Indholdsfortegnelse for September 9, 2024 i India Today

The brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata on August 9 once again brought alive the everyday threats that Indian women suffer from. The extraordinary fiendishness of the act itself punched the nation in the gut, but what was even more horrific was the fact that the crime unfolded in the victim’s place of work, which was supposed to have a safe dedicated space to rest in, security on all floors and vigilant CCTV cameras around. While the crime elicited protests from all quarters, including international ones, the medical fraternity erupted in anger, having stayed silent for so long about the dismal conditions they worked in, including onerous working hours, with no proper restrooms, and decrepit facilities. Women are rendered even more vulnerable in this scenario, as…

Nearly five years after the Centre brought in norms to rein in multinational e-commerce companies operating in India, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal sparked fresh controversy by raising concerns over the rapid expansion of e-commerce. He also drew attention to the pricing strategies used by some e-commerce firms, questioning what he termed “predatory pricing”. “Are we going to cause huge, social disruption with this massive growth of e-commerce? I don’t see it as a matter of pride that half our market may become part of the e-commerce network 10 years from now; it is a matter of concern,” Goyal said at an event in New Delhi last week. His comments come at a time when the e-commerce business in India is growing exponentially. Estimated at $83 billion (around Rs 7…

These days, the famed Galle Face in Colombo, lapped by the waves of the Indian Ocean, wears a deceptive calm. Hordes of families throng the beachfront playing ball games and snacking on fried fish peddled by eateries. Just two years ago, in July 2022, it was packed with angry supporters of the aragalaya (Sinhala for ‘The Struggle’), who mounted a massive protest against the ruling dispensation headed by the Rajapaksa brothers for the economic hardships they had to endure. These included inflation, which had soared to over 100 per cent, a critical shortage of fuel for motor vehicles and a food and fertilisers crisis that pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of a shocking economic collapse. Both Mahinda, who was prime minister, and his younger brother Gotabaya, who was president,…

ON THE AFTERNOON OF AUGUST 17, the Nayab Singh Saini cabinet in Haryana approved certain tweaks to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Class (OBC) quotas and service norms for contracted college lecturers. While this might appear as routine administrative work, the timing raised eyebrows. It occurred just a day after the Election Commission (EC) announced the date for the Haryana assembly election—October 1. Compared to the 2019 state election, held on October 21, that’s nearly three weeks early. When Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister weeks before the Lok Sabha election this year, he inherited an administration burdened with a decade of anti-incumbency and discontent among the dominant Jat community. The results indicated a Congress revival, as it improved its vote share from 28.4 per cent in…

Literary translation is famously difficult and translating poetry particularly so. More challenges arise when the poem in question is a 40-verse (chalisa) hymn in Avadhi, the language of Ayodhya, to the godly Hanuman, a poem that is loved and recited daily by millions of Hindus. Poet-novelist Vikram Seth calls his latest publication, The Hanuman Chalisa, a labour of love published several years after its completion in which he renders the incantatory quality of the original Avadhi into English poetry, the first ever such attempt. The poet’s preface states his intention to acquaint the English-speaking world with this magical, joyful work that encapsulates a whole culture in fewer than 90 lines. With this portable little book, Seth joins legions of poets with his own telling of a mini-Ramayana. Through his translation,…

THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948 Section 22(2) Prohibition from cleaning, lubricating or adjusting any part of a machine while it is in motion Section 34 Prohibiting women from lifting excessive weights Section 48(1) Provision of a creche if a factory has over 30 women workers Section 59(1) A woman worker must not be allowed/required to work for over 9 hours a day in the factory Section 66 Women shall work in a factory only between 6 am and 7 pm. (Each state has defined its own working hours and provisions for night shift) *CONTRACT LABOUR ACT, 1970 Section 18 Provision of sufficient restrooms which must be covered and partitioned to secure privacy, with proper doors and fastenings THE EMPLOYEES’ STATE INSURANCE ACT, 1948 Section 46 Women workers must have access to…

Archrivals Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka, and Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition, are among the frontrunners for the crucial presidential election on Sept. 21. In separate interviews, the two candidates speak to India Today Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa on the importance of the upcoming election, the key issues and concerns, their individual political, economic and social visions, and how they see relations with India progress. Excerpts: “IT’S A MAKE OR BREAK ELECTION”RANIL WICKREMESINGHE Q. How critical is this election for Sri Lanka? RANIL WICKREMESINGHE: It will decide the future of Sri Lanka. Whether the economic reforms will go on. Whether people will be better-off or if the whole thing comes apart and we go back to a situation like July 2022, or maybe worse. But we won’t get…

