Home//India Today/November 5, 2018/In This Issue
India Today|November 5, 2018EDITOR-IN-CHIEFThe CBI’s initials have long been the butt of alternative interpretation—from Narendra Modi’s 2013 Facebook quip ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’ to Rahul Gandhi’s recent tweet ‘Captive Bureau of Investigation’. The punchline is really the same: that India’s most powerful and constitutionally independent investigative agency is ultimately a tool of the government of the day.In 2013, an irate Supreme Court judge famously called the elite agency a “caged parrot” for its shoddy inquiry into alleged irregularities in the allocation of coalfield licences. Four years later, more ignominy followed when the CBI booked two of its former directors on charges of corruption.But if we thought that was the nadir, developments over the past year culminating in a flashpoint last week proved how mistakenly optimistic we were. The director of CBI, Alok Kumar…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE SEARCH FOR DRONE ACHARYASThe Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched a unique contest whose winners could bag a defence contract for swarm drones worth upto Rs 100 crore.The Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition, open to Indian agencies, was launched ahead of Air Force Day in October and named after a maverick air force pilot, Air Commodore Mehar Singh.Drone swarms are masses of tiny drones f lying like a f lock of birds that can perform coordinated tasks because they are controlled by an operator. In February, a record 1,218 drones formed the Olympic rings in the sky at the opening of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Global militaries see swarms as a cost-effective way to detect enemy targets and strike them with small weapon loads. Unlike expensive combat jets, drones can be…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The Great Indian Plutocracy?Released a week ago, the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report confirms that India is an overwhelmingly poor country with extraordinary riches concentrated in the hands of very few. Combined with recent taxpayer data from the income tax department, the evidence makes for depressing reading. The US is often criticised for its inequality, for the outsize proportion of income and assets controlled by the 1%, but compared to India, both the US and China are almost Scandinavian in their wealth distribution. In India, while income tax data shows a rise in the number of taxpayers declaring an income of more than Rs 1 crore, the concern is that large swathes of the country are still poor. But there is positive news too. The recent Multidimensional Poverty Index shows that India has…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018PULLQUOTE“Just plain common sense. Would you take sanitary napkins steeped in menstrual blood and walk into a friend’s home? You would not. And would you think that it is respectful to do the same when you walk into the house of God? So that is the difference. I have a right to pray, I do not have the right to desecrate, that is my personal opinion”Textiles minister SMRITI IRANI barged into the Sabarimala debate with her usual finesse. It would be reasonable to interpret her words as meaning women on their period should not visit their friends. ‘Activist’ Rehana Fathima was rumoured to be carrying used sanitary napkins when she tried to enter the temple, a claim she has denied. But it’s one thing to argue, as the dissenting judge…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018#MeToo A SOCIAL AWAKENINGFor Art’s Sake Instagram handle Scene and Herd (@herdsceneand) became a rallying point for women calling out artists. With the description “Cutting through the BS [bullsh*t] in the Indian art world, one predator and power play at a time”, the account has published stories accusing artists Riyas Komu, Shahid Datawala and Jatin Das. Komu, co-founder and secretary of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, has stepped down from all managerial positions but claimed to have been misunderstood. TRENDING HASHTAGS Me Too, a term coined by African-American activist Tarana Burke in 2006, has spawned many hashtags, the most prominent being #TimesUp. In India, #IBelieveHer and #speakup were also commonly invoked ones. Mahesh Bhupathi began his post with #stopengaging to emphasise the need to “reject” the accused until proven innocent. ‘NOT ABOUT US’ #MeToo, the…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018POSH, for shortThe 2013 sexual harassment law, officially Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, being the most commonly cited piece of legislation of late, needed an abbreviation that would roll easily off the tongue. Necessity being a worthy progenitor, a handy acronym has been found—don’t be fooled, guys, when you hear the word POSH! And don’t imagine it’s the International Cricket Council either when you hear ICCchances are they mean Internal Complaints Committee.…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018SCORCHED EARTH POLICY?The Supreme Court has ordered that the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali be restricted in the national capital to ‘designated areas’ and only between 8 and 10 p.m. The air over Delhi is, of course, a threat to its citizens, a choking hazard. Diwali exacerbates an already deadly situation. But Diwali crackers are a distraction, enabling the whiners who see the SC’s common sense as an assault on their freedoms. The causes of pollution in Delhi are a nasty co*cktail of street dust, vehicular pollution, smoke from cooking fires, industry, and, arguably above all, crop burning (seen in pic) in neighbouring states. A recent Harvard University study suggested that as much as half of Delhi’s air pollution, particularly in October and November, is the result of crop burning. It’s an…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The week in social mediaSaudi Macabre Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman may not have ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But the behaviour of the Saudi leadership since it admitted, after 18 days of lies and prevarication, that Khashoggi was murdered at the country’s embassy in Istanbul has been unconscionable. A condolence message to Khashoggi’s family was posted on social media, complete with portraits of both King Salman and his son. As if that were not in bad enough taste, the Saudis put out footage of the ruler’s meeting with Khashoggi’s son. He was brought to their palace (let that sink in), his father having only recently been dismembered at a Saudi consulate at the possible behest of the crown prince, to participate in a pantomime of exoneration. Let that sink in.…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018DRIVER’S SEATEven as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the statue of Sardar Patel on October 31, the buzz in Lutyens’ Delhi is about the growing power centre within Sardar Patel Bhavan, the office of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Two key decisions taken this month have ensured he is the most powerful NSA since Brajesh Mishra. The five-storeyed Sardar Patel Bhavan will soon be cleared of its other occupants like the ministries of statistics and programme implementation and panchayati raj to exclusively house Doval’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). A second cabinet decision appointed the NSA as head of the Strategic Policy Group (SPG) which includes all key secretaries to the GoI and which will drive all inter-ministerial coordination on national security policies. The SPG was earlier headed…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Trouble in the NorthAshiq Hussain Zargar went missing from his home in Langate, a small tehsil town in north Kashmir, sometime in late May. The son of Ghulam Mohiuddin Zargar, a notorious ikhwani (counterinsurgent) slain by militants in 1995, the 25-year-old’s family had no clue of his whereabouts till October 11, when security forces shot him in an encounter alongside Mannan Wani, the Aligarh Muslim University research scholar-turned-militant.Till his body was recovered from the encounter site in Shatgund village, Zargar’s family was unwilling to believe he had become a militant. Their disbelief was understandable. Besides being the son of an ikhwani, the young man had always been ‘mainstream’; he had even cast his vote in the 2008 and 2014 assembly elections.The man he voted for, Langate MLA Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, asks why…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Trouble in the NorthAshiq Hussain Zargar went missing from his home in Langate, a small tehsil town in north Kashmir, sometime in late May. The son of Ghulam Mohiuddin Zargar, a notorious ikhwani (counterinsurgent) slain by militants in 1995, the 25-year-old’s family had no clue of his whereabouts till October 11, when security forces shot him in an encounter alongside Mannan Wani, the Aligarh Muslim University research scholar-turned-militant. Till his body was recovered from the encounter site in Shatgund village, Zargar’s family was unwilling to believe he had become a militant. Their disbelief was understandable. Besides being the son of an ikhwani, the young man had always been ‘mainstream’; he had even cast his vote in the 2008 and 2014 assembly elections. The man he voted for, Langate MLA Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rasheed,…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The Sabarimala StakesWhen the Supreme Court, on September 28, ruled that debarring women of menstruating age from entering Sabarimala was a “clear violation of the right of Hindu women to practise religion under Article 25” of the Constitution, progressive Kerala welcomed the verdict. The ruling CPI(M) and Congress hailed the judgment and senior RSS ideologues called for the removal of restrictions on women at all temples in India. However, the sanity gave way in less than a day. Small groups of Hindu women demonstrated