Indholdsfortegnelse for November 4, 2024 i India Today

On October 20, as dusk fell in the Gagangir area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, terrorists opened fire on workers returning to their camp from the Z-Morh tunnel construction site, killing six of them as well as a doctor, and injuring several others. The workers—mostly migrant—were engaged on a project of strategic value. The tunnel connects Sonamarg with Kangan town on the Srinagar-Leh highway, a vital supply route to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. The incident marks the first assault on a key infrastructure project in the five years since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. It also occurred just four days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assumed leadership of the first Union Territory government. “The people have taken part in elections with enthusiasm with…

When the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took over a violence-stricken Bangladesh on August 8, it promised state reforms. Now, many are questioning its priorities after it recently cancelled eight ‘national days’ observed by government decree during the ousted Sheikh Hasina regime. While most agree that the former prime minister—daughter of ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—had attempted to monopolise the 1971 war of liberation that led to the creation of Bangladesh and thus its history, they also say that there are more pressing issues to take care of. On October 16, it was announced that an advisory committee of the government has cancelled eight holidays that mashed together genuine national moments with family history: the historic March 7 call for independence in 1971 by Mujib, his birth anniversary…

Is it even a year in entertainment without a web series by Raj & DK? The writer-director duo has been on a roll since their streaming debut with the Amazon Prime Video series The Family Man. After delivering two hit series last year—Farzi and Guns & Gulaabs—2024 sees them present Citadel: Honey Bunny, a commissioned project that expands the Citadel franchise which so far has seen Citadel (US) and Citadel: Diana (Italy). Releasing on Prime Video on November 7, and featuring Varun Dhawan and Samantha, the Indian Citadel is the most action-heavy of Raj & DK’s creations so far. For Raj & DK, the “unique opportunity” to work with creators in the US was both appealing and challenging. “There was a lot of apprehension…are we going to be good at…

In 2018, art connoisseur Somak Mitra founded Gallery Art Exposure in Kolkata. Six years since, in 2024, the city sees the gallery’s second outpost on Lake View Road, the doors opening to the public in the last week of September with the exhibition, Miracle of Absence. “We needed a bigger space to do some cutting-edge exhibitions in Kolkata. We also wanted to run contemporary programmes in parallel, and this space is perfect for that as it’s across two floors. We can have two parallel exhibitions at any given point,” says Mitra about the 7,000 sq. ft gallery. The new gallery, despite being housed in an old structure, has a quaint fluidity in its layout. The two floors also have distinct identities, with one being more expansive, while the other is…

Girl power at its sparkly best” is how Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson & Executive Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, described attending a Taylor Swift concert with her teenage daughter in Wembley. It’s an ideal descriptor for the Indian edition of the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year awards too, a night high on fashion, sisterhood, gratitude and joy as women celebrated each other’s achievements. The “human chain of inspiration”, which saw one award recipient presenting to another achiever, resulted in some memorable moments on stage. The iconic fashion designer Anita Dongre felt honoured to receive the award from two-time Paralympic shooting champion Avani Lekhara, who in turn had won in the Sportsperson category. Isha Ambani was bestowed the Icon of the Year award by the Interior Designer winner Gauri Khan, while the…

The images of the two world leaders together conveyed a message. In a definite sign of a thaw in relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting—their first in five years—on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 23. At the 50-minute meeting, Prime Minister Modi said India-China relations are crucial for global peace and said the relations should be guided by “mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity”. China’s ambassador to India Xu Feihong conveyed the gist of the meeting in a matter-of-fact tweet: “The two sides need to strengthen communication and cooperation, properly manage differences and disagreements, and facilitate each other’s pursuit of development aspirations.” Behind the Modi-Xi meeting was improvement on heavily contested ground—on October 21, it…

Wayanad welcomed Congress candidate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on October 23 with music and dance, her fans, young and old, stepping to the tune of the drums. Thousands of Congress workers had descended on Kalpetta, the district headquarters of scenic Wayanad, to greet the Gandhi scion and see her in action. Priyanka, accompanied by husband Robert Vadra, their children Raihan and Mirayan and mother Sonia Gandhi, had reached Sultan Bathery in Wayanad from Mysuru by road the previous night. Hundreds of people were waiting by the roadside to greet her in the night, necessitating a number of stops so that she could interact with the crowd. One of the pitstops also led to an impromptu visit to the home of a local, Karumankulam Thresiya Papachan, after her exarmyman son Binoy mentioned…

ASSAM ANGLE IN JHARKHAND While all eyes are glued to the main battle between the two heavyweight alliances—the NDA and INDIA—in Jharkhand, an interesting subplot is developing elsewhere—the showdown between two rival Assamese politicians. Back in June, the BJP appointed Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma as one of the election bigwigs for Jharkhand. Four months on, the Congress hit back, tapping Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi to join their trio of senior strategists for the state. This isn’t the first time Sarma and Gogoi have crossed swords this year. Sarma, the BJP’s brash campaign czar, took aim at Gogoi in Jorhat in the Lok Sabha polls, marshalling half his ministry and the party’s full might. Gogoi, with his understated campaign, kept his cool and clinched the seat, leaving Sarma’s forces to…