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY STRENGTHS ↘ A relatively clean image and a strong network of foot soldiers developed over the past decade ↘ Post the Lok Sabha election, it got the time to reorient and energise its outreach to the non-Jat OBC and Dalit voters CHALLENGES ↘ Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is still seen as his predecessor M.L. Khattar’s dummy ↘ The party has been unable to build bridges with the agitated Jat community CONGRESS STRENGTHS ↘ Adecade-long anti-incumbency against the BJP ↘ Firm backing of the dominant Jat community ↘ Has also made inroads into the ruling party’s non-Jat umbrella coalition CHALLENGES ↘ No consensus on Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s leadership ↘ Other factions led by Kumari Selja, Capt. Ajay Yadav and Randeep Surjewala want say in ticket distribution OTHER…

In a freewheeling interview with AVISHEK G. DASTIDAR, AAP leader and former deputy chief minister MANISH SISODIA, out on bail after 17 months, defends the liquor policy and claims it is a manufactured controversy by the BJP. He also says AAP is set to win again in Delhi. Excerpts: Q. In hindsight, what could you have done differently with the liquor policy? It was a good policy for the people of Delhi. You must understand, Delhi had a new policy every year. A policy was made in 2003-04, which was tweaked every year. When we came in 2015, we did some major tweaks, and the government benefitted in terms of revenue. Based on that learning, we brought this new policy in 2021-22. This was a new model, which we could have…

Q. You had a seven-year hiatus from the ramp before the recent India Couture Week… We usually prefer to exhibit independently but were keen on exhibiting our young labels, Asal by Abu Sandeep and Mard by Abu Sandeep, in the capital, so that it debuts with the new wedding wear collection. Couture Week seemed like the perfect platform for this. Q. The showcase featured original music and even a stand-up comic. Is this a new trend? It’s about giving the audience a spectacular experience. We are passionate about music, dance and showcasing young and rising talent. As far as stand-up comedy goes, Sumukhi Suresh is very talented. She was the perfect choice to open the show and walk the ramp for us. Q. And Radhika Merchant’s much-talked-about bridal attire. Radhika…

A whole can of worms has opened up in the Malayalam film industry after the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government released the Hema Committee report on August 19, almost five years after it was submitted on December 31, 2019. Set up four months after a popular actress was abducted and abused in a car in Kochi in February 2017, the three-member committee comprising Justice K. Hema, veteran actress Sarada and retired civil servant K.B. Valsalakumari was meant to examine the working conditions of women in the film industry. Constituted after friends of the victim formed a Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) and bore down on the government, the committee’s report was destined to be a hot potato. The Pinarayi government kept it in cold storage on the pretext that its release would…

COME SEPTEMBER, JAMMU AND KASHMIR WILL SEE AN ASSEMBLY ELECTION AFTER A DECADE, giving hope to the people that they will finally see local representation in government decision-making. The polls for the 90 assembly seats of Jammu (43) and Kashmir (47) will be held in three phases, from September 18 to October 1. This will be the first assembly election since the abrogation of Article 370 and the downgrading of the erstwhile state to Union territory (UT) status in August 2019. J&K has been under direct central rule for over six years now, since June 2018. In what is a positive sign, all the political parties are convinced about the process. The Lok Sabha election in June saw the National Conference (NC) and the BJP securing two seats each in Kashmir…

Two weeks after the nation was shaken by the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, another horrific crime—the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Assam—captured head-lines. Unlike the Kolkata case, which stirred up controversy amid accusations of an official cover-up, the incident in Nagaon’s Dhing, about 100 km from state capital Guwahati, is drawing attention as a symptom of the deepening socio-political divide in the state. The prime suspect in the Dhing case was arrested within 24 hours, only to drown in a pond, allegedly while attempting to escape police custody. On the same day, in an unrelated but eerily similar incident, a man accused of molestation was shot by police while trying to flee in Tezpur. These incidents highlight a troubling pattern that has…

A new book from Wendy Doniger always creates a stir—both friends and foes are eager to see what she has to say. Neither group is ever disappointed, each finds something that fulfils their expectations. Having been her student in the 1980s, I fall firmly in the first group and I am delighted, yet again, to read her lucid, bright translations that are marvellously fluent in English and yet, retain something of the lilt and pace of the Sanskrit original. If you have any doubt about this rare skill of Doniger’s, you have only to read ‘How the Procrastinator Saved Gautama from Killing His Wife’—you will experience the pleasure of Sanskrit puns and sarcasm even as you laugh out loud for what it sounds like in English. As always with Doniger, this…

Paysages Politisés (French, ‘politicised landscapes’)—the curatorial direction of Art and Charlie’s new exhibition is self-evident from its title. Consider Karachi-born artist Zahra Mansoor whose practice investigates femininity, post-colonialism, and the concept of nostalgia that comes from living in foreign places (she works between her hometown, Paris, and NYC). Her ‘Father, Son’ (diptych) depicts large hands oil-painted on Indian silk carpets; the hands are rendered in a very European technique and style (almost reminiscent of Egon Schiele’s works) but put on something so obviously South Asian, almost as if to bridge the liminal gap between the two worlds. Upstairs, the striking installation ‘Curtain’ engages with the politics of gender identity where Dhanbad-based emerging artist Samiksha uses toilet paper bandaged around G.I. wire to create calligraphic text that draws keywords from news…