against the apex court’s order, chanting mantras to Sabarimala’s resident deity, Lord Ayyappa. And faith, not party affiliation, brought many BJP and RSS protesters out onto the streets to challenge the law. Spying a chance, Congress leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala and working president K. Sudhakaran were…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018A SHOW OF UNITYIntent on keeping the BJP out of Karnataka at all costs, H.D. Deve Gowda has succeeded in putting together a pre-poll alliance with the Congress ahead of the November 3 bypolls in three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in the state. Although the two parties are partners in Karnataka’s ruling coalition, it’s been an uneasy relationship, marred by bickering Congress legislators aspiring for ministerial berths. While the Congress leadership had said at the time of government formation in May 2018 that it would fight the 2019 parliamentary polls in alliance with the JD(S), it didn’t seem likely. But the former prime minister’s intervention appears to have changed that. As per the mutually agreed seat-sharing formula, the JD(S) will field candidates for the Mandya and Shivamogga Lok Sabha seats and…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018WHAT A MESSTHE GOVERNMENT STEPPED IN with a sledgehammer two days after the internecine warfare between Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Kumar Verma and his deputy, special director Rakesh Asthana, spilled onto the streets. Both top officers were sent on leave and M. Nageswara Rao was appointed as the acting director. Thirteen senior CBI officers have been transferred across the country, the largest such top-level purge in a central agency in recent years. A.K. Bassi, the officer investigating corruption charges against Asthana, was transferred to faraway Port Blair. The mass action, it now emerges, followed a meeting of Central Vigilance Commissioner K.V. Chowdary and his two vigilance commissioners, who met late on the night of October 23 to take stock of the Asthana-Verma turf war. (The CVC is the CBI’s…14 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE TAINT WITHINIn April 2017, the CBI registered a corruption case against its former director Ranjit Sinha over allegations of abuse of authority to scuttle inquiries, investigations and prosecutions in cases pertaining to the allocation of coal blocks Two months prior to this, the CBI had registered a corruption case against another former director, A.P. Singh Eighteen departmental cases against Group A CBI officers; eight of these are pending for over four years Eleven departmental cases against Group B and C officials, three of these have been pending for more than four years1,328 posts are lying vacant in the investigative agency…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE TAINT WITHIN■ In April 2017, the CBI registered a corruption case against its former director Ranjit Sinha over allegations of abuse of authority to scuttle inquiries, investigations and prosecutions in cases pertaining to the allocation of coal blocks ■ Two months prior to this, the CBI had registered a corruption case against another former director, A.P. Singh ■ Eighteen departmental cases against Group A CBI officers; eight of these are pending for over four years ■ Eleven departmental cases against Group B and C officials, three of these have been pending for more than four years 1,328 posts are lying vacant in the investigative agency…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BLOOD ON THE TRACKSIT WAS A TRAGEDY WAITING TO HAPPEN. Dhobi Ghat, a small municipal ground not far from the railway station in Amritsar, where an Indian Railways DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) ploughed through a crowd killing 59 people and grievously injuring 143, on October 19, has been the site of Dussehra celebrations for years. The ritual slaying of Ravana was to be a particularly ‘grand’ event this year with the Punjab tourism and local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and wife Navjot Kaur listed as chief guests. The organisers—local area councillor Vijay Madan and her son Sourabh Madan—had informed the city police that more than 20,000 people were expected to attend. Close to dusk on the day, just as the 60 feet tall effigy of the demon king lit up with the…5 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE LITIGANTSThe All-India Hindu Mahasabha (petitioners for Ram Lalla Virajman) said that although the judgment is definitely in favour of Hindus, they opposed the one-third portion given to the Sunni Waqf Board. The Mahasabha cited the minority verdict of Justice Dharam Veer Sharma in the September 30, 2010 verdict, who favoured handing over the entire land to HindusThe Nirmohi Akhara has said that no party (contestants) had argued for the partition of the land (into three parts), so why should the high court decide on a tripartite division. The entire land must be handed over to Hindus.The Sunni Waqf Board contends that the suit was decided on the basis of belief/faith of a section of the Hindu community. They said the court had wrongly held that a temple existed at the…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018WORTH THE WAITIf you are an investor looking for products at a discount, your search might lead you to closed-end mutual funds at stock exchanges. Many of them are trading in the secondary market at prices far below their net asset value (NAV). Here’s how it all works and some wisdom gleaned from portfolio managers and other market experts.Broadly, MFs are of two types—open-ended and closed-end—as per their structure. Open-ended MF schemes allow you to invest and exit at any point of time whereas closed-end schemes can be bought from the fund house only at the time of launch. And one is allowed to exit after the lock-in period, which varies. In order to ensure liquidity, these schemes are required to be listed on stock exchanges so that investors can buy and…4 min
India Today|November 5, 2018WORTH THE WAITIf you are an investor looking for products at a discount, your search might lead you to closed-end mutual funds at stock exchanges. Many of them are trading in the secondary market at prices far below their net asset value (NAV). Here’s how it all works and some wisdom gleaned from portfolio managers and other market experts. Broadly, MFs are of two types—open-ended and closed-end—as per their structure. Open-ended MF schemes allow you to invest and exit at any point of time whereas closed-end schemes can be bought from the fund house only at the time of launch. And one is allowed to exit after the lock-in period, which varies. In order to ensure liquidity, these schemes are required to be listed on stock exchanges so that investors can buy…4 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BLIGHTY ON OUR LANDThe British ruled India for 200 years with unshakeable self-confidence, buttressed by protocol, alcohol and a lot of gall. Stalin found it ‘ridiculous’ that ‘a few hundred Englishmen should dominate India’. Though not arithmetically accurate, in principle, he was right: it was remarkable that the British Raj was operated by so few people. At its peak in 1931, there were just 168,000 Brits (including 60,000 in the army and police and only 4,000 in civil government) to run a country approaching 300 million people. The British in India were never more than 0.05 per cent of the population.In his monumental book, The British in India, imperial historian David Gilmour helps explain how they did it. He meticulously studies the lives and work of the British who lived and were employed…8 min
India Today|November 5, 2018ARTS AND THE MANHaving served for two decades as the headquarters of Rajeev Sethi’s Asia Heritage Foundation, also the site of his recent exhibition, this tumbledown warren of rooms upon rooms, of rooms above rooms, filled with examples of Indian craft, of its ingenuity and improvisatory genius, is now being given up to the bulldozers. Everything here must be in a box by the end of the month. The building, in Delhi’s South Extension, has been open for what Sethi calls a “public stocktaking”, an opportunity for people to examine for themselves contemporary objects—from jackets and saris to sofas, lampshades, toys, and jewellery—made using a deep repository of traditional skills and knowledge. These artisans are, Sethi points out, “content creators” and “in a knowledge economy, it’s their skills we need to harness, skills…6 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Poster BoyThe last time Gajraj Rao was on a film poster was in 2007, for Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday.Rao played Dawood Phanse, a conspirator in the 1993 bomb blasts in Bombay, so he was bald. Eleven years later, he makes the poster for Badhaai Ho asthegreyhaired patriarch who’s about to become a father again—much to his 25-year-old son’s embarrassment.“In urban society, it is believed that once you enter the 40s, a couple should behave in a certain way,” says the 48-year-old actor. “Things shouldn’t be odd, everything should be in routine. The middle class has the most inhibitions and sharam (embarrassment).”The clever family comedy has scored with audiences, earning Rs 45 crore at the box office in its first weekend in theatres, raising Rao’s hopes that it will make people more…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BEYOND BOLLYWOODZUBEEN GARG ASSAMESE During a concert in Guwahati, the singer suddenly decides to climb the pole supporting the stage, bringing the show to an abrupt end. At another show, visibly tired, he tells the audience he wants to rest and goes off to sleep on stage. For all his shows, he invariably reaches the venue at least three hours late. Yet, when he makes a film, millions rush to the theatres—many flashing tickets on social media like a badge of honour—making it a blockbuster, something unheard of in the region’s film industry. That was Mission China , the 2017 film Zubeen poured his heart and money into. Special screenings were organised in places that had no theatres, and people from far-flung areas hired buses to attend them. That’s the importance…12 min