Lok Nayak’ Jayaprakash Narayan would probably be turning in his grave. An expensive, under construction project in the heart of Lucknow, named in his honour, has become a battleground for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), both of whom hold the socialist icon in great esteem. On October 11, the birth anniversary of ‘JP ’ saw high drama in the UP capital. Nothing like last year, though, when SP president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav jumped the gate of the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) to garland his statue, causing a stir. To prevent a repeat this year, the administration sealed the gate with tin sheets and implemented tight security there, as well as at Akhilesh’s home and the party office on Vikramaditya Marg. But…

As followers of historian Rana Safvi’s writing, be it her books or her blog on India’s syncretic Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, we were eager to get our hands on her first work of fiction—A Firestorm in Paradise: A Novel on the 1857 Uprising. Beautiful artwork by Shubham Singh on a cover designed by Shadab Khan usher the reader into a world that prized the finer facets of life. The story unfolds through the character of Falak Ara, daughter of a concubine from the zenana of emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. A chance encounter with a prince leads to love and longing, sighs and quivers. But what is ostensibly a love story set in the 1850s is also made more potent with palace intrigue, myriad mysteries, and an atmosphere rife for dissent under the…

MULTI-GENRE Cherry Blossom Shillong Nov. 15-16 The most prominent of the festivals held in the Northeast will be banking on nostalgia to draw in crowds across generations with headlining sets by 2000s Senegalese-American R&B singer Akon and 1970s German disco group Boney M., whose only original member is vocalist Liz Mitchell. The line-up comprises an electric mix of electronic music, K-Pop and Bollywood acts. shillongcherryblossom.com Lollapalooza India Mumbai Mar. 8-9, 2025 American rock band Green Day and Canadian pop singer Shawn Mendes will headline the third edition of the Indian franchise of the American festival, which has been postponed from its January slot as promoter BookMyShow Live is staging Coldplay’s tour that month. Also on the bill are a dozen other international acts such as US rapper Big Boi, one-half of the…

In response to a surge of false bomb threats—over 100 in recent days—that have hit India’s aviation sector hard, the government is poised to implement some of the most stringent penalties in the industry’s history. Under the proposed legislation, individuals making fraudulent claims about explosives aboard aircraft will pay for their mischief with sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment, along with substantial fines and permanent placement on no-fly lists. The crisis comes at a particularly inopportune moment—during India’s bustling festive season—prompting heightened security measures across the nation’s airports. “We’re changing the Aircraft Security Rules to put offenders on the no-fly list as a deterrent,” explains civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu. The ministry is also pursuing amendments to the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation…

Known for shooting from the hip rather too often, Rajasthan education minister Madan Dilawar again finds himself embroiled in controversy, this time over his remarks about the attire of teachers. Addressing a gathering in Neem Ka Thana on October 16, Dilawar criticised women teachers for wearing what he deemed inappropriate clothing that revealed too much of their bodies. As his comments sparked a fierce backlash, the 65-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran called those opposing his views “duffer”, claiming that his intent was simply to encourage teachers to set a good example for their students. But even some within his party have distanced themselves from his comments. BJP legislator Suresh Dhakar, for one, voiced his support for protesting teachers and suggested that Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma should advise Dilawar…

↘ GOMTI RIVER FRONT, LUCKNOW: In 2014-15, Rs 656 crore was allocated, which escalated to Rs 1,513 crore. By March 2017, despite 95 per cent of the amount being spent, only 60 per cent of the work was completed. A CBI probe is blamed for the tardy progress ↘ SUPERSPECIALITY HOSPITAL, SAIFAI: The state’s largest super-speciality hospital with 500 beds was planned in 2014 for Rs 333 crore, which later escalated to Rs 537 crore. In March, CM Yogi inaugurated it, but due to unfinished work and pending machine installations, services haven’t started ↘ GUEST HOUSE, SAIFAI: Construction began in 2015 for the 100-room project at Rs 42 crore. In 2017, 90 per cent of the work was complete but is now stalled ↘ CRICKET STADIUM, SAIFAI: Construction was completed in…

For the past two years since Bengaluru resident C.M. Dinakar installed a 4 kilowatt (kW) solar power plant on the roof of his house in the city’s Basaveshwara Nagar locality, he hasn’t had to worry about his electricity bill. In fact, he’s using more power these days. Dinakar’s rooftop solar system, which cost him Rs 3 lakh, generates an average of 16 units of electricity a day—more than what his household consumes daily. The excess is sold to the power grid. Even though Karnataka introduced a free electricity scheme for households last year, he’s happy with the heavy upfront investment he made on solar photovoltaic (or solar cell) panels to generate his own power. It’s better than putting money in a fixed deposit, feels Dinakar, an electrical engineer. Till recently,…