Bangladesh is a country I visited at different times. I went there as a child with my parents and sisters and recall the sheer joy of travelling through the rural areas which were dotted with ponds, each of a different colour.
The story of Lolita is simple. It describes the protagonist, a French literature professor, living in New England (US) writing under the pseudonym of Humbert Humbert, kidnapping and sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl.
A prolonged heatwave followed by a monsoon when it rained heavily or not at all—leading to a vicious cycle of droughts, floods, landslides, storms—that was climate-changed India 2024.
In the neon-lit twilight, a single signboard stood near the entrance of Rotary Sadan: “The Statesman and the Dainik Statesman present the award programme of ‘Best Face, Best Dress’.” Its simplicity belied the ardent legacy of the institution behind it, a name synonymous with intellect, courage and grace.
As pundits, politicians and public commentators intensely debate the election results, I caution against hyperbole and overinterpretation of what was, in reality, a close race, though the margin of victory looks wider than it actually is, due to the special quirk of the electoral college system.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna assumed office as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday, following Justice DY Chandrachud’s tenure. The oath of office was administered by President Droupadi Murmu in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The victorious Trump camp is touting its newfound “historic” mandate while the dejected Harris camp accuses the country of being “racist and sexist” for letting them down. Both are untrue. Trump won with 295 electoral votes to Harris’ 226. A solid victory, but hardly a landslide.
As the world focuses on the United Nations’ upcoming Conference of Parties (COP 29) which begins tomorrow, The Statesman looks at environmental issues closer home.
Readers that only know Shinie Antony for her witty, often whimsical, pieces in the national newspapers would be amazed at her expertise in the Old Testament, Septuagint, the Hebrew Bible, the Synoptic Gospels and Apocryphal, Jewish magical and Kabbalistic sources that did not find their way into the Biblical canon, apart from her striking eloquence for female assertion and empowerment. Her learning is combined here with an evocative and vigorous, even uncompromising, writing style.
During the election of 2016, I observed that “Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the two most hated people in America. One of them is going to be our president.” Such is the chokehold that the Democrats and Republicans (or the “duopoly” as some call it) have on American political life.