India Today|November 5, 2018ARTS AND THE MANHaving served for two decades as the headquarters of Rajeev Sethi’s Asia Heritage Foundation, also the site of his recent exhibition, this tumbledown warren of rooms upon rooms, of rooms above rooms, filled with examples of Indian craft, of its ingenuity and improvisatory genius, is now being given up to the bulldozers. Everything here must be in a box by the end of the month. The building, in Delhi’s South Extension, has been open for what Sethi calls a “public stocktaking”, an opportunity for people to examine for themselves contemporary objects—from jackets and saris to sofas, lampshades, toys, and jewellery—made using a deep repository of traditional skills and knowledge. These artisans are, Sethi points out, “content creators” and “in a knowledge economy, it’s their skills we need to harness, skills…6 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Pearls of the StageHyderabad’s 13th annual Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival will feature performances by groups from India and abroad at various venues around the city from October 26 to November 4. Asmita Theatre Group will perform Tara, an original play by Mahesh Dattani. Writer-director PankajKapurwillstage Dreamz: Sehar. And Compagnie du Barrage’s Maud Andrieux will perform her adaptation of L’Amant, based on Marguerite Duras’s French play. Thought-provoking, titillating and entertaining, these productions and other highlights add to the performances associated with theatre revivalist Mohammad Ali Baig’s celebration of quality theatre over the years.HOW I MET YOUR FATHERFeaturing Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijaykar, Ace Productions’ play is a laugh riot that begins with the question, ‘So, how did you meet my father?’ Crackling with funny one-liners and the comic situations that ensue, the play…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018WATCH LISTCAMPING Lena Dunham doesn’t seem to have pulled herself out of the tailspin that marked the later seasonsof Girls in this new series, in which Jennifer Garner plays a character chronicling her post-hysterectomy woes for “working moms and women living with chronic pain”. Hotstar THE ROMANOFFS Matthew Weiner’s series about the self-proclaimed descendants of the Russian royal family is an interesting concept. But the 90-minute episodes are more vignettes than stories and lack the cinematic power of true arthouse films. Amazon Prime SMOKE With Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin and Mandira Bedi, this web original takes on Goa’s drug-fuelled underbelly. It’s unlikely to break new ground, but with that milieu, why would you? Eros Now…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE 50 MOST POWERFUL CHANGEMAKERSENTERTAINMENTTwinkle Khanna Kajal Aggarwal Rakul Preet Singh Yami Gautam Suhani Pittie Shanoo Sharma Mimi Mondal Masaba Gupta Rasika Duggal Taapsee Pannu Swara Bhaskar Radhika ApteBUSINESSSchauna Chauhan Saluja Gunjan Soni Aneesa Dhody Mehta Devita Saraf Ameera Shah Lavanya Nalli Samantha Lowe Shweta JalanINNOVATORSIshrat Sahgal Deepanjali Kanoria Natasha Mudhar Prerna Mukharya Divya Jain Shreya Soni Vasudeva Anu Meena Suhani Jalota Suchita Salwan Priyanka GillWARRIORSTrisha Shetty Ambika Hiranandani Ria Sharma Swati Lakra Anshu Jamsenpa Sanjukta Parashar KanupriyaSPORTSWOMENAvneet Kaur Hima Das Manika Batra Dutee Chand Shalini PathakRULE BREAKERSMeena Kandasamy Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi Rohini Iyer Kanika DhillonMUSIC AND CULTUREMithila Palkar Rimpa Silva Ginni Mahi Jasleen Royal…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Powerful PerformerRAKUL PREET SINGH 27ACTOR, HYDERABADLanguage advantage Having done four Tamil and 16 Telugu films, I can now speak Telugu more fluently than my mother tongue, Punjabi. This is an advantage that I leverage on to reach out to Telugu-speaking people, who recognise me from my films and are open to receiving my views. Being an influencer in this way to help bring about change, however small, is powerful.Fit formula As the owner of three gyms, I also find myself constantly promoting fitness. A fit body and mind go together and that kind of physical and mental strength can help a woman speak up for herself, which is powerful. That and an unwavering focus are my mantras for standing out.Standing out As a former golfer, I learnt that the best you…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Her Own MasterYAMI GAUTAM 29ACTOR, MUMBAIThe inspiration came from Bollywood. There are so many success stories from Shahrukh Khan to Irrfan Khan who came to the industry with the goal to act and received fame because of their hard work and potential.Being yourself We have become obsessed with following someone else, making their lives, ours. We are forgetting how to be our unapologetic selves. Stand out by having your own dreams however funny they sound, people won’t be laughing when you follow it and become successful.Breaking moulds Following civic rules are important but not social ones. Society creates rules based on the time and the attitude of the rule maker. Women who followed rules and never challenged the status quo are women who didn’t bring change. It is the rule breakers who…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Behind the ScreenSHANOO SHARMA 40CASTING DIRECTOR, MUMBAIThe biggest myth about being a casting director That we get to only hang out with stars, be at parties, and that it’s so easy because the whole world is at our feet. I know how hard my team has to work to get me people. I have to watch 10,000 introductions that have come from all over India.Things that power and success bring along You get a lot of adulation and respect. I have women write to me that seeing me carry off my nose rings gives them motivation to pierce their nose. I won’t call it bad but I miss the times when I was able to be the klutz that I am, and being able to sit and have a blast with friends…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018EDITOR-IN-CHIEFThe CBI’s initials have long been the butt of alternative interpretation—from Narendra Modi’s 2013 Facebook quip ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’ to Rahul Gandhi’s recent tweet ‘Captive Bureau of Investigation’. The punchline is really the same: that India’s most powerful and constitutionally independent investigative agency is ultimately a tool of the government of the day. In 2013, an irate Supreme Court judge famously called the elite agency a “caged parrot” for its shoddy inquiry into alleged irregularities in the allocation of coalfield licences. Four years later, more ignominy followed when the CBI booked two of its former directors on charges of corruption. But if we thought that was the nadir, developments over the past year culminating in a flashpoint last week proved how mistakenly optimistic we were. The director of CBI,…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Sharad Pawar: King Maker?It appears that even the Congress, like other opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, is keen to stress that its president Rahul Gandhi is not necessarily the party’s pick for prime minister. Former finance minister P. Chidambaram said last week that the party would decide with its alliance partners once the election was won. Sharad Pawar, president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), agreed, talking up the prospect of a mystery candidate, a regional satrap with sufficient support. “Who had imagined,” he asks rhetorically, “that Manmohan Singh would become PM in 2004?”Rather than a national opposition coalition, Pawar argues for strategic local alliances, with strong state parties dominating partnerships. For instance, he said, the Trinamool Congress should be the senior partner in a West Bengal alliance; Chandrababu…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The Great Indian Plutocracy?Released a week ago, the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report confirms that India is an overwhelmingly poor country with extraordinary riches concentrated in the hands of very few. Combined with recent taxpayer data from the income tax department, the evidence makes for depressing reading. The US is often criticised for its inequality, for the outsize proportion of income and assets controlled by the 1%, but compared to India, both the US and China are almost Scandinavian in their wealth distribution. In India, while income tax data shows a rise in the number of taxpayers declaring an income of more than Rs 1 crore, the concern is that large swathes of the country are still poor. But there is positive news too. The recent Multidimensional Poverty Index shows that India has…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The Costs of Unsafe WorkplacesWe’ve always known that victims bear the impact of sexual harassment at the workplace. Some of them give up careers to avoid a situation of harassment. Some costs are intangible—loss of confidence, shame and ‘mindspace’. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen women speak out on these costs, but not enough has been heard yet on the costs establishments bear. It’s not just that sexual predators have been outed; companies that harboured these men have also taken flak for, among other things, hiring people without doing background checks beyond “the old boys’ club”, not calling out blatant sexist behaviour, and letting ‘open secrets’ remain secrets. In some cases, they have vacancies to fill after men have been asked to leave. In others, the entire structure of the organisation is in…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018#MeToo A SOCIAL AWAKENINGFor Art’s SakeInstagram handle Scene and Herd (@herdsceneand) became a rallying point for women calling out artists. With the description “Cutting through the BS [bullsh*t] in the Indian art world, one predator and power play at a time”, the account has published stories accusing artists Riyas Komu, Shahid Datawala and Jatin Das. Komu, co-founder and secretary of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, has stepped down from all managerial positions but claimed to have been misunderstood.TRENDING HASHTAGSMe Too, a term coined by African-American activist Tarana Burke in 2006, has spawned many hashtags, the most prominent being #TimesUp. In India, #IBelieveHer and #speakup were also commonly invoked ones. Mahesh Bhupathi began his post with #stopengaging to emphasise the need to “reject” the accused until proven innocent.