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.
In the backdrop of the heinous RG Kar incident, people all over the world have seen and experienced many forms of protest both on and off the road. As the intensity of protests and demands for justice show no signs of waning till date, it is only likely that they will adopt new ways of expressing themselves and infiltrate all the seasonal activities and festivals
When people declare, “We want justice” which is the war cry that is rending the air today, I think it is more than punishment for the guilty who committed the heinous crime which has sunk people to the depths of despair and anger.
In an out-of-the-ordinary move, a theatre group’s cast and crew paid their respects to Tilottama, the rape-murder victim doctor from R G Kar hospital.
When I chanced upon the recently published anthology of Indian English poetry, The Violet Sun, what first struck me was the care with which it had been curated and crafted. Like any publication by the Writers Workshop, this volume was bound in exquisite Indian handloom sari cloth and had the title regally embossed in gold.
This English translation by Seema Jain of renowned poet and president of the Sahitya Akademi, Sri Madhav Kaushik’s long dramatic monologue comprising around 40 pages titled Listen Radhika (original Hindi title Suno Radhika) introduces readers to a unique voice of Lord Krishna as he implores the attention of his beloved, the playful, bewitching Radhika or Radha.
