Yug and later as an emot
We are now faced with a situation in which senior officials across government are not doing their duty. That role has shifted to the next higher level, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) and the judiciary, and that is the real ‘system failure’. The state government of Uttar Pradesh has rightly transferred and will charge-sheet the district magistrate of
Defining moments of history often leave images that linger on in collective memory for generations. Among them, one category is the image of a leader walking in the street with a sense of sheer triumphalism. The people of Paris erupted with joy and gave vent to their suppressed emotions when Charles De Gaulle walked on the street to reclaim France’s freedom towards the end of World War II
You needn’t be thoroughly familiar with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to know about the Cheshire cat. Characters like Humpty Dumpty, the Red Queen and the Cheshire cat are part of the kit of popular idiom. Alice encounters the Cheshire cat sitting on a tree, fading into and out of view, leaving only a lingering smile, prompting her to say, “I&
Faezeh Jalali is an actor, director, playwright and dramatist who garnered appreciation after her role in Slumdog Millionaire. Her plays Shikhandi – The Story of the In-Betweens and 07/07/07 received immense appreciation from critics. Your stories are unconventional, advocate equality and human rights. Why? Whenever I create
While judging a book by its cover is considered unfair, judging it by its title should not lead to the same charge, especially when the author – a veteran of legal profession, an acclaimed commentator or a widely acknowledged academic – decides to warn the reader at the onset, through the title itself, that the pages that follow shall tell a story of a decay in an institution.
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) helps the two countries in managing its strategic partnership by promoting bilateral trade and also works on finding ways to bring business and governments together to create meaningful opportunities. Mukesh Aghi, president, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), in interaction with Praggya Guptaa talks about various bilateral trade