‘NOT ABOUT US’#MeToo, the movement, has also been panned…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018CONNECTED STORIES FOR THE SMARTPHONE AGEOne of my favourite characters in this book is Abdul Wahid, the son of a Kolkata dhaba- owner, who learnt English on his smartphone. His teacher is an app, Hello English, and it ranked him number one among 15 million users worldwide in 2015. That app and the smartphone helped transform this 25-year-old into a teacher-CEO running a busy coaching centre in Rajasthan (where, ironically, smartphones are banned, as a distraction). In 2016, over a dozen of his students made it into medical schools. His goal is to reform the education system. “There are a million things that can go wrong in India, but there are a billion reasons to keep trying,” he says. The stories in India Connected paint a colourful picture of contemporary Indian life, every story woven…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018SCORCHED EARTH POLICY?The Supreme Court has ordered that the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali be restricted in the national capital to ‘designated areas’ and only between 8 and 10 p.m. The air over Delhi is, of course, a threat to its citizens, a choking hazard. Diwali exacerbates an already deadly situation. But Diwali crackers are a distraction, enabling the whiners who see the SC’s common sense as an assault on their freedoms. The causes of pollution in Delhi are a nasty co*cktail of street dust, vehicular pollution, smoke from cooking fires, industry, and, arguably above all, crop burning (seen in pic) in neighbouring states. A recent Harvard University study suggested that as much as half of Delhi’s air pollution, particularly in October and November, is the result of crop burning. It’s an…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Immigrant NationThe United States has, correctly, prided itself on creating a multi-ethnic, multilingual, multicultural society of unparalleled diversity. Though, as thousands of migrants trek through Central America and Mexico towards the US border, President Donald Trump appears determined to send out the message that America is no longer a safe harbour for the huddled masses looking to escape their homelands. Trump’s politics aside, research released last month by the Centre for Immigration Studies offered an insight into the breadth of American diversity, with almost half the residents in the five largest US cities speaking a language other than English at home. The fastest growing of these languages is Telugu. Others include Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali. However, none of the Indian languages makes it to the top 10, with languages such…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018DRIVER’S SEATEven as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the statue of Sardar Patel on October 31, the buzz in Lutyens’ Delhi is about the growing power centre within Sardar Patel Bhavan, the office of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Two key decisions taken this month have ensured he is the most powerful NSA since Brajesh Mishra. The five-storeyed Sardar Patel Bhavan will soon be cleared of its other occupants like the ministries of statistics and programme implementation and panchayati raj to exclusively house Doval’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). A second cabinet decision appointed the NSA as head of the Strategic Policy Group (SPG) which includes all key secretaries to the GoI and which will drive all inter-ministerial coordination on national security policies. The SPG was earlier headed…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Ticking TimebombDefence officials in India are closely watching the aftermath of a messy divorce in the UK. The son of a prominent London-based NRI arms dealer has sued his ex-wife to prevent her from disclosing facts of an ongoing corruption inquiry by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The SFO is probing allegations that British jet engine maker Rolls-Royce paid millions of pounds of bribes to bag global defence contracts, many of them through the arms dealer and his son. Grapevine has it that there are several Indian arms deals involved. Ah, a Pandora’s box.…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE COSTS OF DEALMAKINGTwo weeks after Congress legislators Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar defected to the BJP, there are allegations on how the two benefitted from their crossover. Interacting with his supporters at Mandrem in north Goa on October 21, Sopte boasted that he had demanded a cabinet berth in lieu of the defection. He also claimed he’d be inducted as minister before November 15. Patting a Ganesha locket, the MLA swore he hadn’t taken any money from the BJP and only wanted “constituency issues to be resolved”. Shirodkar, who represents Shiroda in south Goa, got himself into more trouble. Media reports claimed the state industries department had agreed to pay Vedanta Real Estate Developers, a firm the MLA and his brothers run, Rs 3,500 per square metre for 1,83,524 sq. m. of…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018A SHOW OF UNITYIntent on keeping the BJP out of Karnataka at all costs, H.D. Deve Gowda has succeeded in putting together a pre-poll alliance with the Congress ahead of the November 3 bypolls in three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in the state.Although the two parties are partners in Karnataka’s ruling coalition, it’s been an uneasy relationship, marred by bickering Congress legislators aspiring for ministerial berths. While the Congress leadership had said at the time of government formation in May 2018 that it would fight the 2019 parliamentary polls in alliance with the JD(S), it didn’t seem likely. But the former prime minister’s intervention appears to have changed that.As per the mutually agreed seat-sharing formula, the JD(S) will field candidates for the Mandya and Shivamogga Lok Sabha seats and the assembly…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Blithe SpiritWith months to go for the Lok Sabha election, the Mamata Banerjee government has decided to open 2,000 new liquor vends in villages, triggering a political storm in the state.While the usually tight-lipped state excise officials claim that the move will raise revenues as well as stem the production and sale of illicit alcohol, the opposition parties say it’s a move to “cripple the younger generation”. A fortnight ago, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh had said, “She (Mamata) is encouraging the youth to drink, fight and engage in corruption.” According to the Left Front, it comes as “no surprise from a government that is into clubbing, drinking and brawling”. Sujan Chakrabarty of the CPI(M) says Mamata hasn’t been able to bring big-ticket investment, hence this dalliance with the liquor industry.…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Blithe SpiritWith months to go for the Lok Sabha election, the Mamata Banerjee government has decided to open 2,000 new liquor vends in villages, triggering a political storm in the state. While the usually tight-lipped state excise officials claim that the move will raise revenues as well as stem the production and sale of illicit alcohol, the opposition parties say it’s a move to “cripple the younger generation”. A fortnight ago, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh had said, “She (Mamata) is encouraging the youth to drink, fight and engage in corruption.” According to the Left Front, it comes as “no surprise from a government that is into clubbing, drinking and brawling”. Sujan Chakrabarty of the CPI(M) says Mamata hasn’t been able to bring big-ticket investment, hence this dalliance with the liquor…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE HOT POTATOESIRCTC SCAM: Lalu Prasad Yadav as rail minister (2004-09), allegedly committed irregularities in allotment of hotels. Asthana has alleged Verma’s interference in probeSTATUS: Chargesheet filed; a Delhi court granted bail to Lalu and others on October 5VVIP CHOPPER CASE: Bribes allegedly paid to Congress leaders, bureaucrats and IAF officials by Italian firm AgustaWestland to secure a Rs 3,600 crore contractSTATUS: Ex-IAF chief S.P. Tyagi arrested, but extradition of key middleman Christian Michel from the UAE stuckCOALGATE SCAM: Illegal coal blocks allocation between 2004-09 causes Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss to the exchequerSTATUS: Ex-coal secretary H.C. Gupta and ex-Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda convicted in four cases that went to trialAIRCEL-MAXIS SCANDAL: Ex-finance minister P. Chidambaram and son Karti face violation of regulations, money laundering charges in Aircel acquisition by MaxisSTATUS: On…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE HOT POTATOESIRCTC SCAM: Lalu Prasad Yadav as rail minister (2004-09), allegedly committed irregularities in allotment of hotels. Asthana has alleged Verma’s interference in probe STATUS: Chargesheet filed; a Delhi court granted bail to Lalu and others on October 5 VVIP CHOPPER CASE: Bribes allegedly paid to Congress leaders, bureaucrats and IAF officials by Italian firm AgustaWestland to secure a Rs 3,600 crore contract STATUS: Ex-IAF chief S.P. Tyagi arrested, but extradition of key middleman Christian Michel from the UAE stuck COALGATE SCAM: Illegal coal blocks allocation between 2004-09 causes Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss to the exchequer STATUS: Ex-coal secretary H.C. Gupta and ex-Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda convicted in four cases that went to trial AIRCEL-MAXIS SCANDAL: Ex-finance minister P. Chidambaram and son Karti face violation of regulations, money laundering charges…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BLOOD ON THE TRACKSIT WAS A TRAGEDY WAITING TO HAPPEN. Dhobi Ghat, a small municipal ground not far from the railway station in Amritsar, where an Indian Railways DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) ploughed through a crowd killing 59 people and grievously injuring 143, on October 19, has been the site of Dussehra celebrations for years. The ritual slaying of Ravana was to be a particularly ‘grand’ event this year with the Punjab tourism and local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and wife Navjot Kaur listed as chief guests. The organisers—local area councillor Vijay Madan and her son Sourabh Madan—had informed the city police that more than 20,000 people were expected to attend.Close to dusk on the day, just as the 60 feet tall effigy of the demon king lit up with the 5,000…5 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE MANDIR MOMENTUMEven as the Supreme Court prepares to hear appeals in the Ayodhya civil suit on October 29, members of the Sangh Parivar are stepping up the pressure to get the Ram temple constructed in Ayodhya before the 2019 general election.Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat set the ball rolling. Within the space of a fortnight, he underlined twice the need to build the Ram temple on an urgent basis. On October 2, addressing a valedictory ceremony of the Sadhu Swadhyaya Sangam Shivir in Haridwar, he declared, “The Ram mandir will be built at any cost.” A few days later, on October 18, he reiterated the same at his annual Vijayadashami address in Nagpur, “By demolishing the temple, Babur killed our self-esteem. The Ram temple is necessary to restore our self-esteem.…7 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE MANDIR MOMENTUMEven as the Supreme Court prepares to hear appeals in the Ayodhya civil suit on October 29, members of the Sangh Parivar are stepping up the pressure to get the Ram temple constructed in Ayodhya before the 2019 general election. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat set the ball rolling. Within the space of a fortnight, he underlined twice the need to build the Ram temple on an urgent basis. On October 2, addressing a valedictory ceremony of the Sadhu Swadhyaya Sangam Shivir in Haridwar, he declared, “The Ram mandir will be built at any cost.” A few days later, on October 18, he reiterated the same at his annual Vijayadashami address in Nagpur, “By demolishing the temple, Babur killed our self-esteem. The Ram temple is necessary to restore our…7 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE LITIGANTSThe All-India Hindu Mahasabha (petitioners for Ram Lalla Virajman) said that although the judgment is definitely in favour of Hindus, they opposed the one-third portion given to the Sunni Waqf Board. The Mahasabha cited the minority verdict of Justice Dharam Veer Sharma in the September 30, 2010 verdict, who favoured handing over the entire land to Hindus The Nirmohi Akhara has said that no party (contestants) had argued for the partition of the land (into three parts), so why should the high court decide on a tripartite division. The entire land must be handed over to Hindus. The Sunni Waqf Board contends that the suit was decided on the basis of belief/faith of a section of the Hindu community. They said the court had wrongly held that a temple existed…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BEYOND BOLLYWOODZUBEEN GARGASSAMESEDuring a concert in Guwahati, the singer suddenly decides to climb the pole supporting the stage, bringing the show to an abrupt end. At another show, visibly tired, he tells the audience he wants to rest and goes off to sleep on stage. For all his shows, he invariably reaches the venue at least three hours late.Yet, when he makes a film, millions rush to the theatres—many flashing tickets on social media like a badge of honour—making it a blockbuster, something unheard of in the region’s film industry. That was Mission China , the 2017 film Zubeen poured his heart and money into. Special screenings were organised in places that had no theatres, and people from far-flung areas hired buses to attend them.That’s the importance of being Zubeen Garg…13 min
India Today|November 5, 2018KILLING IT“Both Visaranai (2016) and Vada Chennai were shot without a written script,” says a chuffed Vetri Maaran, 43, a few days after the release of his magnum opus. The Dhanush-starrer Vada Chennai is his first big-budget film after the National Award winning Aadukalam (2011) and Visaranai , which was also India’s official entry to the Oscars. In the making since 2003, pre-dating his directorial debut Polladhavan (2007), Vada Chennai (North Chennai) has not just received the large opening that was anticipated but also surpassed estimated opening box office collections. “As much as I am not driven by numbers, I knew the film would work commercially,” he says. “It is the biggest opening Dhanush has ever had. That I didn’t expect,” he adds.Set in North Madras, in the fishing village of…4 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BLIGHTY ON OUR LANDThe British ruled India for 200 years with unshakeable self-confidence, buttressed by protocol, alcohol and a lot of gall. Stalin found it ‘ridiculous’ that ‘a few hundred Englishmen should dominate India’. Though not arithmetically accurate, in principle, he was right: it was remarkable that the British Raj was operated by so few people. At its peak in 1931, there were just 168,000 Brits (including 60,000 in the army and police and only 4,000 in civil government) to run a country approaching 300 million people. The British in India were never more than 0.05 per cent of the population. In his monumental book, The British in India, imperial historian David Gilmour helps explain how they did it. He meticulously studies the lives and work of the British who lived and were…8 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BREAKING BREADIn 1986, when Floyd Cardoz left India, one of the chefs he worked with made a statement, “You can’t do much with Indian food.” It was a general observation, not directed at Cardoz, but the thought stayed with him. And he worked hard to change this very notion.His The Bombay Canteen (TBC) in Mumbai is known for championing local produce through its modern Indian food. The year-old O Pedro takes little-known Goan food and turns it on its head. In New York, his Bombay Bread Bar (BBB) dishes out reimagined traditional food and Mumbai street food.Cardoz, 58, did not set out to be a chef. The St Xavier’s student didn’t get into medical school, so instead, chose biochemistry. The book Hotel by Arthur Hailey got him excited about behind the…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Jazz History“What I want to document is how jazz and music developed during my life,” says Chick CoreaAmerican jazz keyboardist and composer Chick Corea, among the most prolific, versatile, inventive and influential artists of his time, sums up his musical philosophy in a single sentence: “There are no boundaries and the rule is freedom of choice.” Corea, 77, has lived those words over the course of his six-decade career. He has released more than 100 albums and won a record 22 Grammy Awards—covering every style of jazz and even children’s songs and Western classical compositions. And that’s not including the records he’s made with his pioneering jazz-fusion group Return to Forever and as a sideman for such fellow legends as Miles Davis and Stan Getz.This weekend, Corea is performing two solo…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Poster BoyThe last time Gajraj Rao was on a film poster was in 2007, for Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday.Rao played Dawood Phanse, a conspirator in the 1993 bomb blasts in Bombay, so he was bald. Eleven years later, he makes the poster for Badhaai Ho asthegreyhaired patriarch who’s about to become a father again—much to his 25-year-old son’s embarrassment. “In urban society, it is believed that once you enter the 40s, a couple should behave in a certain way,” says the 48-year-old actor. “Things shouldn’t be odd, everything should be in routine. The middle class has the most inhibitions and sharam (embarrassment).” The clever family comedy has scored with audiences, earning Rs 45 crore at the box office in its first weekend in theatres, raising Rao’s hopes that it will make…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018BREAKING BREADIn 1986, when Floyd Cardoz left India, one of the chefs he worked with made a statement, “You can’t do much with Indian food.” It was a general observation, not directed at Cardoz, but the thought stayed with him. And he worked hard to change this very notion. His The Bombay Canteen (TBC) in Mumbai is known for championing local produce through its modern Indian food. The year-old O Pedro takes little-known Goan food and turns it on its head. In New York, his Bombay Bread Bar (BBB) dishes out reimagined traditional food and Mumbai street food. Cardoz, 58, did not set out to be a chef. The St Xavier’s student didn’t get into medical school, so instead, chose biochemistry. The book Hotel by Arthur Hailey got him excited about…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Still TravellingIn season two of Bindass’s The Trip, the ladies haven’t lost their sense of adventure. But based on the two episodes released so far, the show has lost direction a bit. The musician Shonali (Lisa Haydon) has left the show. So the creators have tapped Amyra Dastur to play Ira, a cousin of Nazia aka Naz (Mallika Dua). Naz’s buddies Sanjana aka Sanjay (Sapna Pabbi) and Ananya aka Cuddles (Shweta Tripathi) have descended to Tamil Nadu to attend Ira’s wedding. Then Ira begins