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Ram, Bam and Bengal: Memories of a Left turn toward the Right

The BJP’s massive electoral win in West Bengal is being interpreted across political persuasions — except, of course, by the BJP itself — as the result of the alleged deletion of around 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls during the controversial intensive revision process. This may well be true, given my own experience in Gujarat regarding the shoddy manner in which electoral revisions have often been conducted. In West Bengal, there also appeared to be a political angle to the exercise. But I am not interested in discussing that here, as enough has already appeared in the media on the subject.
Recent posts

Dumping junk: How rich-country food giants are targeting India, Brazil, Mexico

Global sales of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have shifted dramatically toward the developing world as growth stagnates in wealthy nations, raising urgent questions about fairness, food sovereignty, and public health across the Global South — with India, Brazil, and Mexico at the centre of the debate.

Night watchman of the govt? CIC order shielding BCCI from RTI slammed

  In a significant setback for transparency advocates, the Central Information Commission (CIC) ruled on May 18, 2026, that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not a "public authority" under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, reversing its own 2018 decision. The order has sparked sharp criticism from transparency activist Venkatesh Nayak, who has released a detailed critique accusing both the CIC and Union government ministries of acting as "night watchmen" to insulate the BCCI from public scrutiny.

Hemingway, Picasso and beyond: Why powerful men fail in personal relationships

Currently, I am watching the American serial The Affair . While it offers a very interesting exposure to broken relationships in the United States, in the middle of the tenth episode of the second season its main character, Noah Solloway — divorced from his wife after falling in love with a waitress — has a therapy session with a psychiatrist. Here, Noah, who happens to be a celebrated novelist with two published novels and a third in progress, makes an interesting observation: all great men are not good men.

Dalit-Muslim segregation in Gujarat 'more complex than it appears'

This blog is in continuation of one of my previous blogs , in which I quoted a retired Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat telling me that I ought to stop using the word “Dalit” because it is “derogatory.” He advised me instead to use the “constitutional term, Scheduled Caste (SC).” This was in reference to my earlier story , titled India's Muslims' and Dalits' segregation levels are almost similar to the US Black-White segregation, based on a Chicago study.

World Bank wants India to rethink industrial subsidies, fix structural gaps

A major new policy research report published by the World Bank Group has raised pointed questions about India's current industrial strategy, warning that the country's flagship Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme may be working against its own economic strengths — and that deeper structural reforms are urgently needed.

Dalit, Harijan, or SC: What's behind 'renaming' former untouchables

Recently, I wrote a story titled "India's Muslim, Dalit segregation nears US Black-White levels: Chicago study", based on a working paper authored by Sam Asher, Kiritarth Jha, Paul Novosad, Anjali Adukia, and Brandon Tan. The paper documents how Scheduled Caste (SC) and Muslim communities in India are concentrated in neighborhoods with fewer schools, clinics, and basic infrastructure.