this season’s unplanned ‘trip’—becoming a runaway bride when she calculates the prospective union is doomed. In tone, not much has changed since season one. Loquacious and single, Naz retains her passion for wisecracks and whining. Sanjana is still scared to commit to a relationship wholly. And the…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Funny GirlTWINKLE KHANNA 44AUTHOR, COLUMNIST AND FILM PRODUCER, MUMBAIYou draw inspiration from I believe that growing up reading science fiction defined my perspectives. While others around me were hemmed in with narrower viewpoint, staring down at a cesspool of caste, religion and race, I was busy looking up at the stars. I grew up in a world of possibilities and not just probabilities so I tend to look at situations—social and political—as eminently alterable and not rigid, unshakeable structures.Pros of being a writer The most wonderful part of being a writer is there is a single-minded focus, a state that otherwise I can achieve only while doing my pranayama.Cons of being a writer The drawback lies within the uncertainty of the process. Writing is like an excavation. You dig relentlessly, unsure…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018TALENT HUNTQ. You’re working with LaLiga Schools to set up training programmes for young players in India. What’s the plan? The plan is to help Indian players, specifically Indian students, because the relationship between LaLiga and India is very important. That’s why we are here. To share the same passion for football. The schools are very important for a lot of things. If we find good talent, we can bring them to Spain to play with clubs there. The dream is to play in the league. That is a possibility. Q. Commercially too…? The impact in India is huge. When we talk about India, we talk about cricket. It’s the sport No. 1. But youngsters are very passionate about football in India. We can feed that passion. It’s a relationship that…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Should adultery be a criminal offence?NO It is a matter of personal choice Adultery is a more a moral issue. It can affect a marriage adversely as it shakes up trust between the couple and can lead to the breakdown of their relationship, but definitely we can’t term it as a criminal offence. —Nupur Jhunjhunwala, Mumbai YES It is morally incorrect I believe that if you are married and you commit adultery, you should be punished. More so if the couple are still living together as husband and wife and have a marital relationship. It is in a sense rape by deception. There is a process of divorce that is in place if you do not want to keep the legal commitment of marriage with your spouse. But, if you are married and have an…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE 50 MOST POWERFUL CHANGEMAKERSENTERTAINMENT Twinkle Khanna Kajal Aggarwal Rakul Preet Singh Yami Gautam Suhani Pittie Shanoo Sharma Mimi Mondal Masaba Gupta Rasika Duggal Taapsee Pannu Swara Bhaskar Radhika Apte BUSINESS Schauna Chauhan Saluja Gunjan Soni Aneesa Dhody Mehta Devita Saraf Ameera Shah Lavanya Nalli Samantha Lowe Shweta Jalan INNOVATORS Ishrat Sahgal Deepanjali Kanoria Natasha Mudhar Prerna Mukharya Divya Jain Shreya Soni Vasudeva Anu Meena Suhani Jalota Suchita Salwan Priyanka Gill WARRIORS Trisha Shetty Ambika Hiranandani Ria Sharma Swati Lakra Anshu Jamsenpa Sanjukta Parashar Kanupriya SPORTSWOMEN Avneet Kaur Hima Das Manika Batra Dutee Chand Shalini Pathak RULE BREAKERS Meena Kandasamy Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi Rohini Iyer Kanika Dhillon MUSIC AND CULTURE Mithila Palkar Rimpa Silva Ginni Mahi Jasleen Royal…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE SEARCH FOR DRONE ACHARYASThe Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched a unique contest whose winners could bag a defence contract for swarm drones worth upto Rs 100 crore. The Mehar Baba Swarm Drone Competition, open to Indian agencies, was launched ahead of Air Force Day in October and named after a maverick air force pilot, Air Commodore Mehar Singh. Drone swarms are masses of tiny drones f lying like a f lock of birds that can perform coordinated tasks because they are controlled by an operator. In February, a record 1,218 drones formed the Olympic rings in the sky at the opening of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Global militaries see swarms as a cost-effective way to detect enemy targets and strike them with small weapon loads. Unlike expensive combat jets, drones…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Sharad Pawar: King Maker?It appears that even the Congress, like other opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, is keen to stress that its president Rahul Gandhi is not necessarily the party’s pick for prime minister. Former finance minister P. Chidambaram said last week that the party would decide with its alliance partners once the election was won. Sharad Pawar, president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), agreed, talking up the prospect of a mystery candidate, a regional satrap with sufficient support. “Who had imagined,” he asks rhetorically, “that Manmohan Singh would become PM in 2004?” Rather than a national opposition coalition, Pawar argues for strategic local alliances, with strong state parties dominating partnerships. For instance, he said, the Trinamool Congress should be the senior partner in a West Bengal alliance;…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018PULLQUOTE“Just plain common sense. Would you take sanitary napkins steeped in menstrual blood and walk into a friend’s home? You would not. And would you think that it is respectful to do the same when you walk into the house of God? So that is the difference. I have a right to pray, I do not have the right to desecrate, that is my personal opinion” Textiles minister SMRITI IRANI barged into the Sabarimala debate with her usual finesse. It would be reasonable to interpret her words as meaning women on their period should not visit their friends. ‘Activist’ Rehana Fathima was rumoured to be carrying used sanitary napkins when she tried to enter the temple, a claim she has denied. But it’s one thing to argue, as the dissenting…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The Costs of Unsafe WorkplacesWe’ve always known that victims bear the impact of sexual harassment at the workplace. Some of them give up careers to avoid a situation of harassment. Some costs are intangible—loss of confidence, shame and ‘mindspace’. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen women speak out on these costs, but not enough has been heard yet on the costs establishments bear. It’s not just that sexual predators have been outed; companies that harboured these men have also taken flak for, among other things, hiring people without doing background checks beyond “the old boys’ club”, not calling out blatant sexist behaviour, and letting ‘open secrets’ remain secrets. In some cases, they have vacancies to fill after men have been asked to leave. In others, the entire structure of the organisation is in…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018POSH, for shortThe 2013 sexual harassment law, officially Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, being the most commonly cited piece of legislation of late, needed an abbreviation that would roll easily off the tongue. Necessity being a worthy progenitor, a handy acronym has been found—don’t be fooled, guys, when you hear the word POSH! And don’t imagine it’s the International Cricket Council either when you hear ICCchances are they mean Internal Complaints Committee.…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018CONNECTED STORIES FOR THE SMARTPHONE AGEOne of my favourite characters in this book is Abdul Wahid, the son of a Kolkata dhaba- owner, who learnt English on his smartphone. His teacher is an app, Hello English, and it ranked him number one among 15 million users worldwide in 2015. That app and the smartphone helped transform this 25-year-old into a teacher-CEO running a busy coaching centre in Rajasthan (where, ironically, smartphones are banned, as a distraction). In 2016, over a dozen of his students made it into medical schools. His goal is to reform the education system. “There are a million things that can go wrong in India, but there are a billion reasons to keep trying,” he says.The stories in India Connected paint a colourful picture of contemporary Indian life, every story woven seamlessly…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The week in social mediaSaudi MacabreSaudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman may not have ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But the behaviour of the Saudi leadership since it admitted, after 18 days of lies and prevarication, that Khashoggi was murdered at the country’s embassy in Istanbul has been unconscionable. A condolence message to Khashoggi’s family was posted on social media, complete with portraits of both King Salman and his son. As if that were not in bad enough taste, the Saudis put out footage of the ruler’s meeting with Khashoggi’s son. He was brought to their palace (let that sink in), his father having only recently been dismembered at a Saudi consulate at the possible behest of the crown prince, to participate in a pantomime of exoneration. Let that sink in. According…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Immigrant NationThe United States has, correctly, prided itself on creating a multi-ethnic, multilingual, multicultural society of unparalleled diversity. Though, as thousands of migrants trek through Central America and Mexico towards the US border, President Donald Trump appears determined to send out the message that America is no longer a safe harbour for the huddled masses looking to escape their homelands. Trump’s politics aside, research released last month by the Centre for Immigration Studies offered an insight into the breadth of American diversity, with almost half the residents in the five largest US cities speaking a language other than English at home. The fastest growing of these languages is Telugu. Others include Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali. However, none of the Indian languages makes it to the top 10, with languages such…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Ticking TimebombDefence officials in India are closely watching the aftermath of a messy divorce in the UK. The son of a prominent London-based NRI arms dealer has sued his ex-wife to prevent her from disclosing facts of an ongoing corruption inquiry by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The SFO is probing allegations that British jet engine maker Rolls-Royce paid millions of pounds of bribes to bag global defence contracts, many of them through the arms dealer and his son. Grapevine has it that there are several Indian arms deals involved. Ah, a Pandora’s box.…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE COSTS OF DEALMAKINGTwo weeks after Congress legislators Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar defected to the BJP, there are allegations on how the two benefitted from their crossover.Interacting with his supporters at Mandrem in north Goa on October 21, Sopte boasted that he had demanded a cabinet berth in lieu of the defection. He also claimed he’d be inducted as minister before November 15. Patting a Ganesha locket, the MLA swore he hadn’t taken any money from the BJP and only wanted “constituency issues to be resolved”.Shirodkar, who represents Shiroda in south Goa, got himself into more trouble. Media reports claimed the state industries department had agreed to pay Vedanta Real Estate Developers, a firm the MLA and his brothers run, Rs 3,500 per square metre for 1,83,524 sq. m. of orchard land…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018The Sabarimala StakesWhen the Supreme Court, on September 28, ruled that debarring women of menstruating age from entering Sabarimala was a “clear violation of the right of Hindu women to practise religion under Article 25” of the Constitution, progressive Kerala welcomed the verdict. The ruling CPI(M) and Congress hailed the judgment and senior RSS ideologues called for the removal of restrictions on women at all temples in India.However, the sanity gave way in less than a day. Small groups of Hindu women demonstrated against the apex court’s order, chanting mantras to Sabarimala’s resident deity, Lord Ayyappa. And faith, not party affiliation, brought many BJP and RSS protesters out onto the streets to challenge the law.Spying a chance, Congress leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala and working president K. Sudhakaran were the first…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Friends Turn FoesIn the winter of 2017, when the idea of an electoral alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a tribal political party, was first broached to Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, then state BJP president, he had expressed doubts. Deb eventually yielded to the party’s central leadership in the interest of the 20 assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). A year later, his apprehensions have been proved right, with the IPFT giving the BJP government more headaches than the rival CPI(M).The latest flashpoint is the violence in Ranirbazar in West Tripura district over the molestation of a tribal girl on October 18, allegedly by four Bengali Muslim men. The incident has fanned the age-old ethnic conflict between the tribal and Bangla-speaking populations. Some 50 Bengali Muslims fled…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Friends Turn FoesIn the winter of 2017, when the idea of an electoral alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a tribal political party, was first broached to Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, then state BJP president, he had expressed doubts. Deb eventually yielded to the party’s central leadership in the interest of the 20 assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). A year later, his apprehensions have been proved right, with the IPFT giving the BJP government more headaches than the rival CPI(M). The latest flashpoint is the violence in Ranirbazar in West Tripura district over the molestation of a tribal girl on October 18, allegedly by four Bengali Muslim men. The incident has fanned the age-old ethnic conflict between the tribal and Bangla-speaking populations. Some 50 Bengali Muslims…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018WHAT A MESSTHE GOVERNMENT STEPPED IN with a sledgehammer two days after the internecine warfare between Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Kumar Verma and his deputy, special director Rakesh Asthana, spilled onto the streets. Both top officers were sent on leave and M. Nageswara Rao was appointed as the acting director. Thirteen senior CBI officers have been transferred across the country, the largest such top-level purge in a central agency in recent years. A.K. Bassi, the officer investigating corruption charges against Asthana, was transferred to faraway Port Blair. The mass action, it now emerges, followed a meeting of Central Vigilance Commissioner K.V. Chowdary and his two vigilance commissioners, who met late on the night of October 23 to take stock of the Asthana-Verma turf war. (The CVC is the CBI’s…14 min
India Today|November 5, 2018MISSED TARGETSAIRCEL-MAXISIn 2011, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to probe if then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran had received kickbacks in the acquisition of Aircel by Malaysian company MaxisSTATUSA CBI special court in 2017 dropped all charges against the minister, his brother Kalanithi Maran and several othersJAIN HAWALA SCAMA diary maintained by hawala trader S.K. Jain suggested that a total of Rs 65 crore—unaccounted cash—was paid to top politicians, including L.K. Advani and Sharad Yadav, between 1988 and 1991STATUSAll accused were acquitted by court; following this case, the Supreme Court directed the CVC to supervise the CBI’s functioningAARUSHI-HEMRAJ MURDERThirteen-year-old Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj were found murdered in a flat in Noida in 2008. The CBI booked her parents—Rajesh and Nupur Talwar—for the murdersSTATUSIn October 2017, the Allahabad High Court acquitted…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018MISSED TARGETSAIRCEL-MAXIS In 2011, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to probe if then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran had received kickbacks in the acquisition of Aircel by Malaysian company Maxis STATUS A CBI special court in 2017 dropped all charges against the minister, his brother Kalanithi Maran and several others JAIN HAWALA SCAM A diary maintained by hawala trader S.K. Jain suggested that a total of Rs 65 crore—unaccounted cash—was paid to top politicians, including L.K. Advani and Sharad Yadav, between 1988 and 1991 STATUS All accused were acquitted by court; following this case, the Supreme Court directed the CVC to supervise the CBI’s functioning AARUSHI-HEMRAJ MURDER Thirteen-year-old Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj were found murdered in a flat in Noida in 2008. The CBI booked her parents—Rajesh and Nupur Talwar—for…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018UP FOR HEARING“Accordingly, all the three sets of parties, i.e. Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara are declared joint title holders of the property/ premises in dispute...to the extent of one third share each for using and managing the same for worshipping. ...the portion below the central dome where at present the idol is kept in makeshift temple will be allotted to Hindus... Nirmohi Akhara will be allotted share including that part which is shown by the words Ram Chabutra and Sita Rasoi... even though all the three parties are declared to have one third share each, if while allotting exact portions some minor adjustment in the share is to be made then the same will be made and the adversely affected party may be compensated by allotting some portion of the adjoining…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018UP FOR HEARING“Accordingly, all the three sets of parties, i.e. Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara are declared joint title holders of the property/ premises in dispute...to the extent of one third share each for using and managing the same for worshipping. ...the portion below the central dome where at present the idol is kept in makeshift temple will be allotted to Hindus... Nirmohi Akhara will be allotted share including that part which is shown by the words Ram Chabutra and Sita Rasoi... even though all the three parties are declared to have one third share each, if while allotting exact portions some minor adjustment in the share is to be made then the same will be made and the adversely affected party may be compensated by allotting some portion of the adjoining…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018INDIA SHINING FOR NRIsThe falling value of the rupee against the US dollar and other major global currencies has been a major cause of concern for importers, international travellers, Indians studying abroad and patients seeking treatment overseas. But for non-resident Indians (NRIs), it has meant a bonanza as they can get greater value for their foreign currency when converting to the rupee. For instance, as on October 23, when each USD was equivalent to Rs 73.78, an NRI wishing to convert $10,000 into rupees would have profited approximately Rs 1.01 lakh more than on January 1, when a dollar was fetching Rs 63.67. The fall in the rupee has now been considerably arrested and a tumble looks less likely in the near future. So it makes sense for NRIs to consider converting some…3 min
India Today|November 5, 2018INDIA SHINING FOR NRIsThe falling value of the rupee against the US dollar and other major global currencies has been a major cause of concern for importers, international travellers, Indians studying abroad and patients seeking treatment overseas. But for non-resident Indians (NRIs), it has meant a bonanza as they can get greater value for their foreign currency when converting to the rupee. For instance, as on October 23, when each USD was equivalent to Rs 73.78, an NRI wishing to convert $10,000 into rupees would have profited approximately Rs 1.01 lakh more than on January 1, when a dollar was fetching Rs 63.67. The fall in the rupee has now been considerably arrested and a tumble looks less likely in the near future. So it makes sense for NRIs to consider converting some…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018SAIL WITH CAUTIONNBFC stocks have fallen by up to 54 per cent in the past month, but you should not look for short-term gains by investing in fallen stocks Don’t overexpose yourself to NBFC stocks beyond your risk capacity Invest in companies that have a shorter loan tenure and very strong credentials If you already hold some NBFC stocks, do not sell in panic Avoid fresh exposure in microfinance companies till the dust settles Retail-focused financiers, both banks and NBFCs, will do well in the long term…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018WATCH LISTCAMPINGLena Dunham doesn’t seem to have pulled herself out of the tailspin that marked the later seasonsof Girls in this new series, in which Jennifer Garner plays a character chronicling her post-hysterectomy woes for “working moms and women living with chronic pain”. HotstarTHE ROMANOFFSMatthew Weiner’s series about the self-proclaimed descendants of the Russian royal family is an interesting concept. But the 90-minute episodes are more vignettes than stories and lack the cinematic power of true arthouse films. Amazon PrimeSMOKEWith Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin and Mandira Bedi, this web original takes on Goa’s drug-fuelled underbelly. It’s unlikely to break new ground, but with that milieu, why would you? Eros Now…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Still TravellingIn season two of Bindass’s The Trip, the ladies haven’t lost their sense of adventure. But based on the two episodes released so far, the show has lost direction a bit.The musician Shonali (Lisa Haydon) has left the show. So the creators have tapped Amyra Dastur to play Ira, a cousin of Nazia aka Naz (Mallika Dua). Naz’s buddies Sanjana aka Sanjay (Sapna Pabbi) and Ananya aka Cuddles (Shweta Tripathi) have descended to Tamil Nadu to attend Ira’s wedding. Then Ira begins this season’s unplanned ‘trip’—becoming a runaway bride when she calculates the prospective union is doomed.In tone, not much has changed since season one. Loquacious and single, Naz retains her passion for wisecracks and whining. Sanjana is still scared to commit to a relationship wholly. And the creators still…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018KILLING IT“Both Visaranai (2016) and Vada Chennai were shot without a written script,” says a chuffed Vetri Maaran, 43, a few days after the release of his magnum opus. The Dhanush-starrer Vada Chennai is his first big-budget film after the National Award winning Aadukalam (2011) and Visaranai , which was also India’s official entry to the Oscars. In the making since 2003, pre-dating his directorial debut Polladhavan (2007), Vada Chennai (North Chennai) has not just received the large opening that was anticipated but also surpassed estimated opening box office collections. “As much as I am not driven by numbers, I knew the film would…4 min
India Today|November 5, 2018TALENT HUNTQ. You’re working with LaLiga Schools to set up training programmes for young players in India. What’s the plan?The plan is to help Indian players, specifically Indian students, because the relationship between LaLiga and India is very important. That’s why we are here. To share the same passion for football. The schools are very important for a lot of things. If we find good talent, we can bring them to Spain to play with clubs there. The dream is to play in the league. That is a possibility.Q. Commercially too…?The impact in India is huge. When we talk about India, we talk about cricket. It’s the sport No. 1. But youngsters are very passionate about football in India. We can feed that passion. It’s a relationship that is important to…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Should adultery be a criminal offence?NO It is a matter of personal choiceAdultery is a more a moral issue. It can affect a marriage adversely as it shakes up trust between the couple and can lead to the breakdown of their relationship, but definitely we can’t term it as a criminal offence.—Nupur Jhunjhunwala, MumbaiYES It is morally incorrectI believe that if you are married and you commit adultery, you should be punished. More so if the couple are still living together as husband and wife and have a marital relationship. It is in a sense rape by deception. There is a process of divorce that is in place if you do not want to keep the legal commitment of marriage with your spouse. But, if you are married and have an affair, it shows serious…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Jazz History“What I want to document is how jazz and music developed during my life,” says Chick Corea American jazz keyboardist and composer Chick Corea, among the most prolific, versatile, inventive and influential artists of his time, sums up his musical philosophy in a single sentence: “There are no boundaries and the rule is freedom of choice.” Corea, 77, has lived those words over the course of his six-decade career. He has released more than 100 albums and won a record 22 Grammy Awards—covering every style of jazz and even children’s songs and Western classical compositions. And that’s not including the records he’s made with his pioneering jazz-fusion group Return to Forever and as a sideman for such fellow legends as Miles Davis and Stan Getz. This weekend, Corea is performing…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Pearls of the StageHyderabad’s 13th annual Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival will feature performances by groups from India and abroad at various venues around the city from October 26 to November 4. Asmita Theatre Group will perform Tara, an original play by Mahesh Dattani. Writer-director PankajKapurwillstage Dreamz: Sehar. And Compagnie du Barrage’s Maud Andrieux will perform her adaptation of L’Amant, based on Marguerite Duras’s French play. Thought-provoking, titillating and entertaining, these productions and other highlights add to the performances associated with theatre revivalist Mohammad Ali Baig’s celebration of quality theatre over the years. HOW I MET YOUR FATHER Featuring Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijaykar, Ace Productions’ play is a laugh riot that begins with the question, ‘So, how did you meet my father?’ Crackling with funny one-liners and the comic situations that ensue,…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Experimental by ChoiceKAJAL AGGARWAL 33ACTOR, MUMBAIWhy acting? Being an actor was complete serendipity. I had MBA and corporate plans but I thought I’d give acting a chance so that my CV would look versatile. I guess life had other plans for me. And here I am now—53 movies old.People who inspire you Elon Musk, Indra Nooyi and Phil Knight are all achievers who have tremendous discipline for work and time, an undying passion and their priorities in the right place.Good and bad side of power The good is to be able to make a difference and the recognition you get. The bad is loss of privacy and the ugly is narcissism and selfishness.On being different I believe in doing my own thing, standing out is probably just a consequence.One thing you like…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Gem of an IdeaSUHANI PITTIE 37JEWELLERY DESIGNER, HYDERABADPrecious mettle Designing in silver, brass, copper and even steel, over the years, I have broken the gold myth for brides who have come to look at my designs as something going beyond investment and locker value.The unboxed dream Success is a relative term. For me, making designs that also make business sense, drawing from heritage and keeping a craft alive or staying relevant to a clientele from 18 to 80, is my first baby step towards success, taken over years of working 14-hour-long days. And failures have come to mean opportunities to learn.CLAIM TO FAMEFrom the first silver trinket she designed 14 years ago, her brand has grown into a venture going beyond products…1 min
India Today|November 5, 2018THE MANE STORYIrrespective of the length of your hair, regular care is needed to keep it lustrous and healthy. Pollution, sun rays, hormonal imbalances, improper diet and excessive use of chemical products are some of the reasons for dry and damaged hair. It is advisable to regularly nourish, maintain and give your hair the attention it deserves. A good hair care routine should always be according to the hair type but there are also a few myths surrounding hair care needs, which need to be cleared first. Washing everyday Hair can be washed as regularly as required depending on the type of hair and one’s lifestyle. However, washing them too often can strip them of natural oils and make them dry and brittle. Use a mild shampoo and condition hair well to…2 min
India Today|November 5, 2018Stirring a DebateMIMI MONDAL 31AUTHOR, NEW YORKPower stands for Once you acquire some power, even a small amount, it’s worth realising that there are others who have even less, and now you’re in a position to potentially hurt to them, if you’re not careful about how you use your power. It’s also tricky to discover that you can be powerful and victimised at the same time, and one doesn’t negate the other.Do you follow rules or break them? Bit of both. I was one of the few who stayed in school, despite being called an inadequate rebel back then. I spent eleven years at different universities, grinding my nose through rules. But I am still doing largely what I want to do.Your take on criticism and failure Criticism doesn’t take away the…1 min
